Thursday-Dec. 24. ‘Tis the final season for the 23-year-old theatrical tradition known as “Santa’s Big Red Sack,” which is returning with “nonstop sketch comedy, music and technology bursting at the seams,” according to its creators. It’s celebrating its last year of offensive glee, so buy a shot and make sure to leave your propriety at the door. (Note: This bawdy production is not, as you may have guessed, for kids.)
It takes place at various times and dates from Dec. 4 to Dec. 24 at The People’s Building, 9995 E. Colfax Ave. in Aurora. Tickets are $39.10 via thepeoplesbuilding.com/tickets.
(Provided by Denver Museum of Nature & Science)
Magical Winter Nights
Through Jan 4. When it comes to holiday light displays in City Park, Denver Zoo Lights tends to have it covered. But don’t count out the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, also located in City Park. The institution this year has launched Magical Winter Nights, its very own holiday celebration running through Jan. 4, 2026. The “dazzling winter wonderland” has “glowing savannah skies, shimmering northern lights and cozy cocoa (to) create memories that will last a lifetime,” according to the museum.
“This experience takes you on a journey through select areas of the museum, specifically the West Atrium and third-floor diorama halls,” organizers added. “These spaces have been transformed into a series of enchanting winter worlds just waiting to be explored. Under sparkling stars and through a series of immersive scenes, there’s something for everyone in this adventure designed to delight all ages.”
The first entry is 4:15 p.m. daily, with 21-and-up nights on Dec. 4, 11 and 18. Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for ages 3-18, and $22 for seniors. 2001 Colorado Blvd. in Denver. Call 303-370-6000 or visit dmns.org for more.
The “Moonlight Elves” holiday show blends family-friendly variety acts such as aerial dancers, magicians and more. (Provided by Starry Night Productions)
Fly, Moonlight Elves!
Through Dec. 7. Denver’s always-curious (in a good way) Starry Night Productions and Theatre Artibus this year are debuting “Moonlight Elves,” which they dub “a circus-immersive holiday extravaganza,” playing Nov. 26-30 and Dec. 3-7 at Savoy Denver.
The show blends comedy, circus, interactive games and theatrical spectacle, according to Starry Night’s Amber Blais, with “dazzling aerial artistry, juggling, magic acts, and playful audience participation … costumes and elf ears are encouraged” (ears are, of course, available for purchase on site). Audiences can arrive early for interactive lobby fun, including arts and crafts, holiday drinks from the bar, and special visits from Santa (James Brunt) on Saturdays and Sundays, she added.
The all-ages shows take place at 7 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, at 2700 Arapahoe St. in Denver. Tickets: $35 via ostarrynight.com
Probationary Golden firefighter Lauren La Bella holds a specially designed 9-11 American flag as she takes part in the 9-11 Memorial Stair Climb at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre on Sept. 11, 2022 in Morrison. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
U.S. history, from George Washington to 9/11
Open now. “Our story was never inevitable,” History Colorado writes. “We shaped it at every turn.” But how, exactly? The state’s historical society answers that with a new exhibition as Colorado’s and America’s dual anniversaries approach. “Moments That Made Us” displays rare artifacts that enlighten “nearly 50 turning points in American history from a variety of perspectives,” highlighting “both challenging and celebratory times, from Mesa Verde to Valley Forge to Ebbets Field,” curators wrote.
Get up close with a silver spoon made by Paul Revere, a set of spurs worn by President George Washington at Valley Forge in 1777, one of the first Mexican editions of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo from 1848, Jackie Robinson’s baseball bat, a firefighter helmet from 9/11’s Ground Zero in 2001 and — this one’s pretty cool — the tape recorder used by President Richard Nixon at the center of the Watergate Scandal in 1973, the museum said.
It runs through Oct. 18, 2026, at History Colorado Center, 1200 Broadway in Denver. Included with admission. Call 303-447-8679 or visit historycolorado.org/exhibit/moments-made-us for more details.
Newly discovered documents may reveal that City Hall had additional details about the dangerous toxic maelstrom that swirled around Ground Zero in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which has led to the deaths of thousands of first responders.
Members of the FDNY and the firefighters union are demanding answers after 68 boxes of information were discovered that could provide more insight into the dust which survivors and first responders were exposed to in the days, weeks and months following the attacks at the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan.
For many, it’s personal.
“My father passed away two and a half years ago from Works Trade Center-related illnesses. My family needs to know,” said Andrew Ansbro, the head of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
Ansbro’s union lost 343 firefighters on 9/11.
“New York City firefighters demand to know who in NYC government hid those documents,” he said.
The dust that first responders were breathing in for hours, day after day, has already been blamed for 9,000 lives lost in the years since the attacks.
“It’s heartbreaking for me as a member of the 9/11 community to realize how much sooner people might have gotten treatment,” said Michael Barasch, an attorney for World Trade Center Exposure Cases.
The heartbreak was caused by what investigators found earlier in November inside a city office building in Queens.
“I don’t know where these boxes have been. We saw 20 boxes,” said NYC Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who noted that she saw the boxes “with my own eyes.”
Brewer previously demanded city agencies reveal what documents they had that could shed new light on air quality at the time. That’s what led to the disclosure of 68 boxes of files that had never been shown to victims’ families before.
“I don’t know where they came from. I don’t know where they’ve been for the last 20 years,” Brewer said.
What is in the documents? That has not been disclosed that yet.
“While we cannot comment on the specifics of pending litigation, the city has begun turning over documents to plaintiff’s counsel, and both parties are working out a schedule to continue this process,” said the office for New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
It was former NYPD officer James Zadrogas death from respiratory illness that led to the creation of the World Trade Center Health Fund.
