The two huge blue beams, symbolizing the twin towers and the lives lost in the 2001 attacks, will not shine on September 11. The ceremony is turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic. Usually about 40 people, machinists and electricians, work on this project for a week. In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, "the risk to their health was too great" , said in a statement Michael Frazier, representative of the National Memorial Museum which is organizing the commemoration.
Traditionally, the lights were on at dusk and stretched 4 miles high, all night long, until dawn on September 12. The tribute was visible from northern New Jersey, some 100 km from New York.
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The announcement provoked strong reactions in the United States. On social networks, some have expressed their incomprehension in the face of this decision and a petition has been launched, asking the mayor of the city that never sleeps, Bill de Blasio, to "save the Tribute in light".
In a Twitter post, Bernard Kerik, who was head of the New York Police Department when the terrorist attack took place, expressed his outrage: “The luminous tribute poses a health risk? Really ! There is no greater risk than that taken on September 11, 2001 by those who were there, and those who lost their lives. "
Like the former New York police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, several American citizens consider the decision taken by the museum to be “insane” and regret the cancellation of the “Tribute in light”, even in times of health crisis. Twitter capture Bernard B. Kerik
A transformed ceremony
Instead of the towering blue columns, the museum plans to honor the 19th anniversary of the tragedy with lightings on the facades and spiers of monuments in Lower Manhattan, the New York Times reports . Among them, the One World Trade Center, nicknamed "Freedom Tower" since its construction in 2006, the main skyscraper of the World Trade Center complex.
As in the past, the commemoration, prohibited to the public, will focus on reading the names of the 2,983 victims of September 11, 2001. But to respect social distancing, families will not do it live on a stage, specifies the museum. They recorded the reading of the names, which will be broadcast the same day, in their presence, during the open-air ceremony.
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The tribute will begin at 8:30 a.m. and last for one hour. It will be punctuated by six moments of silence, symbolizing the various strikes targeting the World Trade Center towers.
Columns back in 2021
Organization officials told The New York Times that the traditional "Tribute in Light" is scheduled to be installed again in 2021, for the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001.
The light beams were projected for the first time on March 11, 2002, six months after the attacks and three months after the official announcement of the extinction of the fires that ravaged the shopping center. They are the result of a collaborative work: five artists and architects (John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian LaVerdiere and Paul Myoda) had roughly the same idea at the same time.
The installation won the hearts of Americans and continues to this day. Its cancellation in 2020 is exceptional. With more than 23,600 dead from the coronavirus, New York is the western metropolis most affected by the crisis.