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https://youtu.be/Bi-asBnPQIY
NEW YORK (77WABC) — 77 WABC and Tunnel to Towers are presenting 9/11 – 20 Years Later, two days of wall-to-wall special programming dedicated to the 9/11 victims, first responders, and their families.
Red Apple Group owner and CEO John Catsimatidis hosted a press conference Friday featuring former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former New York Governor George Pataki, former Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, and other leaders on the ground following the September 11th attacks, remembering the events of the day and celebrating the resiliency of Americans in the face of terrorism.
“First we had Pearl Harbor as a day we will never forget,” Catsimatidis said. “Then we had 9/11, and it’s a day the world will never forget, America would never forget, and it showed you how resilient the American people were.”
‘When I went down to Ground Zero that morning to try to help and see with my own eyes what was happening, I saw New Yorkers — yes there were those who were told to leave lower Manhattan — but I saw hundreds of New Yorkers rushing to Ground Zero, not knowing whether we would be attacked again, prepared to risk their lives to try to help save their fellow New Yorkers, their fellow human beings,” Pataki said. “I’m proud of our leadership and what we all did together, but I’m incredibly proud of the people and how they responded on that awful day.”
Giuliani praised the quick response that all government organizations took in the aftermath.
“By the second day it was the city government, the state government, the federal government as one,” Giuliani said. “If we made the wrong decision, we all made it. If we made the right decision, we all made it.”
“That was the key to why that whole operation has become like an example of emergency response,” he added.
Kerik praised both the Mayor and Governor for their handling of the attack, but also praised the local heroes who worked tirelessly to save New Yorkers.
“The men and women of the New York City Police Department, the Fire Department, the Port Authority, and the State Police effected one of the greatest rescue missions in the history of this country,” Kerik said. “They took 20,000 to 25,000 people out of those buildings and the surrounding buildings within eight hours, and they evacuated more than 1 million people out of southern Manhattan almost flawlessly.”
“They are the heroes that responded on 9/11, and I think most often they don’t get the credit they deserve,” Kerik added.
Catsimatidis added that he wants everyone, no matter what they believe, to come together especially in times of crisis.
“My hope for America is that all Americans, whether they’re Democrats, whether they’re Republicans, whether they’re Independents; come together on America’s side and work together.”
