Port Authority unveils memorial to 84 employees lost on 9/11

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has dedicated a memorial at Liberty Park to honour the employees it lost in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. The ceremony, held on Tuesday, remembered 84 Port Authority employees who died that day, including 37 members of the Port Authority Police Department.

Kathryn Garcia, the agency's Executive Director, noted that the Port Authority also lost four employees in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. She added that in the 25 years since the 2001 attacks, the agency has continued to lose colleagues and family members to 9/11-related illnesses stemming from their work at the site.

Garcia described the memorial as a monument to the lives and stories of those Port Authority family members, which she said often go untold. She expressed gratitude to the World Trade Center Memorial Fund for commissioning the work.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul addressed the families of the fallen, saying, "your families are our families, your fight is our fight." She also acknowledged the ongoing need for healthcare and answers for those affected.

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America offered a blessing, asking that the names on the memorial never become distant history and that they remind every generation of lives faithfully lived and service generously offered.

The event was attended by current and retired Port Authority police officers, family members, and officials. The September 11, 2001 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and remain the deadliest terror attack in history.