New York will lead tributes today to victims of the 9/11 attacks in a ceremony at Ground Zero where work on replacements for the World Trade Center, and even a memorial, remains mostly stalled.
On the eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by al-Qaeda militants in hijacked airliners, mourners will remember the 2,752 people who died in the destruction of the Twin Towers in Manhattan.
They will also mourn those who died in the attacks just hours later at the Pentagon outside Washington and on a fourth plane, which crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers overpowered the hijackers.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other officials will attend the now annual ritual at Ground Zero, when every name is read out and moments of silence mark key events, such as the impact of the two hijacked planes and the collapse of the towers.
Powerful lights will send beams skyward from the site at nightfall.
Despite a deep desire to properly remember the tragedy, constant financial and legal wrangling has slowed work on replacing the enormous Twin Towers.
The financial crisis and downturn in the real estate market have made speedy renewal of the neighborhood even less likely and frustration is rising.
“It has become increasingly clear that New Yorkers should be embarrassed by the debacle that is represented by the failure of government officials to have successfully rebuilt Ground Zero,” said Barry LePatner, a construction attorney. “Unfortunately, the only conclusion that can be drawn from a careful study of their actions at this important site is an attitude that the public be damned.”
In theory, five new skyscrapers are planned, a park with a memorial in the middle and a transport hub, but many now think that there is no market for five towers.
For now, the site strikes casual observers as merely a large hole, although work on foundations of several key elements is well underway and the frame for the future Freedom Tower is rising.
Meanwhile in Washington, it was a day of thank yous and thoughts of what could have been as family members of the passengers and crew of United Flight 93 visited the US Capitol on Wednesday to honor those who perished aboard that plane eight years ago.
Two days before the anniversary of the terror attacks, the families were on hand for the unveiling of a large bronze plaque at the Capitol that pays tribute to the individuals who died when their plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Their sacrifice “not only saved countless lives, but may have saved the US Capitol from destruction,” the plaque says.
The official reconstruction of the plane’s plunge indicated that some of the passengers rebelled against their captors and forced the airliner to the ground.
Family members, many wearing buttons with their loved ones’ names or holding children born after the attacks, listened solemnly as the ill-fated passengers’ names were read out.
“I hope that you will visit frequently and that it will be a comfort to you,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
The ceremony held special meaning for Paula Nacke Jacobs, 46, who said Wednesday would have been the 50th birthday of her brother, passenger Louis “Joey” Nacke.
“I’m glad that this plaque is being dedicated today, and not only for the passengers and crew of Flight 93, but for everybody,” Jacobs said. “This really shows the strength of the human heart. At the end of the day, we stand for our country.”
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