Tribute in Light

{{Further|September 11 attacks}}

File:Tribute in Light, 2018 (10092).jpg in 2018]]

File:Tribute in Light in 2010.jpg in 2010]]

File:Tribute in Light September 11 2011 Shankbone.JPG in 2011]]

File:P20210910ES-0022 (51707170434).jpg in 2021]]

After the September 11 attacks, several people independently conceived the idea of using lights for remembrance. These efforts were merged under the umbrella of the Municipal Art Society and Creative Time.{{cite web |url=http://mas.org/programs/tributeinlight/ |title=Tribute In Light – The Municipal Art Society of New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825172813/http://mas.org/programs/tributeinlight/ |archive-date=August 25, 2010 |url-status=dead |access-date=November 4, 2014}}

Tribute in Light began construction on March 11, 2002, and initially ran as a temporary installation from March 11 to April 14, 2002, and it ran again on September 11, 2003, to mark the second anniversary of the attack. Since then, it has been repeated every year on September 11. It was announced that 2008 would be its final year, but the tribute was continued in 2009.{{cite news |publisher=NY1.com |title=September 11th Tribute Lights Up Again |url=http://ny1.com/content/top_stories/105290/september-11th-tribute-lights-up-again/Default.aspx" |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914135857/http://ny1.com/content/top_stories/105290/september-11th-tribute-lights-up-again/Default.aspx |archive-date=September 14, 2009 |df=mdy-all}}

On December 17, 2009, it was confirmed that the tribute would continue through the tenth anniversary of the attacks in 2011.{{cite news |url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/tribute-in-light-will-keep-shining-this-year-and-the-next// |newspaper=New York Times |title='Tribute in Light' Will Keep Shining, This Year and the Next |date=September 10, 2010 |first=David W. |last=Dunlap |access-date=September 11, 2010 |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726232605/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/tribute-in-light-will-keep-shining-this-year-and-the-next/ |url-status=live }} In 2012, plans were underway for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to assume the lease for the MTA property used during this tribute, and to begin transitioning operation of the tribute from the Municipal Art Society to the memorial foundation.{{cite web |last=Mann |first=Ted |title='Tribute' Handover |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443437504577545520666491842 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=July 23, 2012 |access-date=July 24, 2012 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303121742/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443437504577545520666491842 |url-status=live }}

The lights are produced by an American company named Space Cannon,{{Cite web |url=http://www.spacecannonsne.it/ |title=Home - Spacecannon SNe - Excellence in the lighting field |website=spacecannon SNe |language=en-US |access-date=2019-05-05 |archive-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506225826/http://www.spacecannonsne.it/ |url-status=live }} which sends a team every year to help with the installation. A Las Vegas-based company, Light America, was also part of the team who implemented the project.{{Cite web |url=https://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/world-trade-center-memorial-has-local-connection/79318001 |title=World Trade Center Memorial Has Local Connection |date=2002-03-12 |website=LASVEGASNOW |language=en-US |access-date=2019-01-27}}

Each year, about 30 technicians, electricians, and stagehands work for about ten days to install the lights. During a testing phase of several days, observers in Brooklyn, Staten Island, New Jersey, and uptown Manhattan help make sure that the beams are adjusted accurately.

The project was originally going to be named Towers of Light, but the victims' families felt that the name emphasized the buildings destroyed instead of the people killed.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1857699.stm |title=Tribute in light to New York victims |access-date=April 27, 2008 |work=BBC News |date=March 6, 2002 |archive-date=January 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129170013/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1857699.stm |url-status=live }}

A permanent fixture of the Tribute in Light was at one point intended to be installed on the roof of One World Trade Center,{{cite web |title=Freedom Tower rendering Time-lapse |url=http://www.wtc.com/media/videos |publisher=Silverstein Properties Inc. |access-date=March 22, 2015 |archive-date=February 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220192633/http://www.wtc.com/media/videos/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |title=SOM Freedom Tower Fact Sheet |url=http://www.renewnyc.com/content/pdfs/freedom_tower_fact_sheet.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103104549/http://www.renewnyc.com/content/pdfs/freedom_tower_fact_sheet.pdf |archive-date=2005-11-03 |url-status=live |publisher=Lower Manhattan Development Corporation |access-date=March 22, 2015}} but it was not included in the finished design.{{cite web |title=Design changes to base, spire of 1 World Trade Center |url=http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19229185/new-renderings-of-1-wtc-show-design-changes |publisher=Fox New York |access-date=March 22, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317171748/http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19229185/new-renderings-of-1-wtc-show-design-changes |archive-date=March 17, 2015 |df=mdy-all}}

