15 Years After 9/11/2001 Federal Government Returns to World Trade Center

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9 September 2016—

City, state and federal officials on Friday, September 9 -two days before the 15th anniversary of 9/11- celebrated the return of federal agencies as tenants to the World Trade Center with a commemorative ceremony on the 63rd floor.

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The great view from the 63rd floor of One World Trade Center, where a ceremony took place, was encouraging attendees to take selfies.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Charles Johnson led the ceremony.

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“Terrorism cannot prevail if we refuse to be terrorized. Sunday is meant to be a somber day. Today is meant to be an uplifting day, a sign of our determination to move forward and to come back stronger than ever before,” said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Charles Johnson. And continued: “Literally out of the ashes, we have rebuilt stronger and taller.”

Among the government tenants returning are the New York offices of US Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the US General Services Administration. They now occupy offices on the 50th to 55th floors of the building.

Mr. Secretary also presented outgoing NYPD police commissioner Bill Bratton with a plaque, “the highest award for your service,” he told Bratton.

Mayor Bill de Blasio came to the microphone: “Mr. Secretary, I want to thank you on behalf of all New Yorkers. You’ve been an extraordinary partner. And I want to thank you also for honoring Bill Bratton because he is so worthy of that honor for all he has done for this city and this nation. “

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“It is a day to recognize how far we’ve come. And it’s a day to remember – and the Secretary always invokes that point – we won’t allow ourselves to be terrorized.”

“We would show that the terrorists achieved none of their aims, they strengthened our resolve. […] In fact, you could even say the terrorists’ plan backfired. And ultimately we became stronger, we became more unified,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio..

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