PHOTOS: Queens vows to never forget the 9/11 attacks at ceremonies marking a grim anniversary

Along with the rest of the nation, residents in Queens communities paused in recent days to pay tribute to the thousands of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

As in past years, residents marked the 16th anniversary of the day of infamy with a number of memorial ceremonies and candlelight vigils featuring prayers, words of comfort, the reading of victims’ names and music.

One such tribute took place at Maspeth Memorial Park on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 9, where scores of residents gathered to remember the victims of 9/11. Among the participants were members of Squad Company 288/Haz-Mat Unit 1, whose headquarters are near the park and suffered tremendous losses in the attack on the World Trade Center.

Glendale held a similar tribute the following day at the community’s 9/11 Memorial Garden, where flowers were left at the foot of the monument honoring the 42 residents of Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village and Woodhaven who perished in the attacks.

On Monday morning at 8:46 a.m. — the time in which the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center’s North Tower, marking the start of the attack 16 years ago — officers at every police precinct paused for a moment of silence and other tributes to the attack victims.

One of the final memorial ceremonies this year occurred at Middle Village’s Juniper Valley Park, where hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil. The Tribute in Light, which memorializes the fallen Twin Towers’ former place on the Manhattan skyline, was clearly visible to everyone at the park.