FDNY offers first look at plans for 25th anniversary commemoration of 9/11

Colin Mixson, New York Daily News on Dec 9, 2025

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NEW YORK — The FDNY offered a first look this week at some of its plans for commemorating the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attack.

A special FDNY-organized anniversary ceremony will take place Sept. 9, 2026, at the Staten Island FireHawks ballpark to honor the 343 firefighters and paramedics who died during the attacks, and the hundreds more who have since perished of 9/11-related illnesses. That will take place two days before the annual 9/11 commemoration at ground zero.

FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker will provide full details of the plan at a news conference scheduled for Tuesday on Staten Island.

The plans will include the reveal of a Sept. 11th 25th Anniversary Emblem, the launch of a commemorative podcast series hosted by actor Gary Sinise and the release of a new film about Father Mychal Judge.

A Franciscan friar and Catholic priest, Judge was serving as an FDNY chaplain when he was struck by debris as the south tower collapsed and was designated “victim 0001,” making him the first official casualty of the Sept. 11th attacks.

Sinise — a Tony and Emmy awards winner whose role as Lt. Dan in the 1994 drama “Forrest Gump” earned him an Oscar nomination — supports first responders and the families of rescuers killed during the terrorist attack through his namesake charitable foundation.

The FDNY will also mark the anniversary of the attack with the release of an updated health report.

More than 400 firefighters have died of 9/11 related illnesses since the attack, and the WTC Health Program that provides medical benefits to survivors has faced funding and staffing deficits in the wake of budget cuts made by the Trump administration.

At this year’s annual tribute at ground zero, a procession of friends and family of the 2,977 victims of the World Trade Center terror read off the names of the victims as a bagpiper played.

After reading the names, some offered heartfelt tributes to their fallen loved ones, like the granddaughter of FDNY firefighter Robert Crawford, who was killed on 9/11.

“There is no greater sacrifice than the one you and so many others made that day and continue to make every day,” Crawford’s granddaughter said at the ceremony in September. “I’m angry you were taken from us but I beam with pride at the hero that you are. We miss you every day and we will never forget.”