Firefighters and other responders will be on the outside looking in when a ceremony is held marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks next month, according to The Daily News.
A city official told the newspaper that that the amount of space at the new memorial and security logistics have forced to city to schedule a separate ceremony for responders on a later date.
Family members of the nearly 3,000 killed in the attacks were invited, along with President Barrack Obama and former president George W. Bush.
"To have a separate service on another day has no significance, no meaning," David Jacobs, who volunteered at the site sifting debris, told the newspaper. "For many of us, we gave a lot at that site."
His childhood friend, a city firefighter, died in the attacks.
In previous years, responders were welcomed at the site, but little construction had begun and space wasn't an issue.
One construction worker told 1010 WINS that he believes they should be invited this year.
"I think that they should be allowed to go because too many of their brothers and sisters lost their lives and they should be the first ones that are included," he said. "They should make it happen. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of people here who shouldn’t be here."
An estimated 91,000 police, firefighters and other responders helped with the search and rescue efforts in the wake of the attacks.
