A 2,977-drone tribute will recreate the Twin Towers before bells toll at 8:46 a.m.; Mamdani to attend despite protests as New York tightens security for Rosh Hashanah amid rising antisemitismAt 8:46 a.m. in New York (3:46 p.m. Israel time), exactly 25 years after American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the United States will pause to remember.At Ground Zero, bells will toll and relatives of the victims will take turns reading 2,983 names — 2,977 victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the six people killed in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.GalleryThe second plane strikes the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 (Photo: AP)For the first time, this year’s ceremony will include seven moments of silence: six marking the times when the towers were struck and collapsed, the Pentagon was attacked and United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania, followed by another after the reading of the names to honor the thousands who have died from illnesses linked to toxic dust from the attacks and their aftermath.The 25th anniversary marks another turning point: More than 100 million Americans are too young to remember Sept. 11. For roughly a third of the country, the day that changed America is now history learned in the classroom rather than a personal memory.All four living former presidents — Joe Biden, who is battling cancer, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton — are expected to gather at the memorial plaza, along with Vice President JD Vance, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other senior New York officials.New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (Photo: AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)President Donald Trump, a New York native, will mark the anniversary at a ceremony at the Pentagon. The New York Times reported that plans for Trump to attend the Manhattan ceremony changed after it became clear he would not be allowed to speak, in keeping with a policy barring political speeches at the ceremony since 2012. Trump denied the report and said he would have been happy to attend even without speaking.Even without taking the microphone, Mamdani is expected to be at the center of political attention. For the first time, a Muslim mayor will stand at Ground Zero, despite a petition signed by nearly 110,000 people calling on him to stay away.Some victims’ relatives, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki have argued that Mamdani’s positions, associations and his past refusal to explicitly condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” make his presence “offensive.”Smoke billows from the World Trade Center in New York during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (Photo: AP)Another organization representing victims’ families, however, described the effort to exclude him as “Islamophobic,” while Democratic leaders said the city’s elected mayor should attend.Mamdani said that as “someone who loves this city and this country,” he would attend to honor the victims’ families and first responders. He also declared Sept. 11 a permanent citywide “Day of Remembrance and Service.”The dispute over Mamdani encapsulates some of the changes America has undergone over the past quarter-century. In 2007, about 2.4 million Muslims lived in the United States, according to Pew Research Center estimates. Today, the number is estimated at 5.5 million.A person falls from the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York (Photo: AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)The number of mosques increased from about 1,200 in 2000 to roughly 2,800 in 2020, and there are now four Muslims serving in Congress, compared with none in 2001.But increased visibility has not eliminated suspicion. In a Pew survey conducted this year, 42% of Americans said Muslims have a negative effect on the country, 43% described them as less patriotic than other Americans and 51% said Islam encourages violence more than other religions. Among Muslims themselves, 59% said there is a great deal of discrimination against them.In 2009, Muslim activist Daisy Khan sought to establish a Muslim community center about a five-minute walk from Ground Zero, modeled on Jewish community centers and the YMCA.An explosion erupts from the World Trade Center after the second plane strikes the South Tower in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 (Photo: AP Photo/Chao Soi Cheong, File)The project was intended to promote tolerance but became widely known as the “Ground Zero mosque,” sparking “no Sharia” demonstrations and a fierce national debate. The project was abandoned in 2014.Today, most mosque projects are eventually approved, though sometimes only after prolonged disputes.According to the U.S. Mosque Survey, 35% of Muslim congregations that sought to build or expand between 2010 and 2019 encountered significant opposition, compared with an average of 25% during the previous three decades. In the past year alone, disputes over mosques have emerged in Texas, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other states.This year, the Sept. 11 anniversary falls directly before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The New York Police Department is mounting two parallel security operations: one around Ground Zero and another around synagogues, Jewish schools and other Jewish institutions.People flee through smoke and debris near the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York (Photo: AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, FIle)Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who is Jewish, said the deployment would be larger than for any previous Sept. 11 anniversary, although authorities have identified no specific, credible threat.According to police