{"id":344313,"date":"2026-09-11T20:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T20:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/344313\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T20:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T20:36:14","slug":"25-years-does-not-erase-grief-new-yorks-court-system-remembers-9-11-losses-a-quarter-century-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/344313\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201825 years does not erase grief\u2019: New York\u2019s court system remembers 9\/11 losses a quarter century later"},"content":{"rendered":"

A quarter century after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks<\/a> claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 in Lower Manhattan, the state and city\u2019s court system<\/a> paused to push forward the memory of the court officers lost and the pain, fear and heroism felt and displayed by its staff, attorneys and judges who found themselves steps from Ground Zero that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hundreds of court officers made the choice to run into instead of away from the burning, tumbling World Trade Center towers to pull people out when they didn\u2019t have to. Three of them \u2013 Captain William Harry Thompson and Sergeants Thomas Jurgens and Mitchel Wallace \u2013 didn\u2019t make it back out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c25 years does not erase grief; it simply changes its shape,\u201d said Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City Courts Adam Silvera. \u201cTheir lives and their ultimate sacrifice have already shaped a quarter century of this institution, and will continue to inspire generations of court officers for decades still to come. Their legacy lives on in every officer who walks these halls, in every act of courage, and in every moment we choose service over self.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Silvera stands during the court system\u2019s 9\/11 remembrance ceremony.Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

At Friday\u2019s remembrance ceremony, Silvera said the sacrifice of those three men and the selfless bravery of all the court officers who risked their lives for others that day should serve as an example for all current and future generations who take up the mantle of being a court officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir stories have lost none of their power. If anything, time has sharpened them,\u201d Silvera said. \u201cThese were people who devoted their lives to justice and to service, who understood that something greater than ourselves calls us to action, even when that call demands everything. A quarter century later, that choice still defines what it means to serve in this court system.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will forever remain in our hearts as heroes who set the standard for bravery and selflessness \u2013 a standard every officer who has walked these halls since has tried to live up to,\u201d Silvera continued. \u201c25 years is long enough that memory alone is no longer sufficient. Memory fades; institutions must carry what memory cannot. That is why days like today matter \u2013 not simply to look back, but to actively pass the story forward to the officers who joined this court system long after 2001, and to those who will join it long after we are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Court officers stand at the court system\u2019s 9\/11 remembrance event.Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

The ceremony was attended by dozens of court officers, court staff, attorneys and judges, including New York State Courts Department of Public Safety Chief Michael Magliano, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Norman St. George, Supervising Judges Hon. Carmen Pacheco<\/a> of Brooklyn, Hon. Austin DeSouza of Manhattan, Hon. Robert Hellbach of Staten Island, Hon. Taisha Chambers of the Bronx, Hon. Edwin Novillo of Queens, Manhattan Supreme Civil Court Administrative Justice Suzanne Adams<\/a> and Bronx Civil Court Judge Vidira Gonzalez-Taylor.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, Manhattan Supreme Civil Court Administrative Justice Suzanne Adams, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for New York City Courts Adam Silvera, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Norman St. George stand at the court system\u2019s 9\/11 ceremony.Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

The attendees also included Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Republican candidate for governor and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. Blakeman received criticism this week after endorsing<\/a> a candidate who pushed the conspiracy theory that 9\/11 was an \u201cinside job\u201d and calling for Mayor Zohran Mamdani to not attend the city\u2019s remembrance ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Manhattan Supreme Civil Court Administrative Justice Suzanne Adams speaks to other attendees at the court system\u2019s 9\/11 ceremony.<\/p>\n

Wilson used his speech to shine light on a piece of history many may not have heard before \u2013 9\/11, he said, is also the anniversary of a pivotal meeting near the end of the United States\u2019 Revolutionary War for independence from Britain, a moment that also asked people to put their country and community before their own lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTerrorists murdered all those people, and one could think of that day as part of a prolonged war on terrorism,\u201d the state\u2019s judge said of the day a quarter century ago. \u201cBut this 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, falls during the 250th anniversary of a different war, the American Revolutionary War. What we might occasionally call a war on terrorism is really part of a much longer war, a war for democracy, which Americans began fighting 250 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sept. 11, 1776, Wilson told those gathered in front of Manhattan Criminal Court, delegates from Britain and the American colonies met on Staten Island amid tense fighting to attempt to resolve the war. The meeting was ultimately unsuccessful, and leaders from the colonies left knowing that they\u2019d likely be killed by the British Empire if they lost, because they gave up any chance at a pardon from the king by walking out of the room refusing to agree to end the war by agreeing to remain British subjects.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dozens of court officers, judges, attorneys and court staff attended the court system\u2019s 9\/11 remembrance event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey, and all those who fought in the American Revolutionary War were prepared to give their lives to establish what would then be the world\u2019s only democracy,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cDemocracy, though, is something much more than merely rule by the people. Democracy requires a sense of community, a civic responsibility, and a duty to each other, like those who fought to create this nation, and those who gave or risked their lives on September 11, 2001.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom its inception, this nation was meant to serve as an example for others to follow, to show the world that democratic rule could provide a stable, flourishing society superior to rule by a king,\u201d the judge continued. \u201cOn September 11, 1776, and September 11, 2026, Americans offered a shining example to the world and earned its emulation and adulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Wilson speaks in Lower Manhattan at the court system\u2019s 9\/11 ceremony.Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should never forget those sacrifices and must always remember that each of us has a duty to preserve and defend our democracy,\u201d Wilson concluded. \u201cThat requires more than voting, more than following the law, more than taking care of ourselves and our families. The self-evident truth is that what we have a duty to do is to conduct ourselves in a way that protects and advances the inalienable rights to which all people are entitled.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A procession during the New York State Court System\u2019s 9\/11 remembrance event.Ramy Mahmoud<\/p>\n

Across the afternoon, speakers emphasized the importance of purposefully carrying forward the memory of those who lost and risked their lives saving others on 9\/11 into the next 25 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c25 years later, the responsibility of each of us to never forget should become a way of our lives,\u201d said Magliano of the court\u2019s public safety team. \u201cNot just the words we speak once a year.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A quarter century after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 in Lower…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[128220,5301,116746,97959,128337,2710,9,11,10,129088],"class_list":["post-344313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-25th-anniversary-of-9-11","tag-9-11","tag-9-11-remembrance","tag-adam-silvera","tag-chief-judge-rowan-wilson","tag-law","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state-court-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}