As the city prepares for the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, a thousand pundits will ask the question: How far have we come since that terrible day?
On Sept. 11, 2001, the nation’s sense of security was shattered, perhaps for decades to come, when a handful of terrorists armed with nothing more than box cutters flew two jetliners into the Twin Towers.
For hundreds of Queens families, the wreckage of that day will live on for generations. These families lost fathers and mothers, sons and daughters who worked in the World Trade Center as well as those who ran into the crumbling buildings in the hope that they could save lives.
Other heroes from Queens spent days and weeks sifting through the Ground Zero carnage at first looking for survivors and then for anything — a wallet, ID card or piece of jewelry — that could give families who lost a loved one a sense of closure. For long hours each day they breathed in the toxic dust. Firefighters came from across the nation to join in the search.
One of the most terrible moments America has ever endured became an opportunity for the nation to come together in a spirit of unity and solidarity.
But where is that unity today?
We hope leaders will take advantage of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 to address the religious, political and racial intolerance that continues to divide this city, nation and world.
For this reason, we believe Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a mistake by not inviting representatives of the world’s religions to join him on stage for the ceremony at the 16-acre Sept. 11 memorial. These religious leaders could join hands and say in one voice that they stand united in the hope that nothing like 9/11 would ever happen again. They could make it clear that what took place on that terrible day was the result of the abuse and distortion of religious belief.
On this 10th anniversary, our thoughts and prayers are with the Queens families whose lives were damaged that day and with those who now fear that those closest to them might face incurable ailments after spending days working in the rubble.
We salute Queens’ survivors for their courage.
