OVER 100 9/11 FAMILIES, SURVIVORS & UNIFORMED SERVICE MEMBERS ABOARD USS NEW YORK ARRIVE AT NY HARBOR TO MARK 10th ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11 ATTACKS

Forged with Steel from the World Trade Center, the USS New York Arrives to

Commemorate the 10th Anniversary of September 11, 2001

New York, NY…September 7, 2011 – On September 8, 2011, the U.S. Navy will mark the remembrance of the 10th Anniversary of September 11, 2001, with the arrival of the USS New York (LPD 21) in New York Harbor. USS New York will render honors as it passes the WTC site at 8:00a.m.

Aboard the ship are over one hundred 9/11 families, survivors, FDNY, NYPD, and Port Authority PD who boarded the ship in Norfolk, VA and are aboard for the cruise to New York City.

Before docking in the New York Harbor, the crew of the USS New York will render honors as they pass the WTC Site around 8:00 AM.

WHAT: September 11th Families Aboard the USS New York to Dock in NY Harbor in Remembrance of the 10th Anniversary of 9/11

WHEN: Thursday September 8 at 7:45 AM

WHERE: North Cove Marina, behind the World Financial Center

Tags: 10th anniversary, ABOARD, alignright, alt, anniversary, arrival, ARRIVE, Arrives, Authority, center, class, Commemorate, cove marina, crew, cruise, dock, FAMILIES, FDNY, Financial, Forged, HARBOR, height, href, img, LPD, Marina, MARK, MEMBERS, New York, new york city, New York Harbor, New York Metro, new york ny, News, Norfolk, North Cove, NYPD, pd, Port, port authority, rel, remembrance, September, september 11 2001, service, ship, site, src, Steel, survivors, Thursday, title, trade, u s navy, Uniformed, uniformed service members, USS, USS New York, USS New York LPD-21, WHERE, width, World, world financial center, World Trade Center, wtc

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced today that amphibious transport dock ship USS New York will travel to New York City to participate in numerous events throughout the city honoring the victims and responders from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Additionally, 170 members of the 9/11 Families Association, which includes families of victims and first responders, will embark the USS New York for the transit from Norfolk, Va., to New York Harbor.

“I am grateful to the mayor and his office for their tremendous support this past month as we worked together to ensure the USS New York and her crew were able to represent the Navy in New York. Every member of the crew has a tremendous sense of mission and appreciation of the unique role their ship plays for the citizens of New York. She is an emblem of the strength and renewed spirit of a city that was damaged but never defeated. She and her crew belong with the family members of the victims and the first responders in New York City on the tenth anniversary of 9-11,” said Mabus.

“With the steel from the World Trade Center in her bow, the USS New York represents a powerful symbol of the deeply personal connection that New Yorkers have with our military and is a symbol of the courage and resilience of our nation,” said Bloomberg. “She helps protect the freedoms that make this the world’s most diverse and tolerant city and we are honored to welcome the men and women of the USS New York back to our city.”

The ship is scheduled to be pier side in Manhattan Sept. 8-9 and will anchor in the Hudson River Sept. 10-12. On Sept. 11, the USS New York will move from its anchorage in the Hudson River to a location within sight of the World Trade Center. Members of all branches of the military, including Navy and Marine Corps service members from the USS New York, will participate in the honor guard during the city’s commemoration ceremony.

The USS New York is the sixth U.S. Navy ship to be named to honor the state of New York. Her bow stem includes seven and a half tons of steel recovered and re-forged from the World Trade Center’s twin towers. The ship features many design elements and furnishings throughout her interior that serve as tributes to the events of 9/11. The ship’s motto is “Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget.”

Media may direct queries to the Navy Office of Information at 703-697-5342. For more information on amphibious dock ships, visit http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=600&ct=4

Tags: New York Metro, News, USS New York, USS New York LPD-21

By JOSH MARGOLIN Original article here on NY Post

Last Updated: 11:29 AM, September 6, 2011

Posted: 1:28 AM, September 6, 2011

Deep in the bowels of the most closely watched construction site in the nation there is a phrase that is forbidden: Ground Zero.

Those words describe a lifeless pit filled with rubble and despair. What steel worker Earmon Maguire is working on is a living, breathing monument of hope, the colossal construction of a brand new day.

Here, columns of glass and metal rise at all hours. Concrete is being poured in every corner. Each rivet that is fastened, each tile that is polished is a source of special pride

“A neighbor of mine died in 9/11,” said Maguire, 27, of Brooklyn. “A lot of guys in the neighborhood died. People around the neighborhood know that I’m working here, rebuilding.”

Maguire is one of nearly 3,200 workers at the colossal construction site, each pulling 10-hour shifts six, sometimes seven, days a week. At night, the population drops to double or triple digits, but the work does not stop.

It can’t.

Most days, master welder Richard Alexander Graham can be found lighting his torch in the hot and sticky tunnels of the World Trade Center’s new transportation hub.

Like so many hardhats here, Graham was dispatched to the site a decade ago to help clear rubble left when the Twin Towers were destroyed.

“I came down here the first day,” Graham said as the sweat dripped under the leather smock he wears to shield him from the sparks. “I’m so proud about it, man.”

There is one important rule for construction workers on the site: Finish the job.

The cleanup after the attacks took nine months alone. But instead of office buildings, delays and costs were the only things rising. Then, after years of planning, false starts and disagreements, above-ground rebuilding began in April 2006.

Workers have completed Tower 7 and a memorial to 9/11 victims. Below, construction is moving along on the museum.

The project’s crown jewel, 1 World Trade Center, has risen to 80 stories, with 3.1 million square feet of office space already built.

Eleven subway lines plus the PATH train pass near the site.

“It’s the most iconic, the most important piece of construction ever done,” says Port Authority Chairman David Samson.

One of the perks of working construction on the most important project is the view from its main attraction.

Center step off the construction elevator at the 64th-floor sky lobby and are thrown back in time: The sun is setting over New Jersey, the Empire State Building rises in the distance and the Statue of Liberty is keeping watch over the harbor.

It’s a vantage point that evaporated on 9/11 and hasn’t been seen for 10 years.

Another nice bonus is the gig itself. The rats that scurry underground and the loneliness that settles in on the night shift are offset by steady, good-paying work in a bad economy.

“A year ago, I was working for my brother, but his business went down,” said Stephen Lee, 53, of Smithtown, LI, who also worked the pile after 9/11. “I was delighted to come here. I think all the 9/11 stuff is overdone already, but I’m lucky. This is probably the biggest job that I’ll ever be on in the city.”

josh.margolin@nypost.com

Tags: alexander graham, bowels, brand new day, Building, Chairman, City, construction site, construction workers, disagreements, earmon, ground zero, HARBOR, margolin, master welder, neighborhood, News, original article, richard alexander, rivet, rubble, section, Sept, September, smock, steel worker, Tower, Towers, transportation hub, triple digits, twin towers, USS, ussnewyork, victim, Victims, View, Watch, World Trade Center