Plans for 20th anniversary of 9/11 take shape
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Six months from now, New York and
the nation will pause to remember
the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11,
2001 terrorist attacks — a day of infamy
that remains all too vivid and recent in the
minds of those who witnessed it.
On March 11, the 9/11 Memorial and
Museum outlined some of the ways it will
honor the nearly 3,000 Americans killed
in the coordinated attacks upon the World
Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, the Pentagon
in Washington, DC and in Shanksville,
Pennsylvania — where hijacked
United Airlines Flight 93 crashed before it
could reach its target in the nation’s capitol.
“We suffered a great tragedy that day
and for the weeks and months that followed.
We mourned the victims of the
attacks and promised to never forget,”
said former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who
serves as 9/11 Memorial and Museum
board chairman. “The 9/11 Memorial and
Museum is helping to keep that promise by
preserving their memories and the difficult
but important history of the terror attacks.
While we are recovering from a health crisis
that has touched millions of lives, the
Memorial and Museum is also a symbol of
our resilience and our capacity to endure
Marie Ortiz remembers son-in law Amelio Ortiz at 9/11 memorial ceremony
on the 19th anniversary.
our darkest moments and overcome them.”
The commemorations will include the
reading of the victims’ names at the 9/11
Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan
— a custom that began with the first
anniversary of the attacks, in 2002, but was
cancelled last year due to the COVID-19
pandemic in a controversial decision.
Last September, the 9/11 Memorial
and Museum opted not to hold the namereading
during the annual anniversary
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
commemoration due to concerns about
social distancing amid the pandemic. The
decision led the Stephen A. Siller Tunnel to
Towers Foundation to hold its own reading
of names on Sept. 11, 2020 outside nearby
Zuccotti Park in a ceremony that ran almost
simultaneously to the 9/11 Memorial’s
observance.
The name-reading custom, however, will
resume this year at the 9/11 Memorial on
the morning of attacks’ 20th anniversary
— carried on family members of the 2,983
people killed on 9/11 and in the World
Trade Center bombing of Feb. 26, 1993.
Another 9/11 anniversary custom will
return in September: the Tribute in Light.
First illuminated on the six-month anniversary
of the attacks, March 11, 2002,
the twin beams of light — representing the
fallen Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
— have become a fixture on the New
York City skyline every Sept. 11 thereafter.
Last September, the 9/11 Memorial
and Museum initially canceled the Tribute
in Light out of concerns related to the
COVID-19 pandemic — namely for the
large crew employed to set the display up.
The museum, however, reversed its decision
after receiving additional support to
ensure the tribute could be constructed and
illuminated safely.
The museum will also continue its “Anniversary
in the Schools” program, offering
pre-recorded webinars to schools that
include first-hand stories from 9/11 family
members, survivors, rescue and recovery
workers. Since 2016, the museum noted,
the program “has reached more than a
million participants in all 50 states and 40
countries.”
For more information about 9/11-related
events, visit 911memorial.org.
Downtown rally aims to open up all schools
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
School community members from
across the city rallied at the Tweed
Courthouse on March 13 demanding
that Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Department
of Education fully reopen all public
schools for all students.
The rally occurred nearly a year to the
day when de Blasio, as the COVID-19
pandemic began to grow across New York
City, closed public schools and shifted all
instruction to online learning. The public
schools reopened in September under a
“blended model” of in-person classes and
remote instruction, though the year has seen
school buildings closed for extensive periods
due to the spread of COVID-19.
However, the COVID-19 infection rate
has been low in public schools throughout
the year — and parents, coaches, teachers
and students at Saturday’s rally said the time
had come to get all children, regardless of
grade, back in the classrooms.
Maud Maron, a City Council candidate
and public school parent who organized the
rally, said that the prolonged school closure
was not based on science and that schools
provided a safe environment for students
NYC public schools students, parents, and teachers rally on the steps of the
Tweed Courthouse demanding the reopening of NYC public schools.
since teachers now are vaccinated. She
stressed that virtual learning is no replacement
for in-person education and emphasized
the importance of social interaction,
extracurricular activities and sports.
“Children need to be taught by teachers
in the classroom. Laptops will never be
able to replace teachers. Our kids need to
play sports; they need to practice with their
PHOTO BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
teammates and talk to their coaches. The
social component of schools is crucial to
children. One year is too long for any child
to go without school. We need NYC schools
open, and we can do it safely,” Maron said.
Chris Savino and her 10-year-old son
Joseph, a fourth-grader, feel that it is time
to reopen the schools since teachers are getting
vaccinated, and kids are wearing masks.
“The teacher is at home even though
they’re vaccinated. So what’s the point of
that? You know, so you have all of these
restrictions. And it’s not helping anyone, and
in the meantime by September, you’re going
to have 90% of us vaccinated. But we’re
still talking about doing the same system
that isn’t even based in science anyway,”
Savino said.
As far as Joseph is concerned, what he
misses most about school is “I think it’s
mostly playing with all my friends and seeing
all my friends.”
NYC public student-parent Stephanie
Kokinos told the crowd that her children
had 29 days of in-person instruction since
September because the school had to shut
down due numerous times because of the
two-case rule.
“This is the two-case rule that exists in
New York City public schools. A system
that is designed and set-up for failure.
This madness, it’s damaging. Our officials
use the phrase ‘gold standard.’ Shame on
them!” Kokinos declared and continued,
“Our schools are not open. Mental health
is suffering. Learning loss is incalculable.
Our most vulnerable kids, they are suffering
the most.”
Schneps Media March 18, 2021 3
/911memorial.org
