“The atmosphere here, it’s so unbelievably quiet for being downtown in New York City,” said Jorge Nunez, a 20 year old exchange student from Spain. “You can see the pain on people’s faces from what happened 20 years ago, but you can feel the peace and unity.”

A woman holds a paper with the times of the 9/11 attacks. Hundreds of people surround her in silence, tears, and hugging at Ground Zero to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Photo by Maggie Geiler

At 8:46 a.m. the first moment of silence began in remembrance of American Airlines Flight 11 hitting the North Tower of The World Trade Center. Although only families of the victims were allowed inside the ceremony, thousands surrounding Church Street could have been mistaken for family, hugging each other and streaming the ceremony live from their phones. One lady offered to share her phone with a group of strangers, crying while Bruce Springsteen’s “I’ll See You In My Dreams” echoed from people’s phones throughout Lower Manhattan.

 “I was down here the day it happened,” said Sheila Ondracheck, 54, from Chicago. “This is the first time I’ve been back. Every year on this day I write a letter to each of my closest friends to tell them how much I love them and to live life to the absolute fullest, because you just never know how much time you have left.”

 More moments of silence followed at 9:03 a.m., commemorating United flight 175 hitting the South Tower, 9:59 a.m., when the South Tower collapsed, and 10:28 a.m., when the North Tower collapsed. People continued to weep and hug, some of which were Millennials and Gen Z.

 “It’s beautiful to see all the people that have come together from different backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures and are respecting each other,” stated Makenna Murphy, 18, a student in New York City. “Even though I wasn’t born yet when [9/11] happened, I feel like I have seen the repercussions of it. Between The Patriotism Act and the amping of security, it’s crazy how one event can have such an egregious impact on the world.”  

 While close to 3,000 people died from the attacks, according to USA Today, nearly 10,000 first responders and others in the World Trade Center have been diagnosed with cancer and more than 2,000 have died from health complications attributed to 9/11. First responders and cancer survivors were not invited to the ceremony.

Dotti Cappola, Ground Zero first responder, returns 20 years later as a cancer survivor to advocate for those who’s health has been impacted from the attacks. “20 years ago, we came here to help people… today, I came for closure.” Photo by Maggie Geiler

 “We were set up right on the pile manning the tents nonstop, this is our first time back,” said Dotti Cappola, 62, a 9/11 Disaster Medical Assistance Team first responder from Boston. “We were hoping to get in but they won’t let us in, it’s hard because there’s so many of us.”

 Cappola said that not only is she a 9/11 first responder but a 9/11 cancer survivor.

 “I’m a 9/11 cancer survivor. Five from our team got cancer, one of our best friends who worked our tent passed. There was debris in our mouth and eyes for weeks. I came here for closure,” said Cappola through tears.

 Although Cappola said that it hasn’t been easy getting the care she needs, she said for her and friend Mike Vojak, it’s not about acknowledgement but remembrance.

 “We took a lot of pictures in our own mind that we can’t get rid of,” said Vojak, 62, also a 9/11 Disaster Medical Assistance Team first responder from Boston. “I remember part of the towers were on that highway over there, they fell in a way that looked like they were hands giving up souls to God. For 20 years I haven’t been able to get that out of my mind… today it’s nice to see people remember. This is my closure.”

Both Cappola and Vojak tied ribbons of remembrance for their teammate who died on a gate across from where the Twin Towers stood.

 “We just tell people we hope they don’t forget,” Cappola said. “There are so many lives affected – still so many dying from laten cancer. This country needs to come together now more than ever because this can happen again.”

 The ceremony continued while names of those killed in the attacks were read into the afternoon.

 “When we needed something during that time, people came together and provided,” said Cappola. “The letters, the lunches from students, the truckloads of socks for the firefighters burned feet… we stood together as a nation. It’s nice to see people standing together today.” 

The post A Day of Unity in New York City appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

A crowd of hundreds gathered in Midtown with floats, rhythmic chanting, and the flags of over a dozen countries to celebrate the 33rd annual Muslim Day Parade this afternoon.  

Muslims say this yearly tradition is a way for them to come together and speak with one voice, to assert themselves in an often inhospitable political climate, and to relay their message to a wider audience.

For Mohammad Malik of Staten Island, this year’s march was his first, and he welcomed the opportunity to stand in solidarity with his community.

“The parade shows the unity of all Muslim ummah [community] in the United States and all over the country, and all over the world,” Malik said. “That we are united, that we convey the message of our prophet Muhammad,the message is peace.”

Malik, a 38-year resident of the United States, extolled his “awesome” experiences in this country, as well as his belief that the world belongs to every human being equally.

Before the procession began in earnest, there was a prayer session. The participants clustered on a long stretch of blue tarp to pay their respects. After that, the assemblage proceeded south down Madison Avenue from 38th Street.

The long tradition of the parade in the city has shaped the upbringing of many of New York’s younger residents. Farwah Tahir, a young woman from Long Island, has participated in the marches for a decade, ever since her childhood. For her, the parade is a fixture that brings New York Muslims together to enjoy themselves.

“It’s a way to unify,” Tahir said. “You meet new people from the community. Different ethnicities and different races, we all just come together.”

For the organizers of the Muslim Day Parade, the event forms one part of a larger strategy to enhance their community’s political engagement. A survey from the Public Religion Research Institute shows that 255,000 Muslims live in New York, around 3 percent of the city’s total population.

Properly mobilized, this constituency could prove effective in the political arena, they said. The organization website credits this kind of participation for the 2015 decision to recognize two Muslim holidays in public schools. To build on such successes, the organizers also touted the parade as an opportunity to help attendees register to vote and to learn more about civic responsibility.

The mood at this year’s parade was resolute and optimistic. Tahir Mian of Long Island has attended every year going back to 1985, and to him, there is no question that the community’s message is steadily winning through. He admitted that the parade “has its ups and downs,” but he expected a strong turnout this year.  

Mian stressed the point that as much as the parade offers an opportunity for New York Muslims to meet and engage with each other, it also provides them greater exposure in the city as a whole. More than anything, the progress on this front made him hopeful for the future.

“Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of local Christians, Jews, other people come to the parade,” Mian said. “People are getting more interested in it. People just want to see what it is. What’s the difference? We’re all children of Adam, we follow the religion of Abraham. This is the whole purpose of this parade.”

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