The law aims "to encourage dialogue and education in the classroom, and to ensure future generations have an understanding of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks and their place in history." The law took effect immediately after being signed.
"9/11 was one of the single darkest periods in this state's and this nation's history, and we owe it to those we lost and to the countless heroes who ran toward danger that day and the days that followed to do everything we can to keep their memory alive," said Cuomo in a press statement. "By establishing this annual day of remembrance and a brief moment of silence in public schools, we will help ensure we never forget – not just the pain of that moment but of the courage, sacrifice and outpouring of love that defined our response."
"I am hopeful that this new law will mean that the significance of the tragic events of September 11th, whether it be the loss of loved ones or the largest rescue operation our nation ever witnessed, will be forever acknowledged by school students too young to have witnessed this life-changing day," said Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., who sponsored the bill.
Wednesday marks 18 years since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 that claimed almost 3,000 lives when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington. Passengers thwarted the crashing of a fourth hijacked plane, causing it to crash on a field in Pennsylvania instead.