Ceremonies across upstate New York honored the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, including the hundreds of first responders who died after responding to comb the wreckage for survivors.
In Syracuse, city officials held a ceremony Wednesday morning at Fayette Firefighters Park, paying tribute those who died at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Mayor Ben Walsh, Police Chief Joseph Cecile, Fire Department Chief Michael Monds and other local officials attended with community members. There was a 17-minute period of silence from 8:46 until 9:03 a.m., representing the time between the first and second planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers in Lower Manhattan.
"It is important to always continue this day. It was such a significant day in our world, country and right in our state of New York," Monds said. "And what our first responders went through we can never forget because they have to realize that they can be facing that same danger. The families need to realize the dangers that they face."
Members of the McKownville Fire Department in Guilderland, Albany County, also gathered Wednesday to reflect on the world-changing events of 9/11.
One of the civilians killed at the World Trade Center 23 years ago was Shawn Bowman Jr., who had served with the department during his time studying at the state University at Albany.
He was working for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of the north tower at the time of the attacks.
A permanent memorial at the fire station honors Bowman's memory.
The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) also held a memorial ceremony in Albany on Wednesday morning.
Thirty-four members of the PEF working in New York City on Sept. 11 were killed in the attacks.