“We know the dust was toxic. We know this from my client Jimmy Zadroga’s autopsy,” said Barasch. “Which showed ground glass and benzene and carcinogens in his lung tissue.”
As I think about Dick Cheney after his death, my memory offers up a snippet from an interview I had with Bob Michel when I was reporting for a New Yorkerprofile of Cheney that appeared in 2001. Michel now looks like a figure from a forgotten Republican past, an amiable congressman from Peoria, Illinois, who had voted for all the major civil-rights laws and who loved crafting legislative compromises with Democrats. In the eighties and early nineties, Michel was the House Minority Leader. The rise of Newt Gingrich and his incendiary brand of Republicanism eventually forced Michel aside—but during much of the time that Michel was leader, Cheney was one of his principal deputies. In the interview, I suggested to Michel that Cheney might be a conservative ideologue. Michel did an instant, reflexive double take: Dick Cheney? The phlegmatic-process guy? No way.
We were speaking some months before the September 11th attacks, and it’s likely that George W. Bush still saw Cheney in the same way that Michel did. Cheney had loyally served George H. W. Bush, a much more moderate Republican than his son, had been chief executive of a Dallas-based energy contractor, and had gone from running the 2000 Republican Vice-Presidential search—a perfect assignment for a neutral professional—to becoming the Vice-Presidential nominee himself. After 9/11, it instantly became clear that Cheney had been a genius at appearing to be neutral, at least to Republicans who outranked him, rather than actually having been neutral. Within minutes of the attacks, he was in charge (Bush was out of town), expertly putting the country on a path that led to the War on Terror and the Iraq War.
How did Cheney manage to strike people as something he wasn’t? When did he become so conservative? And, finally, his reappearance in recent years as a passionate opponent of Donald Trump raises what might be the most interesting question of all: What was it, exactly, that made the currently reigning version of conservatism so repellent to him?
My theory is that Cheney’s time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the late nineteen-sixties was his ideological Rosebud. Cheney married Lynne Vincent, his home-town sweetheart from Casper, Wyoming, in 1964. Both of them were the children of career civil servants. With their echt-small-town middle-class backgrounds, plus Dick’s practice of saying as little as possible, they came across as generically, unremarkably Middle American. In 1966, the Cheneys enrolled as doctoral students in Madison; he in political science, she in English. Dick didn’t complete his degree because he went to work for Wisconsin’s governor, Warren Knowles, another moderate Republican. Lynne did finish, in 1970, the same year that radicals bombed a mathematics research center on the university’s campus, killing one person who was inside. The Cheneys appear to have taken from their time in Wisconsin an abiding conviction that the far left is an ever-present threat that Democrats and liberals are incapable of taking seriously. In 2001, Lynne told me that those years had converted them to conservatism. Dick said, “When I was given a choice between returning to academia or staying in the political area, it really wasn’t a close call.”
Dick Cheney was always far more interested in foreign policy than domestic policy. From H. Bradford Westerfeld, a professor he studied with during his brief time as an undergraduate at Yale (he left after two years and later graduated from the University of Wyoming), he absorbed the idea of the Cold War as a world-defining existential struggle. When the Soviet Union collapsed, Cheney, then Secretary of Defense, quickly commissioned a report suggesting that the United States become the world’s lone superpower—permanently, if possible. Even so, threats, including from radical Islam, preoccupied him. He saw 9/11 not just as an attack to be answered, but as an opportunity to make the U.S. safer by using military force to transform the entire Middle East into an America-friendly region. Cheney believed that our enemies, if shown strength at a level that was beyond the capabilities of liberals, would always submit to our will. It didn’t seem to occur to him that the Iraq adventure would not work out.
If you gave a modern Dr. Frankenstein the challenge of designing a Republican whom Cheney would find repellent, it would be impossible for him to invent someone more perfect than Trump: citified, undignified, showily rich, unable to ever remain silent, and drawn to dealmaking rather than force as the way to solve problems. Substantively, a crucial element of Trump’s appeal was his denunciation of the “forever wars,” of which Cheney had been the principal author. Cheney probably never had any illusion that his brand of maximal hawkishness had broad public support, but Trump demonstrating that he could make anti-Cheneyism unstoppably potent with Republican voters still must have stung. His very loyal and very Republican daughter Liz, whom he would have liked to see rise as high or higher than he did, wound up being unable to hold her father’s old seat in the House in the face of Trump’s vengeance, after she had become an unusually public intraparty critic of his.
Cheney’s life makes for a good means of tracking the evolution of the Republican Party and American conservatism over the past half century. He started his political career in a party dominated by moderates, and helped to make it far more conservative. But he was always an inside player, who didn’t anticipate that more conservative would also come to mean flamboyantly populist. In his own distinctively pessimistic way, he participated both in crafting the zenith moment of American power, around the turn of the millennium, and then in devising the overreach that brought that moment to an end. He saw a series of early twenty-first-century disasters—9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, the financial crisis—lead to the revival of isolationism, the ideology he feared most, as the dominant element in his party, when he’d thought it resided mainly on the left.
Thanks to luck or grit, Cheney lived longer than anyone expected, given his spectacular heart problems: five heart attacks, beginning when he was still in his thirties, and then a transplant. His surprising survivability gave him the opportunity to change, in the end, from taciturn company man to florid dissenter. This wasn’t natural for him, and it couldn’t have made him happy. He must have died disappointed. ♦
RED HOOK, Brooklyn (WABC) — The Tunnel to Towers Foundation kicked off its 24th annual “5K Run and Walk” on Sunday honoring the fallen first responders of 9/11.
