The 9/11 Memorial & Museum will add a seventh moment of silence to its annual Ground Zero ceremony this Friday, marking 25 years since the terror attacks that killed 2,977 people.
The new pause, scheduled for 12:30 p.m., will honor those who have died since September 11 from related illnesses or injuries, a first for the commemoration. The ceremony begins at 8:40 a.m. With a livestream on the museum’s website, though the reflecting pools themselves remain closed to the public. The first of the seven silences will come at 8:46 a.m., followed by bells tolling across thousands of city houses of worship.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who took office this year, has promised to attend the solemn event for his first time as mayor despite objections from some victims’ families and surviving first responders who criticize his rhetoric on Israel. The mayor pledged in a statement to “proudly honor the families, the survivors, the first responders forever impacted by that horrific terror attack by standing alongside them at this year’s 9/11 commemoration.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul also plans to attend, defying a call from the Port Authority police union to stay away. The union had objected to her decision to illuminate One World Trade Center alongside her proclamation recognizing January as Muslim American Heritage Month.
Most living presidents — Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — are expected at Ground Zero. Vice President Vance will join them there, while President Trump attends a separate service at the Pentagon.
Families of victims from both the 2001 and 1993 attacks will read names in pairs throughout the ceremony, pausing only for the designated moments of silence. The traditional program otherwise follows its familiar format, with Taps expected to close the event at 1 p.m.
Security preparations have drawn a tight cordon around lower Manhattan. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced at a Wednesday briefing that the US Secret Service will install fencing on the east side of the West Side Highway from Liberty to Fulton Street and around the memorial perimeter. Vehicular traffic will be shut south of Canal Street to Battery Place and from Broadway to West Street starting Friday, though southbound Broadway will remain open with a truck ban. The Hugh Carey Tunnel will stay open with FDR Drive access, but the No. 1 train will bypass the World Trade Center Cortlandt station. Invited guests must pass through security screening stations.
The Memorial Plaza will reopen to the general public at 3 p.m. As darkness falls, the annual Tribute in Light will pierce the skyline from sunset through dawn Saturday, with a live national broadcast on Disney-affiliated channels and streamers. Dozens of iconic buildings across the five boroughs and nationwide will join by illuminating their facades and rooftops in blue.
The September 11, 2001 attacks destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center after hijacked planes struck the north tower at 8:46 a.m. And the south tower at 9:03 a.m. Two additional hijacked planes crashed into the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The annual Ground Zero ceremony has since drawn victims’ families, survivors, first responders and national leaders to the site where the towers once stood, with moments of silence marking each key instant of that morning’s devastation.