NEW YORK, September 15, 2026 – It rained softly over lower Manhattan on a Friday morning, but that didn’t deter people from going there. At 7:00 AM, people were standing on the oak-lined square at Ground Zero by the thousands. People carried faded photographs, the elderly wiped their tears, and youth stood in reverence.
A quarter-century has vanished since the Twin Towers collapsed, yet the wound remains raw.
The 25th anniversary of September 11 added a new gravity to the annual commemoration. As highlighted in coverage of how America observes the 25th anniversary of 9/11, more than 100 million living Americans have not been alive since 2001. The demographic reality loomed over the plaza – a gentle reminder that memory will eventually turn into history.
As the clock struck 8:46 AM, a bell rang out. The entire plaza became silent as traffic on West Street ceased for the first of seven moments of silence that would occur in remembrance of those lost to the planes that hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. For the first time, there was a moment of silence added to the already existing six moments of silence, one to remember the thousands of first responders and residents who had died from toxic exposure years after the tragedy occurred.
The families took turns in reading the names of the 2,983 people engraved in the bronze parapets. Some stuttered, some read with confidence. The young adult readers, who had never met their uncles or grandfathers, talked to the skies.
And political leaders looked on from the sidelines. As per tradition, no politician spoke in the New York service. Vice President JD Vance was present among former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden. President Donald Trump preferred to celebrate the occasion in Arlington, and he did that by giving his speech at the Pentagon memorial service.
The streets were full of people unable to gain access to the plaza. Some had American flags while some just sat against the barricades listening to the service broadcast via the loudspeakers mounted on traffic poles.
“I brought my daughter here so she’d understand,” said Marcus Vance, who traveled from Ohio to attend. “You read about it in textbooks, sure, but standing by these poles? Seeing these names? It’s completely different.”
As evening set in, the annual “Tribute in Light” illuminated the sky once again. Two large blue pillars stood at a height of four miles to create the image of the destroyed buildings. Local businesses kept the lights dim in honor of those buildings, while people either took pictures or gazed up at the sky.
After twenty-five years, there’s no resemblance between the city then and now. Skyscrapers encircle the area, fast ferries travel across the Hudson, and younger people live in the neighborhood. However, each fall, time freezes here. The water continues moving in the pools, and the country recalls its losses.
