9/11 Tribute Lights Won’t Be Projected Into Sky This Year

Two columns of light that rise every Sept. 11 from a site near ground zero represent who is missing. This year, those beams will be gone, too.

Since 2002, the Tribute in Light has marked the attacks on the twin towers: It features 88 specially made lights used to create the projections, which tower over New York City until dawn on Sept. 12. But on Thursday, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which is responsible for the tribute, announced that it was canceling the display this year because of the coronavirus crisis.

Although people typically don’t crowd together to view the lights — which on a clear night can be seen from 60 miles away — a team of about 40 stagehands and electricians work closely on the installation for more than a week, Colin Moynihan reported in The Times.

The decision to cancel was made “after concluding the health risks during the pandemic were far too great for the large crew,” Michael Frazier, a memorial and museum spokesman, said in a statement.

Instead, the memorial and museum are planning an alternative tribute: Tall buildings across New York will illuminate their spires and facades with blue lights.

The fallout from the pandemic has deeply affected the memorial and museum. Without visitors driving ticket sales, the organization resorted to layoffs and furloughs. Its outdoor memorial reopened on July 4, though the museum remains closed.

This year’s commemoration will also forgo having the victims’ family members onstage reading the names of the 2,983 people who died in the Sept. 11 attacks and the 1993 bombing on the World Trade Center. Instead, recorded readings of the names will be broadcast.