deadlinelive.info

LOWER MANHATTAN — Survivors who fled the flaming World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 will not be allowed to attend the city’s annual commemoration ceremony at Ground Zero this year, DNAinfo has learned.

The mayor’s office, which runs the ceremony, informed the World Trade Center Survivors’ Network last week that there will be no room for them at this year’s 10th anniversary ceremony, which will be held for the first time at the newly built 9/11 memorial, the city said.

“In years past, members of this survivors’ group were permitted to attend once it was clear that attendance numbers of victims’ family members would allow it,” said Andrew Brent, spokesman for the mayor’s office.

“The commemoration ceremony is for victims’ family members, and this year – on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 – the expectation is there will be no opportunity for members of the group to attend.”

September 11th will again be an emotional day for victims’ family members, survivors, responders, millions of New Yorkers and people from all over the country and the world, but obvious space constraints on the Memorial plaza will limit the attendees to victims’ families,” Brent added.

Survivors of the 9/11 attacks had called the mayor’s office in the runup to the anniversary to ask for permission to attend again this year. Survivors were initially not allowed to attend the name-reading ceremony in the years immediately following the terrorist attacks, but were later granted access, the group said.