data, antisemitic crime in the city has risen 8% this year, and Jews were the targets of half of all reported hate crimes during the first eight months of the year.In Lower Manhattan, some concerns are more practical. Rabbis have wondered whether deliveries of meat and other food for Rosh Hashanah meals will make it through heightened security checkpoints in time for the holiday.New York City firefighters work amid the rubble of the World Trade Center following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (Photo: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)The ruins of the World Trade Center stand amid smoke and debris following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York (Photo: AP Photo/Alexandre Fuchs, File)Meanwhile, Repair the World and the Jewish student organization Hillel plan to mobilize more than 800 Jewish students at about 15 college campuses for food distribution, environmental work and community assistance projects commemorating the attacks.The memory of Sept. 11 has also become material for new forms of an old hatred.The Anti-Defamation League says the number of documented antisemitic incidents involving Sept. 11 conspiracy theories nearly doubled to 68 in 2025. Claims that Jews or Israel knew about the attacks in advance, orchestrated them or celebrated them have migrated from fringe forums to TikTok and other major social media platforms. They are now being supplemented by AI-generated videos and images presented as supposed “evidence.”A sign promotes a conspiracy theory implying the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were a 'false flag' operation perpetrated by Jews (Photo: ADL)A promotional poster for 'Turning the Tide,' a New York conference featuring speakers who promote conspiracy theories about Israel’s alleged involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks (Photo: ADL)A conspiracy conference focused on allegations of Israeli responsibility for the attacks is scheduled to take place in New York this month. Singer Roger Waters and other speakers whom the ADL has accused of promoting antisemitic messages are expected to participate.The seventh moment of silence at this year’s ceremony is also a reminder that the final toll from Sept. 11 has yet to be determined.About 152,000 people are enrolled in the federal World Trade Center Health Program, which provides monitoring and treatment for people with health conditions related to the attacks.New York City this week released 170,000 pages of documents concerning air quality and decisions made after the towers collapsed. The city also pledged to help residents obtain employment and school records that could establish that they were present in the exposure zone.The move is expected to make it easier to submit new claims for treatment and compensation, although there is not yet an official estimate of how many additional applications could result.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also planning a study of up to $50 million examining people who were children, young adults or still in the womb at the time of the attacks.About 25,000 children lived or attended school near the World Trade Center. Many are now in their 30s and 40s, ages when some chronic illnesses can begin to emerge.Alongside the traditional ceremonies, the anniversary is also bringing commemorations that would have been difficult to imagine in 2001.On Thursday night, 2,977 drones — one for each victim of the 2001 attacks — rose over New York Harbor and formed the outlines of the Twin Towers at their original height.The traditional twin beams of the “Tribute in Light” will return Friday night. For the first time, the display will be accompanied by a live national broadcast and performances by Cyndi Lauper, Lainey Wilson and Five for Fighting frontman John Ondrasik.In Battery Park City, the Lower Manhattan neighborhood built partly on landfill created with material excavated during construction of the World Trade Center, residents will set up a long communal table in a park. The gathering is intended as a tribute to a neighborhood that was evacuated after the attacks, returned to life and grew again.The Tribute in Light illuminates the night sky over Lower Manhattan in remembrance of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (Photo: Ryan MURPHY / AFP)The Tribute in Light shines over the Manhattan skyline in remembrance of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP)An invitation to Battery Park City’s Longest Table, a communal meal marking 25 years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (Photo: ADL)In Denver, by contrast, United Airlines canceled a planned flyover involving a Boeing 777 and F-16 fighter jets after residents warned that the sight of a low-flying passenger jet at 9:03 a.m. — the time the second plane struck the World Trade Center — would be too painful an image on the anniversary.Instead, a roughly 10-foot-tall memorial made from World Trade Center steel will be dedicated.Even after a quarter-century, some of the biggest legal cases stemming from Sept. 11 remain unresolved.The trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, accused of being the principal architect of the attacks, was only recently given a tentative date of June 2028.A separate civil lawsuit brought by victims’ families against Saudi Arabia is moving toward trial after a federal judge rejected a Saudi attempt to have the case dismissed. The families allege that individuals acting on behalf of Saudi Arabia assisted two of the hijackers. Riyadh denies any involvement.The legal battle is being led by Terry Strada, whose husband, Tom, was killed at the World Trade Center, leaving her with three children.Their youngest was less than a week old on Sept. 11, 2001.This week, he turned 25. His father’s remains have still not been fully identified.