Since 2008, the generators that power Tribute in Light have been fueled with biodiesel made from used cooking oil collected from local restaurants.{{cite web |last1=Bevill |first1=Kris |title=Tri-State Biodiesel fuels Sept. 11 memorial |url=http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/2726/tri-state-biodiesel-fuels-sept.-11-memorial/ |publisher=Biodiesel Magazine |access-date=September 12, 2017 |date=September 15, 2008 |archive-date=September 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913043926/http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/articles/2726/tri-state-biodiesel-fuels-sept.-11-memorial/ |url-status=live }}

The light pollution from Tribute in Light has caused confusion for over a million migrating birds, trapping them in the beams.{{Cite journal |last1=Van Doren |first1=Benjamin M. |last2=Horton |first2=Kyle G. |last3=Dokter |first3=Adriaan M. |last4=Klinck |first4=Holger |last5=Elbin |first5=Susan B. |last6=Farnsworth |first6=Andrew |date=2017-10-02 |title=High-intensity urban light installation dramatically alters nocturnal bird migration |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=114 |issue=42 |language=en |pages=11175–11180 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1708574114 |pmid=28973942 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=5651764 |bibcode=2017PNAS..11411175V |doi-access=free}} Even at an altitude of several miles, birds can be affected by the lights. As a result of this effect, the beams are switched off for 20-minute periods to allow the birds to escape.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8005051/10000-birds-trapped-in-Twin-Towers-memorial-light.html |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |title=10000 birds trapped in Twin Towers memorial light |date=September 15, 2010 |access-date=Sep 15, 2010 |location=London |first=Nick |last=Allen |archive-date=September 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913074718/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8005051/10000-birds-trapped-in-Twin-Towers-memorial-light.html |url-status=live }} To ensure the lights do not affect migrating birds, the Municipal Art Society works with the NYC Bird Alliance on the illumination.{{cite news |url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110818/FREE/110819880 |publisher=Crain's |title=Tribute in Light seeks funders |date=August 18, 2011 |first=Emily |last=Laermer |access-date=August 22, 2011 |archive-date=April 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403195807/http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110818/FREE/110819880 |url-status=live }} A 2017 study found that the installation "dramatically altered multiple behaviors of nocturnally migrating birds—but these effects disappeared when lights were extinguished".{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/science/september-11-tribute-lights-birds.html |title=Yearly 9/11 Tribute Shows Light Pollution's Effects on Birds |last=Quenqua |first=Douglas |date=2017-10-02 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2017-10-03 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003175351/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/science/september-11-tribute-lights-birds.html |url-status=live }}

Tribute in Light was featured in Boyz II Men's music video for "Color of Love". It made a notable appearance during the opening credits of Spike Lee's 2002 film 25th Hour. The tribute was also shown and referenced in the CBS series Blue Bloods. These lights were featured in the music video of U2's "You're the Best Thing About Me".

The video game adaptation of the film Spider-Man 2 features the lights at the approximate location of the WTC site, while another video game adaptation of the film The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the lights are seen on the construction site of One World Trade Center at night.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

• Memorials and services for the September 11 attacks
• National September 11 Memorial & Museum
• Pentagon Memorial
• Flight 93 National Memorial
• Other beams
• 20th Century Fox logo (designed {{circa|1935}}) famous non-military use of searchlights.
• Cathedral of light, a 1937 Nazi propaganda display with massed searchlights pointing skyward.
• spectra, an installation series of light and sound artworks featuring searchlights
• A Symphony of Lights, a contemporary light display in Hong Kong
• Luxor Hotel and Casino skybeam since the mid-1990s, the world's brightest searchlight-style display.
• Dale Eldred, Steeple of Light, Community Christian Church, Kansas City, MO. Completed in 1994.
• {{annotated link|Imagine Peace Tower}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Tribute in Light}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100825172813/http://mas.org/programs/tributeinlight/ The Municipal Art Society of New York, annual producers of the Tribute in Light]
• [http://www.911memorial.org/tribute-light Tribute in Light, presented by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum]

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Category:2002 establishments in New York City

Category:Memorials for the September 11 attacks

Category:Annual events in New York City

Category:Light art

Category:Monuments and memorials in Manhattan

Category:Searchlights