New York to allow Sept 11 ceremony at WTC site

NEW YORK, Aug 10 (Reuters) New York City has yielded to the wishes of families of Sept. 11 victims and will allow them access to the World Trade Center site during the upcoming sixth anniversary commemoration of the 2001 attacks.

All five previous anniversary events had taken place inside the giant pit where the Twin Towers were destroyed, but because construction on the replacement towers has begun the city ruled the site unsafe for a ceremony this year.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg relented yesterday after meeting family members, agreeing to allow them to descend into the site on a limited basis during the ceremony, most of which will take place in a neighboring park.

Many relatives of the victims consider the site hallowed ground and actively campaigned for access.

''At today's meeting, the families proposed a very limited and controlled level of access to the below grade, and after consulting with the Port Authority, we've been told that this type of access can work,'' Bloomberg said in a statement late yesterday.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the land where four skyscrapers and a memorial are being built. The site was largely vacant in past years. Now it is a construction site busy with cranes, trucks and heavy equipment.

REUTERS RSA BD1937