![\"people-hold-candles-during-the-brooklyn-911-wall-of-remembrance-candlelight-ceremony-in-coney-island-on-the-eve-of-the-25th-anniversary-of-the-sept-11-world-trade-center-attacks-thursday-sept-10\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789121293_9_.jpeg\")
\n People hold candles during the Brooklyn 9\/11 Wall of Remembrance Candlelight Ceremony in Coney Island on 10 September. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
NEW YORK WILL commemorate the 25th anniversary of the devastating 9\/11 attacks today with a ceremony marked by US president Donald Trump\u2019s absence and right-wing outrage at the attendance of the city\u2019s first Muslim mayor.<\/p>\n
Trump will pay his respects at the Pentagon, not New York, where hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center and killed most of the 2,977 total victims on 11 September 2001.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vice president JD Vance and Trump\u2019s four living predecessors \u2013 Republican George W Bush, who was in office during the attacks, and Democrats Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton \u2013 are all expected at the \u201cGround Zero\u201d site in Lower Manhattan.<\/p>\n
No one will give speeches at the ceremony, while bereaved family members will read out the names of all of those killed and a bell rung to mark major moments during the attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cMemorials like this and discussions about those events are an important part of keeping it alive and understanding how we prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again,\u201d said Robert Kafka, a Chicagoan in his 60s visiting the 9\/11 Memorial.<\/p>\n
\n People hold candles during the Brooklyn 9\/11 Wall of Remembrance Candlelight Ceremony in Coney Island on 10 September. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
Alongside the former presidents will be Democratic mayor Zohran Mamdani, New York\u2019s first Muslim mayor, despite a campaign urging him to stay away spearheaded by the right-wing New York Post and former mayor Rudy Giuliani.<\/p>\n
A petition, which has gathered more than 100,000 signatures, accuses Mamdani of associating with unspecified individuals who are \u201cdismissive of American institutions or insufficiently critical of extremist ideologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s concerning to me that the mayor is being treated differently simply because he is Muslim,\u201d city council member Shahana Hanif told CNN.<\/p>\n
Mamdani won plaudits however for recently revealing thousands of documents showing what city officials knew about toxicity levels of the air in Lower Manhattan following the attacks.<\/p>\n
After the initial dust cloud that followed the collapse of the World Trade Center, months of pollution and lingering dust ensued, causing cancers from which thousands of New Yorkers still suffer today.\n<\/p>\n
\u2018Toxic air\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,\u201d Mamdani said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
![\"new-york-united-of-america-10th-sep-2026-flags-are-placed-over-a-watermark-at-the-national-september-11-memorial-museum-in-south-manhattan-new-york-on-september-10-2026-the-site-marks-where-t\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789121294_681_.jpeg\")
\n Flags are placed over a watermark at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in South Manhattan, New York on 10 September. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
Nineteen Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked four planes on that day in 2001. Two jets flew into the World Trade Center\u2019s Twin Towers, causing the iconic 110-story buildings to collapse.<\/p>\n
A third plane struck the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers fought back.<\/p>\n
Beyond those killed on 11 September, more than 9,400 other people have died from 9\/11-related illnesses, according to the federal program established to provide medical care to those affected.<\/p>\n
Some 100 million Americans were not even born or are too young to remember the tragic events.<\/p>\n
Logan Miller (32) lost his uncle during the attacks, and his grandfather to 9\/11-related illness in the aftermath.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the next generation just can\u2019t fathom what actually transpired and how someone could be impacted by that, and so I actually find them asking more questions,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee will lay a wreath at the 9\/11 Memorial later this month during UN High Level Week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe remember today the 2,977 innocent lives lost in the attacks, including at least 18 Irish citizens, and the multiplicity of family, friends and loved ones who continue to grieve for their loss,\u201d she said in a statement today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn remembering, we recall the centuries-old bonds between Ireland and New York.<\/p>\n
These human ties are seen through the Irish names that feature prominently on the 9\/11 Memorial\u2019s walls, the 200 claddagh rings that were found in the rubble of the World Trade Centre, and the countless stories of victims and first responders of Irish heritage that continue to be told.<\/p>\n
Huge crowds are expected to gather in Lower Manhattan for the memorial service.<\/p>\n
![\"a-light-installation-in-the-shape-of-the-twin-towers-is-illuminated-with-drones-over-one-world-trade-center-and-the-manhattan-skyline-in-the-days-leading-up-to-the-25th-anniversary-of-the-911-terrori\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789121294_920_.jpeg\")
\n A light installation in the shape of the Twin Towers is illuminated with drones over One World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline in the days leading up to the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 terrorist attacks. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
The Secret Service has erected a security ring of steel around the site of the 9\/11 Memorial and Museum.<\/p>\n
Police commissioner Jessica Tisch said an anti-drone team would be deployed as a precaution, but stressed there was no intelligence of a specific threat to the gathering.<\/p>\n
Al-Qaeda meanwhile has marked the anniversary by releasing a video showing images of late leader Osama bin Laden and his son Hamza, who Trump said in 2019 had also been killed.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the memorial, a drone show with 2,977 lights rose above New York Harbor, one for each person killed in the attacks.<\/p>\n