The plane crashed minutes after taking off for the Dominican Republic, killing all of 260 people on board and five people on the ground in the peaceful Queens neighborhood of Belle Harbor.
Under a fine drizzle, Mayor Michael Bloomberg opened the ceremony in Jacob Riis Park, about two miles from the crash site.
Later, mourners were to travel to the site itself for a moment of silence at 9:16 a.m., the time that the plane crashed minutes after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport.
``It's a time to remember those who are gone and comfort those who remain. The tremendous loss we suffered on that day a year ago added new burdens to an already grieving city,'' Bloomberg said. ``And the way the people of our city responded showed the true character of New York City.''
``Over the last year, we have seen something truly inspiring come to pass _ a bridge of compassion built between two communities, bringing Dominican Americans and the people of Belle Harbor close together,'' Bloomberg added.
Faye Peithman, 14, a resident of Belle Harbor, read a poem:
``Just think of them as resting from the sorrow and tears in a place of warmth and comfort, free from dates and years.''
About 500 mourners sat or stood under umbrellas; many held white roses and covered themselves with blankets.
Mourners were to hold a candlelight vigil and several memorial Masses later in Washington Heights, a sliver of Manhattan that is the center of New York's Dominican community.
Ceremonies were also planned in the Dominican Republic, where many of the victims were linked by family and roots. Flight 587 was a shuttle between those worlds _ so well-known that a merengue song was written about it. Translated from Spanish, one lyric said: ``How joyful it could be to go on Flight 587.''
Dr. Humberto Jimenez Blanco, 37, died on the flight after visiting family in New York City, where he was also purchasing medical equipment for his practice in the Dominican Republic.
``He had a great heart,'' said his sister, Mirna Almonte. ``Our family has crumbled _ everyone feels lost without him.''
The crash also devastated Belle Harbor, a picturesque community that sits on a sandy peninsula separating Jamaica Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The dead included five people on the ground. Residents there were already grieving for dozens of their neighbors lost in the World Trade Center attack two months earlier.
Several houses were leveled by the downed plane, which skimmed the end of a block when it crashed, scattering luggage, airplane parts and bodies along yards and into the street. After the fires were knocked down, rescue crews scrambled to form a bucket brigade that was a miniature model of the system they used at ground zero in lower Manhattan, 15 miles away.
While the crash immediately raised fears of terrorism, coming so soon after the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax scare, investigators soon ruled it out. They are still grappling with why the Airbus A300-600's rudder suddenly began swerving violently, causing the tail fin to break off.
During a recent hearing in Washington, the National Transportation Safety Board presented evidence suggesting the co-pilot moved the rudder back and forth after encountering turbulence from a jet five miles ahead.
But investigators also still trying to determine whether there was a problem with the rudder itself.
The safety board said it may reach some conclusions by the spring.
