Sept. 11 to Be Marked With Music and Tributes

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 07, 2002

Sept. 11 to Be Marked With Music and Tributes

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From the beginning of the morning commute until the sun lowers over the Hudson River, New York City will be transformed into a state of perpetual commemoration on Sept. 11, with readings, concerts and odes to the dead, tributes that in many cases grew out of ideas from people around the world.

The business of the city of New York will not cease, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Tuesday, in detailing the city's plans to mark the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Rather, it will yield to various events in all five boroughs, beginning with a march into ground zero led by bagpipers and including a visit from President Bush and a reading of the names of every person who died in the World Trade Center attack.

Family members will leave roses at the site of the World Trade Center, an idea that germinated from an e-mail message from Joshua from Western Australia, who wanted to see rose petals line the streets of Lower Manhattan. Patrick from Oak Forest, Ill., suggested outdoor music; concerts will be performed at sunset in every borough.

The series of programs will be both populist and patriotic, featuring many ideas submitted by New Yorkers over the city's Web site, and historic readings that would be familiar to any high school senior. The planning was carefully overseen by Mayor Bloomberg, who in the day-to-day running of the city is usually comfortable delegating tasks to others.

Early on the morning of Sept. 11, five bagpipe and drum processionals will form at dawn in each of the five boroughs and begin their march toward ground zero. They will converge at the top of the ramp that leads into the pit just after 8 a.m.

A service will begin with a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., the moment the first hijacked plane hit the first building, a moment Mr. Bloomberg said he hopes will be observed by the entire city, including those in the schools.

Gov. George E. Pataki will read "The Gettysburg Address," then former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani will begin the recitation of the names of the roughly 2,800 people who died at the site, a process that will continue until every name is read, by various New Yorkers.

After the playing of taps, Gov. James E. McGreevey of New Jersey will read an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence. The service is meant to conclude at 10:29 a.m., the time of the collapse of the second tower. Mr. Bloomberg is urging all houses of worship to ring bells throughout the city and the country at that time.

Then the victims' families will make their way down the ramp, hundreds of them perhaps for the first time, to place roses in a vase at the site, which will be preserved to become part of any permanent memorial.

Late in the afternoon, President Bush is expected to visit the site. He will also participate in events at the Pentagon and at the site of the Pennsylvania plane crash.

And at sunset there will be an observance at "The Sphere," the sculpture that once stood in the plaza of the World Trade Center and now stands in Battery Park.

Heads of state from around the world will join that ceremony; the list of who will attend is not yet complete, the mayor's office said. An eternal flame will be lit. And Mr. Bloomberg will read "The Four Freedoms," part of a speech to Congress by President Roosevelt in 1941 as world war was spreading.

Mr. Bloomberg was insistent that historical texts be read instead of speeches, aides said. Some historians Tuesday said that they found the Declaration of Independence an odd choice, while "The Gettysburg Address," in its brevity and focus on the war dead, seemed strikingly appropriate.

Later in the evening of Sept. 11, there will be candlelight vigils in every borough, Central Park, Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens and Snug Harbor in Staten Island, followed by live music. "Every New Yorker should feel welcome at one of these gatherings," Mr. Bloomberg said.

Private donors will underwrite the cost of these events; $3 million of the $9 million has already been raised, he said.

Source: Agencies

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