• March 25, 2002
• Vol. 57
• No. 11

Cry to Heaven

Six Months After Sept. 11, Twin Beacons Blaze Through the New York City Skyline in Memory of the Innocent Victims

Since the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, there has been a terrible gash in the New York City skyline where the Twin Towers once stood. But on the clear, cold evening of March 11, 12-year-old Valerie Webb took a first step in filling that void. At 6:55 p.m., the girl, who lost her mother to a heart attack two years ago and whose father, a Port Authority policeman, was killed in the towers' collapse, threw a switch that illuminated a Tribute in Light—two glowing beacons that for the next month will shine nightly in homage to the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

From bridges, rooftops and street corners, thousands watched as the shimmering blue beams, created by 88 powerful searchlights, soared into the heavens. For many, the display is both a consoling presence and a symbol of hope. "There's a gaping hole in my heart," says Marian Fontana, 35, the widow of Dave, 37, a Brooklyn firefighter who died on 9/11. "But it was nice to see that empty sky being filled by something."