STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Politicians, labor leaders and local organizations are working to save the September 11 “Tribute in Light” after the 9/11 Memorial and Museum decided to cancel it.
A bipartisan group of City Council members, including Minority Leader Steven Matteo (R-Mid-Island) and Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore), said they are confident the workers needed for the massive light display could be sourced from local unions after coordinating with the AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council.
“Anyone who watched the towers go down, either in person or on television, knows how representative those lights are,” Borelli said. “This was one of the only ways in which the whole tri-state area could participate in remembering that day.”
“Tribute in Light” shines 88 different lights -- 44 for each tower of the World Trade Center -- four miles into the sky, and can be seen from 60 miles away. The lights are sourced from the Italian company Spacecannon.
The 9/11 Memorial and Museum did not respond to a request for comment on Friday as to whether the specific lights were necessary for the display, and if it typically sourced the labor for the project from the Italian company. The company also did not respond to a request for comment.
In a Thursday statement, the museum, which has a board of trustees chaired by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, blamed the display’s cancellation on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
AFL-CIO New York City Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez told the Advance/SILive.com that he was confident that local workers could safely handle the display’s installation.
“Our position is that we must have the tribute and the lights lit on 9/11,” he said. “We stand ready, willing, and able to do what we can in that effort. New York City’s union workers -- they can do this safely and professionally.”
The museum’s statement said that it hopes to renew the display next year for the 20th anniversary of the attacks that killed thousands and continues to affect people’s health with 9/11-related illnesses.
As a substitute for the annual display, the museum announced a “Tribute in Lights” initiative in which buildings will light their spires and facades in blue to honor those killed on 9/11.
Assemblywoman Nicole Mallitoakis also blasted the decision to cancel the annual tribute, and offered her assistance to the museum as well as Manhattan-based company Michael Ahern Production Services, which owns the display’s artistic copyright. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
“I do not support this decision and am greatly saddened by it,” she said. “I find it hard to believe that there isn’t a way to continue this annual ‘Tribute in Light’ memorial to honor the victims of 9/11. The installation of these lights poses no greater risk than many of the other activities taking place on a daily basis in our city.”
The group of City Council members also sent a letter to President Trump inquiring as to whether he could provide federal assistance for an alternate installation plan. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Two local organizations -- the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation and the city’s Sergeants Benevolent Association -- announced their own versions of the display, but neither said how they would do it.
The Tunnel to Towers Foundation announced its “Towers of Light” tribute in a Friday press release, in which Chairman and CEO Frank Siller said the organization would do whatever it could to ensure a version of the display goes forward.
“The twin beams of light that shine over lower Manhattan in silent tribute to those lost on 9/11 are an iconic symbol of hope, visibly showing that light will always triumph over darkness,” he said.
In response to an email inquiry, a spokesman for the organization, which honors fallen 9/11 firefighter Stephen Siller and other victims of the attacks, said they were still working out the logistical information, but that it would “be a respectful tribute to those we lost that day.”
Tunnel to Towers last week announced that it plans to host a 140-person, in-person reading of victims’ names near ground zero after after the 9/11 Memorial and Museum announced it would play pre-recorded names of the victims from the museum’s Memoriam exhibition in lieu of a live event because of COVID concerns.
The SBA did not respond to a request for comment on the logistics of its “Tribute in Light” ceremony, but in a Facebook post President Ed Mullins linked the cancellation to Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has no control over the decisions of the privately-run museum.
“The 9/11 attacks was an act of war on our nation, and the Tribute in Light remembrance paid tribute to the nearly 3,000 innocent victims who were murdered that day, as well as all of the people that continue to die from 9/11-related ailments and illnesses,” Mullins said. “These victims include members of the NYPD, PAPD, FDNY and other first responders, as well as all of the people who went to work that day and died for our country.”
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