Nearly 40,000 people are expected to participate in the event, which takes place each year on the last Sunday of September.
What began with 1,500 people in 2002, one year after the terror attacks, is now considered by many to be one of the top 5K runs in America.
The event retraces the final footsteps of FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller on Sept. 11, 2001, from the foot of the Battery Tunnel in Brooklyn to the Twin Towers in Lower Manhattan.
Assigned to FDNY’s First Squad, Siller had just finished his shift and was on his way to play golf with his brothers when he heard over the radio that a plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Photograph of 9/11 first responder and FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller.
Tunnel to Towers Foundation
In response, he drove his truck to the entrance of the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, formerly known as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, but found out it had closed. Siller then strapped 60 pounds of gear to his back and raced on foot to the Twin Towers, where he sacrificed his life to save others in the terror attacks.
Ahead of the race, Eyewitness News caught up with his son, Stephen Siller Jr., who described his father’s legacy.
“I feel like I hit the lottery in terms of a dad. You know, I didn’t get much time with him, but he gave me an example of how to live the rest of my life and what my priorities should be,” Siller Jr. said. “To see this and the legacy he left behind with his sacrifice and what he did for other people, it’s motivation to just make sure I’m living for other people too.”
Chantee Lans speaks with Stephen Siller Jr. about the event and his father’s legacy.
Sunday’s run and walk pays homages to more than 340 FDNY firefighters, law enforcement officers and thousands of civilians who lost their lives on September 11. Proceeds from the event support the foundation’s programs, including those benefitting first responders and service members injured in the line of duty.
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
On Sept. 11, 2001, 11-year-old Magee Capsouto and her family lived in Lower Manhattan, just five blocks north of the World Trade Center.
“It was one of those days, like perfect fall. You know, you go outside, the sky is blue, you don’t see a cloud in the sky,” Capsouto, who now lives in the Philadelphia area, said.
Capsouto, her younger brother and their mother had walked over to the farmers market at the World Trade Center Plaza.
“We happened to be looking north, and we watched the plane barrel straight down the street and hit the north tower,” she said. “There was definitely no figuring out which way was up, it was just a very primal screaming for our mom. She came running back, she grabbed us, and she pulled us and we ran across the street.”
Courtesy of Magee Capsouto
With their home compromised once the South Tower collapsed, the family ran half a mile north out of harm’s way.
“My parents owned a restaurant, and that just was the only place we could think to go,” she said.
Her parents decided to open the restaurant to the community, serving three free meals a day to anyone who needed it.
“We actually became kind of a de facto staging ground for first responders, for people who spent their days on the pile trying to find survivors,” Capsouto said.
One night in the days after the attacks, Capsouto did something that helped change the course of her life.
“One of our neighbors from the building was like, ‘Hey, you play violin, I think that would be a great thing.’ And so they just kind of threw me up on a table, and I played,” she said. “And there was something deeply, deeply powerful about being able to give back.”
Capsouto would go on to play the violin professionally, including her current stint with the Philly Pops. She’s also earned her doctorate in music arts and works to advocate for equity in classical music.
Her younger brother is now a firefighter, both lives changed and shaped, like so many others, by the horrors of that day and the warmth, love and community borne of it.
“Music is a language that doesn’t require words,” she said, “and so we could just be in the moment of music together.”
On Thursday, America marked the 24th anniversary of the deadly attacks with solemn ceremonies at commemorations in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, punctuated by moments of silence, the tolling of bells and the reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 killed.
Sept 11 Anniversary Flags and flowers are placed in the inscribed names at the National September 11 Memorial in New York on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Donald King)
AP Photo/Donald King
Sept 11 Anniversary Sam Pulia places flags on names inscribed in the 9/11 Memorial before the start of a ceremony commemorating the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
APTOPIX Sept 11 Anniversary Flowers lay on names inscribed at the 9/11 Memorial before the start of a ceremony commemorating the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Sept 11 Anniversary Flags decorate names inscribed at the 9/11 Memorial before the start of a ceremony commemorating the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Sept 11 Anniversary Port Authority police officers stand near a memorial pool before the start of a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks in New York, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Trump Sept 11 Anniversary President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive to a ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Trump Sept 11 Anniversary Armed Forces and first responders attend a ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, at the Pentagon in Washington, also attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
APTOPIX Trump Sept 11 Anniversary President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend a ceremony at the Pentagon to commemorate the 24rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Sept 11 Anniversary Karen Bingham, right,, who lost her son Mark Bingham in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, is shown with family members at the Wall of Names during Flight 93 National Memorial’s 24th annual remembrance ceremony near Shanksville, Pa., Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (John Rucosky/The Tribune-Democrat via AP)
John Rucosky/The Tribune-Democrat via AP
Sept 11 Anniversary A firefighter rings a bell during a ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
APTOPIX Sept 11 Anniversary First responders salute as an American flag is unfurled from the top of the Pentagon at sunrise, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
APTOPIX Sept 11 Anniversary William Staudt, a firefighter that worked at Ground Zero on the day of the attacks, looks over a reflecting pool during a ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Sept 11 Anniversary People hold up pictures of family members during a ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Sept 11 Anniversary Mary Beth Delarm looks over the the names on the the 9/11 Memorial during a ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
APTOPIX Sept 11 Anniversary People bow their heads during a moment of silence during a ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a quarter century has passed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but for many, the emotions of the day remain raw as ever.
On Thursday, America marked the 24th anniversary of the deadly attacks with solemn ceremonies in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The commemorations were punctuated by moments of silence, the tolling of bells and the reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 killed.
“Even 24 years later, it’s heart-wrenching,” said Jennifer Nilsen, who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of her husband, Troy Nilsen, as she attended the commemoration at ground zero in lower Manhattan. “It feels the same way every year.”
