Remembering 9/11 at the New York State Museum

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)— Twenty-four years later, visitors at the New York State Museum reflect on 9/11.

” To this day we still vividly remember where we were, what we were doing. It doesn’t feel like 24 years,” said Victor Ramirez , a first time visitor to the New York State Museum.

On September 11, 2001, the terrorist attacks forever impacted New York and the entire country. 

“It feels like it was just yesterday,” recalled Ramirez.

Twenty-four years later, New York State has not forgotten the tragic events of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The state museum is dedicated to making sure that remains the case. 

“We have the largest 9/11 collection in the world,” explained Carrie Ross, Director of Exhibitions at the New York State Museum. “We have everything from this Engine 6 pumper, down to a small marble that we have on display here.”

Ross said for the 9/11 exhibition, curators contacted the FBI, CIA, and other first responder agencies to collect the artifacts.

“I think one of the artifacts here that most people can have a connection to is the seat belt,” said Ross. “Anybody who has been on a plane has put that seatbelt on. We all have a connection to it, and that really starts our story here on 9/11.”

For young people visiting the museum who are just learning about what happened, Ross hopes they will want to learn more.

“I hope it brings them empathy that we all felt in the days, weeks, and months after 9/11.”

The state is also making sure family members of those who died are not forgotten.

Governor Hochul recently signed three bills—-one of which allows children and siblings of sanitation workers who died as a result of 9/11, to receive an additional 10 points on a civil service exam for a position in the same municipality where their loved served. 

The other pieces of legislation include extending the September 11th Worker Protection Task Force Act until 2030 and expediting the World Trade Center disability and death benefit application process.