Sep 12, 2009 12:06 pm US/Eastern
NYC's Labor Day Parade To Honor 9/11 Victims
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Relatives of victims stand before a ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2009 in New York City.
Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Marchers in New York City's Labor Day parade will observe a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
The New York City Central Labor Council's annual solidarity march up Fifth Avenue begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The parade is held the week after the Labor Day weekend.
More than 50,000 union members representing 400 unions will march in the salute to the city's working people. They will observe a moment of silence at 10:30 a.m.
This year's parade grand marshal is Lillian Roberts, executive director of District Council 37, the largest union of city government workers.
A procession of colorful union banners will greet Archbishop Timothy Dolan as he celebrates his first Labor Day Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral before the parade begins.
Families carrying photos of lost loved ones streamed into a plaza near ground zero on Friday to observe the eighth anniversary of the World Trade Center attack. Hundreds attended the now-familiar ceremonies in New York City, at the Pentagon and at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 in a Shanksville, Pa., field.
In lower Manhattan, families used rain jackets and ponchos to fend off the rain and strong wind as bells tolled at nearby Trinity Church. Mourners observed a moment of silence -- the first of four -- at 8:46 a.m., the time the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Center. Then the names of victims began to be read.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking at the ceremony's beginning before a large crowd huddled together below a sea of umbrellas, said the city will "safeguard the memories of those who died by rekindling the spirit of service that lit our city with hope and helped keep us strong.
"Eight years we have come together to commemorate this anniversary, and just as our hearts return to those that we lost, we also remember all those who spontaneously ran forward to help," said Bloomberg, fighting the blowing rain and chilly early morning temperatures.
"Eight years ago, countless people played a part in history by doing something to help another person, probably someone they didn't even know," added Bloomberg. "Each act was a link in a continuous chain that stopped us from falling into cynicism and despair."
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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