Michelle Pizzo, wearing a shirt with the image of her late husband, Jason DeFazio, said she hoped more people could take a minute to reflect on the day.
“Younger kids don’t realize that you have to remember,” she said.
Emma Williamson, 20, of Massachusetts, made a point to travel from her college uptown to stand near ground zero, where two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets inscribed with the names of the dead mark the spots where the twin towers once stood.
“I wasn’t born when it happened, but it was really an important day in America,” she said. “It’s kind of the last time we all stuck together, and that matters.”
The reading of names and moments of silence
The 9/11 anniversary, often promoted as a day of national unity, came during a time of increased politician tension.
The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college a day earlier prompted additional security measures at ground zero, where FBI Director Kash Patel was among the dignitaries in attendance.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, had planned to attend but instead are set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City, according to a person familiar with Vance’s plans, but not authorized to speak about them publicly.
Many in the crowd at ground zero held up photos of lost loved ones as a moment of silence marked the exact time when the first hijacked plane struck the iconic twin towers.
Loved ones then read aloud the names of the victims, with many giving personal remembrances, well wishes and updates on their lives.
Zoe Doyle, daughter of Frank Joseph Doyle, said her family created a nonprofit in his honor that’s built schools in South Africa and is feeding and educating thousands of children.
Manuel DaMota Jr. said he remembers his father and namesake, Manuel DaMota, not just with grief, but with gratitude for the example he set.
“In a world filled with division and conflict, I do my best to honor my father by choosing connection, empathy and hope,” he said.
Melissa Pullis, whose husband Edward Pullis died in the towers, said this year is more difficult than others because two of the couple’s three children are getting married.
“You can’t walk your princess down the aisle,” she said through tears. “You are missed every day. We will always say your name, and we will always fight for justice.”
Ceremonies in Virginia and Pennsylvania honor victims
At the Pentagon in Virginia, the 184 service members and civilians killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military were honored in a ceremony attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
The president, in his remarks, recounted moments from that day, including snippets of conversations from passengers who were aboard the hijacked airplanes.
“Today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget Sept. 11, 2001,” Trump said during the observance, which took place in an internal courtyard of the building rather than its traditional location outside its walls near the building’s 9/11 memorial.
“The enemy will always fail,” he added. “We defy the fear, endure the flames.”
The president, who was expected to attend a New York Yankees game in the Bronx on Thursday evening, also announced Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him a “giant of his generation” and a “champion of liberty.”
And in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a ceremony attended by Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins honored the victims of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit.
Elsewhere, people marked the anniversary with service projects and charitable works as part of a national day of service. Volunteers took part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleanups, blood banks and other community events.
Reverberations from attacks persist
In all, the attacks by al-Qaida militants killed 2,977 people, including many financial workers at the World Trade Center and firefighters and police officers who had rushed to the burning buildings trying to save lives.
The attacks reverberated globally, altering the course of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. It led to the “ Global War on Terrorism ” and the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and troops.
The U.S. government has also spent billions of dollars providing health care and compensation to tens of thousands of people who were exposed to the toxic dust that billowed over parts of Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed.
While the hijackers died in the attacks, federal officials have struggled to conclude the long-running legal case against the man accused of masterminding the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The former al-Qaida leader was arrested in 2003, but has never received a trial.
The Trump administration has also acknowledged its considering ways to take control of the ground zero memorial plaza and its underground museum, which are run by a public charity.
___
Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz in New York City, Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, New Jersey, Michael Hill in Albany, New York, and Michelle L. Price and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this story.
More than 400 firefighters have died due to health complications from working in the toxic debris at Ground Zero following the 9/11 attacks. Dr. Steven Markowitz, a member of the board which advises the World Trade Center health program, joins to discuss.
Rarely seen video from 9/11 now preserved by New York Public Library – CBS News
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It’s been 24 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Now, many of the scenes recorded by citizens are being preserved by the New York Public Library. Elaine Quijano got a look at some of the rarely seen footage.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly a quarter century has passed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but for many, the emotions of the day remain raw as ever.
On Thursday, America marked the 24th anniversary of the deadly attacks with solemn ceremonies in New York, at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The commemorations were punctuated by moments of silence, the tolling of bells and the reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 killed.
“Even 24 years later, it’s heart-wrenching,” said Jennifer Nilsen, who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with an image of her husband, Troy Nilsen, as she attended the commemoration at ground zero in lower Manhattan. “It feels the same way every year.”
Michelle Pizzo, wearing a shirt with the image of her late husband, Jason DeFazio, said she hoped more people could take a minute to reflect on the day.
“Younger kids don’t realize that you have to remember,” she said.
Emma Williamson, 20, of Massachusetts, made a point to travel from her college uptown to stand near ground zero, where two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets inscribed with the names of the dead mark the spots where the twin towers once stood.
“I wasn’t born when it happened, but it was really an important day in America,” she said. “It’s kind of the last time we all stuck together, and that matters.”
The reading of names and moments of silence
The 9/11 anniversary, often promoted as a day of national unity, came during a time of increased politician tension.
The assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college a day earlier prompted additional security measures at ground zero, where FBI Director Kash Patel was among the dignitaries in attendance.
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, had planned to attend but instead are set to visit with Kirk’s family on Thursday in Salt Lake City, according to a person familiar with Vance’s plans, but not authorized to speak about them publicly.
Many in the crowd at ground zero held up photos of lost loved ones as a moment of silence marked the exact time when the first hijacked plane struck the iconic twin towers.
Loved ones then read aloud the names of the victims, with many giving personal remembrances, well wishes and updates on their lives.
