Today marks 24 years since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, when al Qaeda hijackers crashed four passenger jets into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The attacks forever changed New York City and the world.
Every year, the city – and nation – pause to remember the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 attacks and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. A solemn ceremony took place this morning at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan, including six moments of silence.
It’s all to fulfill the sacred promise to never forget.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on September 11, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was among the mourners gathered at Ground Zero, along with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, former Gov. George Pataki, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino could also be seen in the crowd.
Hochul directed more than a dozen state landmarks, including One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building, to be illuminated with blue lights Thursday in observance.
“Today I join the world in remembering the nearly 3,000 souls taken on 9/11, the people who went to work and never came home, and the brave heroes – uniformed and otherwise – who ran toward danger to save others,” the governor said in a statement.
“Many of our enemies, foreign and domestic, thought we were going to collapse as a country, but we got up 9/12,” Adams said before the ceremony. “Teachers taught, builders built. We showed the globe our resiliency, even in the midst of pain.”
Adams’ mayoral opponents, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, were also in attendance, while Republican Curtis Sliwa was scheduled to visit a different 9/11 tribute in the Rockaways.
Meanwhile, President Trump observed 9/11 at the Pentagon, but he will be in New York for the Yankees’ game later tonight. Vice President JD Vance was expected to be in Manhattan, but he is instead traveling to Utah following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, a source told CBS News.
What time does the 9/11 ceremony start and end?
Sam Pulia places flags on the names of victims of the 9/11 terror attack on the South Tower reflecting pool during the annual 9/11 Commemoration Ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum on September 11, 2025 in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images
9/11 special coverage began on broadcast television on CBS New York at 8:25 a.m. Thursday, and the ceremony wrapped up shortly after 12:30 p.m.
At exactly 8:46 a.m., the first citywide moment of silence was held to mark when Flight 11 struck the North Tower.
Family members of those killed in the deadliest attack on U.S. soil then read the names of all the victims. Decades later, many of the speakers were grandchildren of those who died.
“Grandpa Eddie, even though I never knew you, I still feel your presence in my daily life — from the times when I get the hiccups and my mom says you’re visiting me, to the moments my mom gets a good parking spot and we say you’re a good parking attendant in the sky,” one young reader said. “Our family says that I have a lot of your traits, they say I’m kind and generous like you. And even though I didn’t have the chance to meet you in person, I still have a deep love and affection for you. I hope to be just like you when I grow up.”
“I never got to meet my Aunt Brooke. When I was younger, I knew that Brooke only got 23 years of life, but to a 5 year old, 23 doesn’t sound so young. But now standing here today, as a 22-year-old who just graduated college, it weighs heavy on my heart, mind and spirit that 23 years old is a child, 23 is a young person finding their place in the world,” said another reader.
Timeline of the 9/11 moments of silence
- 7:30 a.m. – Families and guests gather at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum
- 8:25 a.m. – Special coverage of the 9/11 ceremony begins on CBS News New York
- 8:40 a.m. – Procession including the flag, pipers and drummers
- 8:44 a.m. – Singing of the Star Spangled Banner
- 8:46 a.m. – First moment of silence, marking the moment the the North Tower was struck by hijacked Flight 11
- 8:48 a.m. – Reading of the names begins
- 9:03 a.m. – Second moment of silence, marking the moment the South Tower was struck by hijacked Flight 175
- 9:37 a.m. – Third moment of silence, marking the moment the Pentagon was struck by hijacked Flight 77
- 9:59 a.m. – Fourth moment of silence, marking the moment the South Tower fell
- 10:03 a.m. – Fifth moment of silence, marking the moment hijacked Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Penn.
- 10:28 a.m. – Sixth moment of silence, marking the moment the North Tower fell
- Approximately 12:15 p.m. – Taps will be performed at the conclusion of the reading of the names, concluding the ceremony
- 3:00 p.m. – 9/11 Memorial & Museum reopens to the public
Street closures for 9/11 ceremony
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is located at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The museum closed early Wednesday and is not open to guests Thursday, so victims’ loved ones can visit privately.
Drivers should plan for the following street closures around the area:
- Areas bounded by Barclay Street on the North; Rector Street on the South; Broadway on the East; West Street on the West (All Inclusive)
- Liberty Street between West Street and South End Avenue
- Albany Street between West Street and South End Avenue
- West Thames Street between West Street and South End Avenue
- South End Avenue between Liberty Street and West Thames Street
- Battery Place between West Thames Street and 3rd Place
- 3rd Place between Battery Place and Little West Street
- Little West Street between 3rd Place and Battery Place
The memorial comes amid the United Nations General Assembly, which may bring additional closures to the East Side of Manhattan.
contributed to this report.
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