The Lower Manhattan light installation in honor of 9/11 victims will return this year after all.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum had announced Thursday that its annual Tribute in Light—the dual beams of light that commemorates the victims of the September 11th terror attacks—would not be lit on the 19th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, with organizers citing the health risks of the pandemic to crews who help install the lights.
On Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state will pay for additional health personnel to help the museum safely mount the tribute lights again.
"This year it is especially important that we all appreciate and commemorate 9/11, the lives lost, and the heroism displayed as New Yorkers are once again called upon to face a common enemy. I understand the Museum's concern for health and safety, and appreciate their reconsideration. The state will provide health personnel to supervise to make sure the event is held safely while at the same time properly honoring 9/11. We will never forget," Cuomo said.
In a statement, museum president and CEO Alice M. Greenwald, expressed her gratitude in seeing the lights back on.
"This year, its message of hope, endurance, and resilience are more important than ever," said Greenwald. "In the last 24 hours we’ve had conversations with many interested parties and believe we will be able to stage the tribute in a safe and appropriate fashion."
Installation usually takes a crew of about 30 technicians, electricians, and stagehands 10 days before the lights are turned on. There are 88 7,000-watt xenon light bulbs placed in two 48-foot squares, which can be seen up to 60 miles away. However, the lights have confused migrating birds, which prompted organizers to turn the lights on and off for 20-minute periods, in consultation with observers from the Audubon Society.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the chair of the museum's board of trustees, said he was grateful there was a way to continue the lights for a 19th year. “Throughout my tenure as Mayor the Tribute in Light was a powerful symbol of New York’s recovery after 9/11,” Bloomberg told AMNY. “I am pleased that once again it will shine this year as a beacon of our city’s resilience.”
The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation—named after an off-duty firefighter who died at the World Trade Center after running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to assist in recovery efforts—said it was “shocked and heartbroken” by the Tribute in Light cancelation. The foundation had originally planned to organize a light tribute of its own, in addition to holding a separate memorial ceremony on September 11th after the city said the names of victims will not be read aloud this year because of the pandemic. It's unclear whether they'll move forward with their own light tribute.