Zoe Doyle, daughter of Frank Joseph Doyle, said her family created a nonprofit in his honor that’s built schools in South Africa and is feeding and educating thousands of children.
Manuel DaMota Jr. said he remembers his father and namesake, Manuel DaMota, not just with grief, but with gratitude for the example he set.
“In a world filled with division and conflict, I do my best to honor my father by choosing connection, empathy and hope,” he said.
Melissa Pullis, whose husband Edward Pullis died in the towers, said this year is more difficult than others because two of the couple’s three children are getting married.
“You can’t walk your princess down the aisle,” she said through tears. “You are missed every day. We will always say your name, and we will always fight for justice.”
Ceremonies in Virginia and Pennsylvania honor victims
At the Pentagon in Virginia, the 184 service members and civilians killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military were honored in a ceremony attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
The president, in his remarks, recounted moments from that day, including snippets of conversations from passengers who were aboard the hijacked airplanes.
“Today, as one nation, we renew our sacred vow that we will never forget Sept. 11, 2001,” Trump said during the observance, which took place in an internal courtyard of the building rather than its traditional location outside its walls near the building’s 9/11 memorial.
“The enemy will always fail,” he added. “We defy the fear, endure the flames.”
The president, who was expected to attend a New York Yankees game in the Bronx on Thursday evening, also announced Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling him a “giant of his generation” and a “champion of liberty.”
And in a rural field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, a ceremony attended by Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins honored the victims of Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed after crew members and passengers tried to storm the cockpit.
Elsewhere, people marked the anniversary with service projects and charitable works as part of a national day of service. Volunteers took part in food and clothing drives, park and neighborhood cleanups, blood banks and other community events.
Reverberations from attacks persist
In all, the attacks by al-Qaida militants killed 2,977 people, including many financial workers at the World Trade Center and firefighters and police officers who had rushed to the burning buildings trying to save lives.
The attacks reverberated globally, altering the course of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. It led to the “ Global War on Terrorism ” and the U.S.-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and related conflicts that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and troops.
The U.S. government has also spent billions of dollars providing health care and compensation to tens of thousands of people who were exposed to the toxic dust that billowed over parts of Manhattan when the twin towers collapsed.
While the hijackers died in the attacks, federal officials have struggled to conclude the long-running legal case against the man accused of masterminding the plot, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The former al-Qaida leader was arrested in 2003, but has never received a trial.
The Trump administration has also acknowledged its considering ways to take control of the ground zero memorial plaza and its underground museum, which are run by a public charity.
More than 500 veterans, first responders, and community members climbed 2,071 steps at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Thursday morning to honor the 2,977 people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The second annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, organized by Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, brought participants together to ascend 110 stories through the stadium stands, symbolizing the height of the Twin Towers.
“We will never forget,” said Lorenzo Suarez, managing director of the Master’s in Business for Veterans program at Goizueta Business School and the event’s organizer. “Even though it’s been 24 years, we will never forget, and it’s important to bring everyone together.”
The event drew a diverse crowd that included Atlanta police officers, firefighters, ROTC cadets, and civilians from across the metro area.
Atlanta Police Assistant Chief Carven Tyus, who was an investigator assigned to the Special Victims Unit on Sept. 11, 2001, spoke during the opening ceremony at the stadium before the run, citing that he felt compelled to participate in the memorial climb.
“I was at work when every television station went to what was happening with the Twin Towers,” said Tyus, who has served 32 years with the Atlanta Police Department. “It just gave us pause. It changed the way America looked at security.”
The climb honored the 343 firefighters and paramedics and 72 law enforcement officers who died responding to the attacks, as well as all victims of the terrorist strikes in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.
Retired Maj. Gen. Matthew D. Smith, executive director of veterans initiatives at Emory University, served as the master of ceremonies during the opening ceremony, noted the unity displayed at the event contrasted with today’s political divisiveness. Participants encouraged their fellow man throughout the climb, with strangers & loved ones cheering on fellow climbers as they ascended the stadium steps.
“The unity that existed in our country after the tragic events of 9/11 was really very special,” Smith said. “When contrasted with the divisiveness we see today, it’s something to strive for.”
Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Smith, who started working at IBM in Atlanta on Sept. 4, 2001, said the attacks changed the trajectory of his life. He was called to active duty with the Georgia Army National Guard 15 months later for the invasion of Iraq and served almost 25 years on active duty.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium donated the use of its facilities for the event, while BlackRock provided financial support to allow free participation. Other sponsors included Metropolis Parking and OneLife Fitness.
The memorial even brought out those who were not yet born during the attacks, including University of North Georgia (UNG) ROTC cadets who said they participated to represent something larger than themselves and support the first responder community.
Photo by Tabius McCoy/The Atlanta Voice
Jaden Wilbur, a 21-year-old UNG senior, an infantry cadet in army, said the event represents unity in a divided time.
“9/11 symbolizes us as a country coming together,” Wilbur said.
Jordan Narhmartey, an 18-year-old UNG freshman studying to be a chaplain in the Army with plans to transfer to the Air Force, said the memorial held personal significance despite his young age.
“I want to represent something bigger than myself,” Narhmartey said. “With the events happening on 9/11, I want to support my country even more.”
For Tyus, the memorial serves a crucial purpose for future generations.
“We have to keep this memory alive for the people coming behind us,” he said. “Some knew that they were never going to come down. So I would be remiss if I didn’t come here and just help keep that memory alive in some way.”
In St. Paul, Minnesota, hundreds of volunteers are packing meals for those in need.
This is the fourth year volunteers are packing meals in observance of 9/11. This year, there are more than 500 volunteers packing nearly 200,000 meals for those in need.
