9/11 ceremony at World Trade Center memorial marks 23 years since devastating losses

Baldwin teacher Allison Hobbs was walking her children to school on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when her husband left a message on their home answering machine.

"A plane hit the building," Thomas Hobbs, 41, an energy broker at Cantor Fitzgerald, said in the message. "I love you. Tell the children I love them."

It was the last time Allison Hobbs would hear from her husband, who worked on the 105th floor of the north tower at the World Trade Center in Manhattan.

On Wednesday, 23 years after the call, Hobbs joined with her son, David, 31, and hundreds of other families who lost loved ones in the nation's worst terror attacks to commemorate the sacred anniversary.

On this day each year, "I never know where to go," Allison Hobbs said by the North Pool of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, where her husband's name is engraved. "We don’t have any remains, so I don’t have anywhere to go but here."

David Hobbs was young when he lost his father but said he has a few distinct memories. Playing baseball in the backyard. Yelling at the Mets and Jets in front of the family TV. Watching his father shave in the morning with an old-school razor. And his smell: aftershave and mouthwash.

Bell tolls

For more than 4½ hours, family members of the dead recited the names of the 2,977 men, women and children killed in the multipronged attacks al-Qaida terrorists carried out on Sept. 11, 2001, along with the names of the six people who died in the Feb. 26, 1993, Trade Center bombing.

As has become tradition, the reading of the names at the site of the 9/11 Memorial paused six times Wednesday for the tolling of a bell. The first time was at 8:46 a.m. to signal when hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 struck floors 93 through 99 of the World Trade Center's north tower. 

At 9:03 a.m., a second bell tolling marked when the hijackers crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into floors 77 through 85 of the south tower. At 9:37 a.m., a third tolling of the bell recognized the time hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. 

The fourth bell tolling was at 9:59 a.m. in memory of when the south tower collapsed. The fifth tolling was at 10:03 a.m. to mark when the hijackers crashed United Airlines Flight 93 into a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers learned of the other attacks and tried to seize control of the aircraft.

The last bell rang at 10:28 a.m., marking when the north tower collapsed.

An estimated 16,400 to 18,000 people were at the World Trade Center complex during the attack — most of whom were evacuated safely. Nearly 1 in 5 of the 2,753 people killed at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001 — almost 500 in all — were from Long Island. Outside of New York, another 224 victims died that day in the crashes of the other hijacked planes.

Since the attacks, thousands of first responders, laborers, workers, volunteers and everyday citizens who were at or near Ground Zero in the aftermath have become seriously ill or died of illnesses attributed to airborne toxins at the site.

Memories and prayers

Wednesday's ceremony drew hundreds of victims' families, along with delegations of police, firefighters, medics and other first responders from across the world.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, attended the commemoration, along with former President Donald Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, and Sen. JD Vance, his vice presidential nominee. Only hours after their contentious presidential debate, Trump and Harris exchanged a quick handshake. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former New York City mayors Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani, and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman also attended the ceremony.

 In a sign of the generations that have passed since the attacks, many of the young readers of the victims' names said they'd never met the uncles, cousins or grandfathers they were there to honor or were named after, knowing them only from family stories. For many of the older readers, the memories, they said, remain vivid and raw.  

Some speakers who read victims' names briefly urged those listening to oppose terrorism or to pray for peace. Most stuck to personal accounts, speaking about memories of loved ones or upcoming events in their lives, with one mentioning her approaching wedding.

The widow of an FDNY chief criticized the Biden administration for offering a plea deal to accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two fellow defendants, calling it "outrageous" and sparking some applause. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced days later he was revoking the deal, but the defendants are mounting a legal challenge.

Other speakers used their time to recognize first responders who have serious health problems from laboring at Ground Zero or to rally support for ongoing civil litigation seeking more than $100 billion from Saudi Arabia for relatives of 9/11 victims. The plaintiffs allege extremist religious leaders gained influence in government there and aided the hijackers who carried out the terror plot.

Angel before his time

Tears welled in the eyes of Tracey Washington, 58, of Brooklyn, as he sat Wednesday near the engraving of his brother Derrick’s name along the footprint of the south tower. Derrick Washington lived in Riverhead and worked on the south tower's 110th floor.

"When it first happened we all ran down here looking for him. So I’m guess I’m still down here looking for him," Washington said.

He recalled speaking to his brother when the north tower was hit, urging him to get out of the other tower. Derrick, he said, was going to grab his laptop and head out.

Less than 10 minutes after hanging up, the family watched in horror on TV as the south tower was struck. The family prayed, made phone call after phone call, visited the World Trade Center site and went to hospitals looking for signs of Derrick, all to no avail.

"I’m missing him," his brother said Wednesday. "He really left too early. He was so inspirational. He was so loving. He was an angel before he was an angel."

 Family members of the late Dennis Michael Edwards, 35, of Huntington, who was in the north tower working for Cantor Fitzgerald, have served over the years as name readers. On Wednesday, his sister, Lisa Cortese, 64, did so again.

"Dennis was always the first guy to help out with anything anyone needed," said Joe Cortese, 70, Lisa's husband.  

Korryn Bishop, 52, a photographer from Dutchess County, came to the ceremony to honor her late cousin, John McDowell Jr., 33, who’d worked at the Sandler O'Neill and Partners investment banking firm — with offices on the 104th floor of the south tower.

McDowell, who attended Catholic schools in Riverhead and grew up in Hampton Bays, "was more like a brother than a cousin to me," Bishop said. "There were only five of us cousins in the immediate family. We made up games that only we knew. We spent holidays together," she added.

Some grieving families wore T-shirts Wednesday with their loved one's visage or carried portraits. Others placed flags or flowers on the bronze parapet bearing the victims' names, traced the name engravings with tissue paper or knelt in quiet prayer. More ceremonies took place on Long Island.

Beginning at dusk, two beams of light meant to evoke the Twin Towers once again shone out from the area of the 9/11 Memorial. The artistic tribute, which organizers said would be visible within a 60-mile radius until dawn, is meant to honor the victims and celebrate New York's unbreakable spirit.