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By Michael Gold
Investigators (click here) comb the debris field for the fight data recorders from Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania
The mourners entering the plaza wore face masks, (click here) and the teary, intimate hugs of years past were replaced by awkwardly choreographed fist bumps. When the bells tolled at 8:46 a.m., marking the moment the first jet smashed into the north tower 19 years ago, those gathered stood at somber attention, trying to draw comfort from neighbors required to stand six feet apart.
The solemn ceremonies held at and near the Sept. 11 memorial in Lower Manhattan on Friday provided an poignant resonance in the face of a pandemic that has crippled the country for months and brought particularly devastating loss to New York City.
Outside the memorial plaza, a widow holding a picture of her husband admitted that the anxiety she normally felt on this anniversary was compounded by her fears over the coronavirus. A woman who lost her cousin when the Twin Towers fell equated the dedication of rescue workers in 2001 with the toil of health care professionals this year.
A retired firefighter said the lingering effects of the virus made him think of the continued ailments suffered by emergency workers who inhaled toxic dust, smoke and fumes at the site of the attack....
The mourners entering the plaza wore face masks, (click here) and the teary, intimate hugs of years past were replaced by awkwardly choreographed fist bumps. When the bells tolled at 8:46 a.m., marking the moment the first jet smashed into the north tower 19 years ago, those gathered stood at somber attention, trying to draw comfort from neighbors required to stand six feet apart.
The solemn ceremonies held at and near the Sept. 11 memorial in Lower Manhattan on Friday provided an poignant resonance in the face of a pandemic that has crippled the country for months and brought particularly devastating loss to New York City.
Outside the memorial plaza, a widow holding a picture of her husband admitted that the anxiety she normally felt on this anniversary was compounded by her fears over the coronavirus. A woman who lost her cousin when the Twin Towers fell equated the dedication of rescue workers in 2001 with the toil of health care professionals this year.
A retired firefighter said the lingering effects of the virus made him think of the continued ailments suffered by emergency workers who inhaled toxic dust, smoke and fumes at the site of the attack....