The healthy, non-perishable meals will then go to Second Harvest Heartland before being sent out to Twin Cities food shelves and meal programs.
The volunteers at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul are packing taco macaroni, and it’s set to hit the tables of families in a day or two.
According to Feeding America, 47 million Americans face food insecurity.
Maddie Archbold with Second Harvest Heartland says in Minnesota, the need is the most it’s been in years.
“People are usually surprised to hear us say that the need is actually higher today than it has been in decades,” Archbold said. “We’re seeing that one in five Minnesota households is currently without the food they need to thrive and many of them are having to turn to external supports like their local food shelf or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in order to feed their families.”
September is Hunger Action Month. Second Harvest invites the public to volunteer at a local food shelf or food bank.
A ground of wounded veterans is biking hundreds of miles in memory of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
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Wounded veterans remember 9/11 as cycling team finishes 350-mile relay in DC
A team of athletes made up of wounded military personnel and veterans crossed the finish line together on a 350-mile bike ride down the east coast Wednesday in D.C.
As the Achilles Freedom Team rode in a weeklong relay across five northeastern cities, memories of the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, loomed large.
WTOP spoke with two service members who were severely wounded in the line of duty — but that hasn’t stopped them. They’re among the dozen or so athletes with the Achilles Freedom Team who arrived at the Kennedy Center midday Wednesday.
“Heck of a long ride,” said retired Army Sgt. Omar Duran. “I was blessed to be offered the position to go.”
The team started in Hartford, Connecticut, visited every chapter of Achilles International, an organization that brings athletic programs to those with disabilities, stopping in New York and Philadelphia before ending in the nation’s capital.
Duran served in both Afghanistan and Iraq and was wounded in combat. He started with the Achilles team in 2012 while he was going through physical rehabilitation at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“They kept breaking the bubble to chip away at the anger, to finally get me to join up. I did one event with them, and I met other veterans, and it was a blessing at that point, and I knew this is where I needed to be and this journey still continues,” Duran said.
Fellow athlete Master Sgt. Cedric King also joined an Achilles team while he was in Walter Reed after a double amputation of his legs. He was wounded by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2012.
King said the snow in D.C. is what made him join Achilles, they offered him a flight to Disney World to compete in a marathon so he could get away from the mid-Atlantic February chill.
“It was three feet of snow outside. I wanted to go anywhere, but here,” King said jokingly. “They said, ‘Well, if you like, we’ll give you a chance to run a marathon or hand cycle a marathon.’ I was like ‘I would crawl a marathon to get out of here in D.C. in February.’”
But eventually Achilles International became more to King.
“I got a chance to reintroduce me to me,” he said.
King thanked the The Cigna Group and Achilles International for spearheading this effort to get more disabled Americans active, especially those who were disabled in combat.
“The possibilities of what these guys are doing with their disabilities, it is life changing. It’s life changing. It’s proof that disabilities don’t have to disable you,” King said.
Remembering 9/11
Both men think about the sacrifices and lives lost during the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
“The sacrifice I made because of 9/11 … it’s a day of a whole journey,” Duran said. “What my true friends gave up … I have to go visit now at their grave sites or call their family once a year on the day of their passing.”
But Duran said it is now a positive journey because of events like the relay he participated in, conquering a common goal with his brothers in arms.
“I was a young infantryman. I saw the towers go down. I didn’t know that we were getting ready to go into 20 years of combat, but I knew that our name was getting ready to get called upon,” King said.
He called his service a privilege.
“I didn’t realize it then, but I realize it now. It was a privilege. It was a privilege to serve this country. It’s a privilege to lead men in combat. It’s a privilege for you to find out who you really are when the bullets start flying and things get tough. It’s a privilege,” said King. “I’m so proud that I was a part of putting my blood, sweat and tears to keep that flag flying. It counts. Man, I know it sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth, though, man, it’s the truth.”
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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 is taking place this morning at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan, which includes six moments of silence.
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
“Many of our enemies, foreign and domestic, thought we were going to collapse as a country, but we got up 9/12,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said ahead of the ceremony. “Teachers taught, builders built. We showed the globe our resiliency, even in the midst of pain.”
Adams is among the mourners, along with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and former New York City Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. President Trump was not expected to attend but is at the Pentagon observance instead.
Watch live coverage of the 9/11 memorial ceremony on CBS News New York, in the video player above.
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. The ceremony is expected to conclude around 12:30 p.m.
During the ceremony, family members of all those killed on 9/11 gather at Ground Zero to read the names of those who died in the attacks.
At exactly 8:46 a.m., the first citywide moment of silence marked when Flight 11 struck the North Tower.
Timeline of the 9/11 ceremony and 6 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.
Jesse Zanger is the managing editor of CBSNewYork.com. Jesse has previously worked for the Fox News Channel and Spectrum News NY1. He covers regional news around the Tri-State Area, with a particular focus on breaking news and extreme weather.
In honor of all who died on Sept. 11, 2001, all U.S. and Minnesota flags have been ordered to fly at half-staff at all state buildings.
Gov. Tim Walz issued the order on Wednesday, saying in part that “thousands of innocent lives were lost in an unthinkable tragedy that profoundly changed our nation.”
In the years that followed the terrorist attacks, Sept. 11 was designated as Patriot Day by Congress, which also asked the day be observed as National Day of Service and Remembrance.
Kirk, at the time, was speaking to a large crowd during an outdoor debate, where he invited students to challenge his political and cultural views. He was shot shortly after 12 p.m. local time.
At the Pentagon, in Virginia, the 184 service members and civilians killed when hijackers steered a jetliner into the headquarters of the U.S. military will be honored. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will attend the service.
