NEW YORK: New York on Thursday marked the devastating attacks of Sept­ember 11, 2001, 24 years after the plane hijackings that claimed almost 3,000 lives and forever changed the United States.

Memorial events were held at Ground Zero in Manhattan where the World Trade Center’s twin towers were des­t­r­oyed in coordinated attacks that also saw a jetliner crashed into the Pentagon in Washington.

Another jet, Flight 93, crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside when passengers overran the hijacker and took control of the aircraft. This year’s gathering takes place against a febrile atmosphere following the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk in Utah.

Vice President JD Vance had been due to attend events in New York but will reportedly travel to Utah in the wake of the killing. New York is in the grip of a divisive mayoral election campaign in which socialist Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani is facing off against former governor Andrew Cuomo and sitting mayor Eric Adams. New Yorkers go to the polls on Nov 4.

Adams attended the ceremony on Thursday alongside former mayor Rudy Giuliani who led the city through the tragedy. Trump has repeatedly attacked Mamdani, a Muslim and naturalised US citizen, calling him a “communist lunatic,” while one Republican lawmaker has called for Mamdani to be deported.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2025