NEW YORK — As the Tribute in Light shines over New York City, Donna Morgan thinks back to that frightening day.

The Cobble Hill resident said she was working in Lower Manhattan on 9/11 and had to evacuate. Morgan made it out okay, but others she knew did not.

“We try to remember our friends every year and all of the people that we didn’t know,” she said, “all our fellow New Yorkers.”

What You Need To Know

  • The Tribute in Light was first shown six months after the attacks, and then every year after that on September 11th from dusk until dawn

  • The installation is assembled on the roof of the Battery Parking Garage south of the 9/11 Memorial

  • As an extension of the Tribute in Light, buildings throughout the city also lit facades and rooftops in sky blue

Donna, alongside her husband James Morgan, was among those who watched the twin beams illuminate the sky Saturday from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. They also attended the annual vigil there hosted by the Brooklyn Heights Interfaith Clergy Association.

“It makes us think of the friends we lost and just all the pain,” James Morgan said. “It’s important to remember that.”

The Tribute in Light was first shown six months after the attacks, and then every year after that on September 11th from dusk until dawn.

Members of the Long Island University (LIU) Brooklyn women’s softball team say it’s a tradition to come see the lights and learn about the history, especially with many of them from out of state.

“I was 1 when it happened. So, I mean, I don’t remember it, but coaches make a big deal of, you might not remember it but you’re finding the impact of it,” Zoe Estoppey said. “I think hearing it firsthand from other New Yorkers, you see how much more important it is or how much more real it is.”

The beams reach up to four miles into the sky and can be seen from a 60-mile radius around Lower Manhattan, where the tribute is assembled. For the Morgans, it puts the impact of the past 20 years in perspective.

“It’s always bittersweet, it reminds us,” James Morgan said. “But it’s such a perfect memorial.”

“The other thing I was thinking about today was, watching the tribute with the reading of the names this morning,” Donna Morgan said. “I was so touched by all of the children who were not born yet. And yet, they know the legacy, and this is why you have to keep remembering and keep doing this.”

Other buildings throughout New York City, including the Empire State Building, also lit up their rooftops and facades in sky blue as an extension of the tribute.

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