Watch the ceremony from the Pentagon below.
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It’s a somber ceremony when New Yorkers and the nation vow to “never forget” what happened on that day.
What happened on 9/11
New York City firefighters work at the World Trade Center after two hijacked planes crashed into the Twin Towers September 11, 2001.
Ron Agam / Getty Images
The shorthand “9/11” stands for September 11th, when terrorist carried out coordinated attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia.
Nineteen terrorists from the Islamist extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four planes, deliberately crashing two of them into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and another into the Pentagon.
A fourth hijacked plane was headed for the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., but passengers and crew members fought back, and it crashed into an empty field in Pennsylvania.
While many remember the horrific images of that day, we also share the harrowing stories of first responders and volunteers who rushed to help with the rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero.
Looking back at 9/11, 24 years ago
U.S. President George W. Bush sits at his desk in the Oval Office after addressing the nation about the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC September11, 2001 in Washington, DC.
Mark Wilson / Getty Images
The 9/11 terror attacks took place 24 years ago on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001.
George W. Bush was nine months into his first term in office, and Rudy Giuliani was in his final months as mayor of New York City.
Derek Jeter was still the Yankees’ captain, “I’m Real” by Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule was atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and Gary Condit and Chandra Levy were a top news story of the day.
The attacks happened on Primary Election Day in the city, less than a week after students went back to school for the year. Polls opened at 6 a.m. that morning, just hours before tragedy struck.
Moments of silence mark when the planes hit the Twin Towers
In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 file photo, the remains of the World Trade Center stand amid other debris following the terrorist attack on the buildings in New York.
Alexandre Fuchs / AP
Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 a.m., then Flight 175 struck the South Tower 17 minutes later at 9:03 a.m.
The hijacked planes burst into flames upon impact, and the intensity of their burning jet fuel caused both towers to collapse.
Thursday’s memorial ceremony will pause for six moments of silence to mark when the planes crashed and when each tower fell.
7:59 a.m. — American Airlines Flight 11 takes off from Logan International Airport in Boston with 76 passengers, 11 crew members and five hijackers on board
8:15 a.m. — United Airlines Flight 175 takes off in Boston with 51 passengers, nine crew members and five hijackers
8:20 a.m. — American Airlines Flight 77 takes off from Washington Dulles International Airport in D.C. with 53 passengers, six crew members and five hijackers
8:42 a.m. — United Airlines Flight 93 takes off from Newark Liberty International Airport with 33 passengers, seven crew members and four hijackers
8:46 a.m. — Flight 11 crashes into the North Tower in Lower Manhattan
9:03 a.m. — Flight 175 crashes into the South Tower
9:37 a.m. — Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon in D.C.
9:59 a.m. — South Tower collapses
10:03 a.m. — Flight 93 crashes into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after the passengers and crew stormed the cockpit
10:28 a.m. — North Tower collapses
In addition to the Twin Towers, five other buildings were destroyed by the damage at the World Trade Center. The cleanup efforts took months, and the last piece of steel was ceremonially removed on May 30, 2002.
Number of people killed on 9/11 was highest death toll on U.S. soil
Firefighter Gerard McGibbon, of Engine 283 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, prays after the World Trade Center buildings collapsed September 11, 2001.
Mario Tama / Getty Images
The attacks killed 2,977 people from 90 different countries.
Most of them — 2,753 — were killed in New York, while 184 were killed at the Pentagon and 40 were killed on board Flight 93.
The World Trade Center stood as a symbol of America’s global economic power, and the Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in the city. Somewhere between 16,400 and 18,000 people were inside the complex at the time.
These were the deadliest attacks ever on U.S. soil, following the more than 2,400 Americans killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Only pandemics or natural disasters have claimed more U.S. lives.
The World Trade Center was also attacked in 1993, when terrorists detonated a van underground, killing six people and injuring thousands.
Renee Anderson is a digital producer at CBS New York, where she covers breaking news and other local stories. Before joining the team in 2016, Renee worked at WMUR-TV.
President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday that it is exploring whether the federal government can take control of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City.The site in lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed by hijacked jetliners on Sept. 11, 2001, features two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets with the names of the dead, and an underground museum. Since opening to the public in 2014, the memorial plaza and museum have been run by a public charity, now chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic.The White House confirmed the administration has had “preliminary exploratory discussions” about the idea, but declined to elaborate. The office noted the Republican pledged during his campaign last year to make the site a national monument, protected and maintained by the federal government.But officials at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum say the federal government, under current laws, can’t unilaterally take over the site, which is located on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.The U.S. government shouldering costs and management of the site also “makes no sense,” given Trump’s efforts to dramatically pare back the federal bureaucracy, said Beth Hillman, the organization’s president and CEO.“We’re proud that our exhibitions tell stories of bravery and patriotism and are confident that our current operating model has served the public honorably and effectively,” she said, noting the organization has raised $750 million in private funds and welcomed some 90 million visitors since its opening.Last year, the museum generated more than $93 million in revenue and spent roughly $84 million on operating costs, leaving a nearly $9 million surplus when depreciation is factored in, according to museum officials and its most recently available tax filings.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, voiced her own concerns about a federal takeover, citing the Trump administration’s recent efforts to influence how American history is told through its national monuments and museums, including the Smithsonian.The takeover idea also comes just months after the Trump administration briefly cut, but then restored, staffing at a federal program that provides health benefits to people with illnesses that might be linked to toxic dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.“The 9/11 Memorial belongs to New Yorkers — the families, survivors, and first responders who have carried this legacy for more than two decades and ensured we never forget,” Hochul said in a statement. “Before he meddles with this sacred site, the President should start by honoring survivors and supporting the families of victims.”Anthoula Katsimatides, a museum board member who lost her brother, John, in the attack, said she didn’t see any reason to change ownership.“They do an incredible job telling the story of that day without sugarcoating it,” she said. “It’s being run so well, I don’t see why there has to be a change. I don’t see what benefit there would be.”The memorial and museum, however, have also been the target of criticism over the years from some members of the large community of 9/11 victims’ families, some of whom have criticized ticket prices or called for changes in the makeup of the museum’s exhibits.Trump spokespersons declined to respond to the comments.In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in southwest Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 2,700 of those victims perished in the fiery collapse of the trade center’s twin towers.
