Relatives of 9/11 victims made their last tearful walk to the bedrock of Ground Zero yesterday to remember what Mayor Bloomberg called “the day our world was broken” on the seventh anniversary of the attacks.
“Time doesn’t make it any better. The realization of what happened creeps in more and more,” said Phil Hayes Jr., 54, whose father, Phil Sr., was fire safety director of the World Trade Center and was last seen helping day-care center kids from one of the towers.
Like relatives of other victims, Hayes said he had mixed feelings about the expected removal of the ramp leading down to the pit next year because of construction at the site.
“It’s important to allow families to go down there, but I understand they have to rebuild,” said Hayes, who flies in from California every year to attend the ceremony.
The seventh anniversary of the terror attacks followed past rituals.
At 8:46 a.m., the time the first hijacked plane hit the trade center, family members and students representing the more than 90 countries that lost victims began reading the names of the 2,751 people killed.
After their loved one’s name was ready, relatives somberly walked down the ramp.
Thousands of red, white, yellow and pink roses were handed out to them. Four bells were rung to mark the times when the two planes hit the towers and when the towers fell.
Later in the day, mourners dropped flowers into a reflecting pool – with squares inside to symbolize the footprints of the Twin Towers.
Retired cop Lenny Crisci, 60, was talking about his brother John Crisci, a FDNY lieutenant who had rushed to the south tower, when a bell rang at 9:59, marking when the tower collapsed.
“Oh, my God, this is when my brother died,” he said, bursting into tears.
Crisci recalled that his brother was supposed to have the day off on Sept. 11, 2001, but switched days so he could spend the 9th celebrating the 15th birthday of his son, Michael.
“It haunts him every day,” Crisci said of Michael, now 22. He added that the son has passed the FDNY test.
Red Cross volunteer Katey Walsh, who has attended every anniversary, said she was struck this year by how the children of victims have grown. “It was very striking the first anniversary to see so many small children,” she said.
Heba Mair-Bullock and her sister Marjana were in high school when their father’s cousin, Linda Mair-Grayling, died in her office. She said the sisters decided to join the Army because of 9/11 and Marjana is about to be sent to Afghanistan.
“I don’t want Linda’s death to be in vain,” Mair-Bullock, 23, said. “I will be going to Iraq or Afghanistan to protect us, to protect our people and to protect our freedom.”
Bloomberg’s office said 4,661 relatives walked down the ramp. Overall turnout appeared to be down at least 10 percent from former years. “We’ve lost some of the intensity of September 11,” Crisci said.
Marty Gazzani, 63, whose son Terrence, 23, was working for the Cantor Fitzgerald financial firm when the trade center was hit, said he had been worried about dwindling interest.
“But I’m happy, turnout or not, that something is still going on here,” said Gazzani, of Brooklyn.
Several relatives said they had nowhere else to go because their loved ones’ remains were never found.
“As far as we’re concerned, Ground Zero is a final resting place,” said Eleni Kousoulis, whose sister Danielle also worked at Cantor Fitzgerald that morning.
Bloomberg opened the rites by saying: “Today marks the seventh anniversary of the day our world was broken. It lives forever in our hearts and our history.”
Other officials who spoke included Govs. Paterson and Jon Corzine, former Gov. George Pataki and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Meanwhile, thousands of tattered American flags that were in danger of ending up in the garbage are being burned and given a proper burial near a 9/11 memorial at All Saints Cemetery in Queens by two retired NYPD detectives.
“This was a rescue mission. People died for this flag, and it shouldn’t be thrown away,” said Tom Neary, who is leading the effort with Daniel Austin.
Additional reporting by Julia Dahl