FDNY Planning Special Events for 25th Anniversary of 9/11 Attack
For many New Yorkers, the 9/11 attack feels like it happened just yesterday, but nearly 25 years have passed since the terrorist strike, and the FDNY wants to commemorate next year’s anniversary with a little something extra.
Along with the traditional somber reading of the victims’ names at Ground Zero, ceremony organizers on Tuesday announced plans for a commemorative podcast, a 9/11 25th anniversary emblem and a pre-9/11 service to honor firefighters who died that day and those who have died since from toxin-related ailments.
“It is hard to grasp that 25 years have passed since this department’s darkest days,” said the city’s outgoing Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker. “While a quarter of a century has passed, still, in many ways, it feels like yesterday.”
Tucker will likely attend the ceremonies, but he won’t be in charge. He resigned, effective Dec. 19, after Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani won election, and there is no guarantee the new administration will stick to Tucker’s grand plan.
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t,” Tucker said at a news conference at the Staten Island University Hospital Community Park, home of the Staten Island FerryHawks. “I think that the department and the families deserve nothing less.”
Tucker said the baseball stadium, with more than 7,000 seats, will host a service on Sept. 9 next year to honor the 343 FDNY members who perished when hijacked planes tore into the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001, and the more than 400 who have died since from 9/11-related illnesses.
Tucker said he is hoping for a packed house.
“We chose this place for its significance and for its beauty,” Tucker said. “This wonderful ‘Postcards’ memorial was the city’s first monument to 9/11, and it’s really just steps away. We think the clear view of lower Manhattan and that skyline behind me will provide comfort to the FDNY community.”
“We expect every seat in this stadium to be filled, and we will work hard to ensure every detail is handled with care.”
Other details include a a short film about FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, a Catholic priest who was recognized as the first victim of the attack.
Judge rushed to the site after planes struck the World Trade Center, and was killed while offering prayers and comforting victims.
Tucker also said the FDNY would release a special podcast series hosted by actor Gary Sinise, whose nonprofit foundation honors fallen firefighters and supports their families.
“The podcast series,” Tucker said, “will focus on the bravery and survival of firefighters in their own words.”
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