NEW YORK —
President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday that it is exploring whether the federal government can take control of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City.
The site in lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed by hijacked jetliners on Sept. 11, 2001, features two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets with the names of the dead, and an underground museum. Since opening to the public in 2014, the memorial plaza and museum have been run by a public charity, now chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic.
The White House confirmed the administration has had “preliminary exploratory discussions” about the idea, but declined to elaborate. The office noted the Republican pledged during his campaign last year to make the site a national monument, protected and maintained by the federal government.
But officials at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum say the federal government, under current laws, can’t unilaterally take over the site, which is located on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The U.S. government shouldering costs and management of the site also “makes no sense,” given Trump’s efforts to dramatically pare back the federal bureaucracy, said Beth Hillman, the organization’s president and CEO.
“We’re proud that our exhibitions tell stories of bravery and patriotism and are confident that our current operating model has served the public honorably and effectively,” she said, noting the organization has raised $750 million in private funds and welcomed some 90 million visitors since its opening.
Last year, the museum generated more than $93 million in revenue and spent roughly $84 million on operating costs, leaving a nearly $9 million surplus when depreciation is factored in, according to museum officials and its most recently available tax filings.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, voiced her own concerns about a federal takeover, citing the Trump administration’s recent efforts to influence how American history is told through its national monuments and museums, including the Smithsonian.
The takeover idea also comes just months after the Trump administration briefly cut, but then restored, staffing at a federal program that provides health benefits to people with illnesses that might be linked to toxic dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.
“The 9/11 Memorial belongs to New Yorkers — the families, survivors, and first responders who have carried this legacy for more than two decades and ensured we never forget,” Hochul said in a statement. “Before he meddles with this sacred site, the President should start by honoring survivors and supporting the families of victims.”
Anthoula Katsimatides, a museum board member who lost her brother, John, in the attack, said she didn’t see any reason to change ownership.
“They do an incredible job telling the story of that day without sugarcoating it,” she said. “It’s being run so well, I don’t see why there has to be a change. I don’t see what benefit there would be.”
The memorial and museum, however, have also been the target of criticism over the years from some members of the large community of 9/11 victims’ families, some of whom have criticized ticket prices or called for changes in the makeup of the museum’s exhibits.
Trump spokespersons declined to respond to the comments.
In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in southwest Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 2,700 of those victims perished in the fiery collapse of the trade center’s twin towers.
President Donald Trump’s administration said Friday that it is exploring whether the federal government can take control of the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City.
The site in lower Manhattan, where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were destroyed by hijacked jetliners on Sept. 11, 2001, features two memorial pools ringed by waterfalls and parapets with the names of the dead, and an underground museum. Since opening to the public in 2014, the memorial plaza and museum have been run by a public charity, now chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a frequent Trump critic.
The White House confirmed the administration has had “preliminary exploratory discussions” about the idea, but declined to elaborate. The office noted the Republican pledged during his campaign last year to make the site a national monument, protected and maintained by the federal government.
But officials at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum say the federal government, under current laws, can’t unilaterally take over the site, which is located on land owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The U.S. government shouldering costs and management of the site also “makes no sense,” given Trump’s efforts to dramatically pare back the federal bureaucracy, said Beth Hillman, the organization’s president and CEO.
“We’re proud that our exhibitions tell stories of bravery and patriotism and are confident that our current operating model has served the public honorably and effectively,” she said, noting the organization has raised $750 million in private funds and welcomed some 90 million visitors since its opening.
Last year, the museum generated more than $93 million in revenue and spent roughly $84 million on operating costs, leaving a nearly $9 million surplus when depreciation is factored in, according to museum officials and its most recently available tax filings.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, meanwhile, voiced her own concerns about a federal takeover, citing the Trump administration’s recent efforts to influence how American history is told through its national monuments and museums, including the Smithsonian.
The takeover idea also comes just months after the Trump administration briefly cut, but then restored, staffing at a federal program that provides health benefits to people with illnesses that might be linked to toxic dust from the destroyed World Trade Center.
“The 9/11 Memorial belongs to New Yorkers — the families, survivors, and first responders who have carried this legacy for more than two decades and ensured we never forget,” Hochul said in a statement. “Before he meddles with this sacred site, the President should start by honoring survivors and supporting the families of victims.”
Anthoula Katsimatides, a museum board member who lost her brother, John, in the attack, said she didn’t see any reason to change ownership.
“They do an incredible job telling the story of that day without sugarcoating it,” she said. “It’s being run so well, I don’t see why there has to be a change. I don’t see what benefit there would be.”
The memorial and museum, however, have also been the target of criticism over the years from some members of the large community of 9/11 victims’ families, some of whom have criticized ticket prices or called for changes in the makeup of the museum’s exhibits.
Trump spokespersons declined to respond to the comments.
In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in southwest Pennsylvania during the Sept. 11 attacks. More than 2,700 of those victims perished in the fiery collapse of the trade center’s twin towers.
