Editing Tribute in Light

{{Short description|Annual tribute to 9/11 victims}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Lower Manhattan from Jersey City September 2020 HDR panorama.jpg|thumb|''Tribute in Light'' as seen from [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]] in 2020]]
[[File:P20210911KR-0060 (51707387945).jpg|thumb|[[The Pentagon]]'s ''Tribute in Light'' seen from the [[White House]] in 2021]]
[[File:September 11th Memorial Tribute In Light 2014.jpg|thumb|''Tribute in Light'' as seen from [[Brooklyn]] in 2014]]
The '''''Tribute in Light''''' is an [[art installation]] created in remembrance of the [[September 11 attacks]].<ref name=godark>{{cite news |url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/will-the-tribute-in-light-go-dark-after-08/ |newspaper=New York Times |title=Will ''Tribute in Light'' Go Dark After '08? |date=September 11, 2007 |first=Sewell |last=Chan |access-date=September 12, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107015733/http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/will-the-tribute-in-light-go-dark-after-08/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It consists of 88 vertical [[searchlight]]s arranged in two columns of light to represent the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|Twin Towers]]. It stands six blocks south of the [[World Trade Center site|World Trade Center]] on top of the Battery Parking Garage<ref>{{cite web |title=Tribute in Light |url=https://www.911memorial.org/tribute-light |website=9/11 Memorial |publisher=National September 11 Memorial & Museum |access-date=June 7, 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144009/https://www.911memorial.org/tribute-light |url-status=live }}</ref> in [[New York City]]. ''Tribute in Light'' began as a temporary commemoration of the attacks in early 2002, but it became an annual event, currently produced on September 11 by the [[Municipal Art Society]] of New York.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tribute in Light |url=http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2002/tribute/main.html |website=creativetime.org |publisher=Creative Time, Inc. |access-date=June 7, 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142129/http://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2002/tribute/main.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite news |url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/tribute_in_light_shines_bright_every_year_since_20.html |work=NJ.com |first=John |last=Munson |title=Tribute in Light shines bright every year since 2002 |date=September 10, 2015 |access-date=June 7, 2018 |archive-date=June 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612150711/http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/tribute_in_light_shines_bright_every_year_since_20.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tribute in Light |url=https://www.mas.org/programs/tribute-in-light/ |website=mas.org |publisher=The Municipal Art Society of New York |access-date=September 12, 2017 |archive-date=September 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912234423/https://www.mas.org/programs/tribute-in-light/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''Tribute in Light'' was conceived by artists John Bennett, Gustavo Bonevardi, Richard Nash Gould, Julian LaVerdiere, and Paul Myoda, and lighting consultant [[Paul Marantz]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tribute in Light {{!}} National September 11 Memorial & Museum |url=https://www.911memorial.org/visit/memorial/tribute-light |access-date=2020-08-14 |website=www.911memorial.org |archive-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814174800/https://www.911memorial.org/visit/memorial/tribute-light |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Tribute's illumination begins at dusk and ends at dawn, with the lights being turned off for 20-minute periods to allow [[#Effects on birds|migratory birds]] to escape as needed. On clear nights, the lights can be seen from {{Convert|60|mi}} away,<ref name="perceive">{{cite web |title=How Animals Perceive the World |last=Yong |first=Ed |date=2022-06-13 |website=[[The Atlantic]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603170150/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/07/light-noise-pollution-animal-sensory-impact/638446/ |archive-date=2023-06-03 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/07/light-noise-pollution-animal-sensory-impact/638446/}}</ref> visible in all of [[New York City]] and most of suburban [[North Jersey|Northern New Jersey]] and [[Long Island]]. The lights can also be seen in [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]], as well as [[Westchester County|Westchester]], [[Orange County, New York|Orange]], and [[Rockland County, New York|Rockland]] counties in [[New York State|New York]].

The 88 xenon spotlights (44 for each tower) each consume 7,000 [[watt]]s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chaban |first1=Matt |title=The End of Tribute in Light: Memorial Goes Dark Forever on 9/12 |url=http://observer.com/2011/08/the-end-of-tribute-in-light-memorial-goes-dark-forever-on-912/ |website=observer.com |date=August 18, 2011 |publisher=Observer |access-date=September 12, 2017 |archive-date=September 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913043728/http://observer.com/2011/08/the-end-of-tribute-in-light-memorial-goes-dark-forever-on-912/ |url-status=live }}</ref> {{As of|2011}}, the annual cost for the entire project was about $500,000.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9-11-10-years-on/5572219/9-11-light-tribute-still-dazzles-future-cloudy |title=9/11 light tribute still dazzles; future cloudy |last=Caruso |first=David B. |date=2011-09-07 |work=Stuff.co.nz |access-date=2019-01-27 |language=en |archive-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128030322/http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/9-11-10-years-on/5572219/9-11-light-tribute-still-dazzles-future-cloudy |url-status=live }}</ref>

A similar ''Tribute in Light'' has also appeared on occasion at [[the Pentagon]] in [[Arlington County, Virginia]] and at the crash site of [[United 93]] in [[Shanksville, Pennsylvania]], which were also targeted during the 9/11 attacks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/history/remembering-911/pentagon-september-11-light-tribute/65-45f7c166-b1d8-4280-8621-cd10cede152f|title=This is why you may see a blue light in the sky at night this weekend|date=September 9, 2021|website=wusa9.com|access-date=September 11, 2023|archive-date=July 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702164742/https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/history/remembering-911/pentagon-september-11-light-tribute/65-45f7c166-b1d8-4280-8621-cd10cede152f|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Background==
{{Further|September 11 attacks}}
[[File:Tribute in Light, 2018 (10092).jpg|thumb|''Tribute in Light'' as seen from atop a parking garage in [[The Battery (Manhattan)|Battery Park]] in 2018]]
[[File:Tribute in Light in 2010.jpg|thumb|''Tribute in Light'' as seen from [[Brooklyn]] in 2010]]
[[File:Tribute in Light September 11 2011 Shankbone.JPG|thumb|''Tribute in Light'' as seen from the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]] in 2011]]
[[File:P20210910ES-0022 (51707170434).jpg|thumb|As seen from [[30 Rockefeller Plaza]] 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]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

''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.<ref name="auto"/> Since then, it has been repeated every year on September 11. It was announced that 2008 would be its final year,<ref name="godark" /> but the tribute was continued in 2009.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

On December 17, 2009, it was confirmed that the tribute would continue through the tenth anniversary of the attacks in 2011.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

The lights are produced by an American company named Space Cannon,<ref>{{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 }}</ref> which sends a team every year to help with the installation.<ref name=":1" /> A [[Las Vegas]]-based company, Light America, was also part of the team who implemented the project.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":1" />

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.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

A permanent fixture of the ''Tribute in Light'' was at one point intended to be installed on the roof of [[One World Trade Center]],<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> but it was not included in the finished design.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

Since 2008, the generators that power ''Tribute in Light'' have been fueled with biodiesel made from used cooking oil collected from local restaurants.<ref>{{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 }}</ref>

==Effects on birds==
The [[light pollution]] from ''Tribute in Light'' has caused confusion for over a million migrating birds, trapping them in the beams.<ref name=":0">{{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}}</ref> Even at an altitude of several miles, birds can be affected by the lights.<ref name="perceive"/> As a result of this effect, the beams are switched off for 20-minute periods to allow the birds to escape.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> To ensure the lights do not affect migrating birds, the Municipal Art Society works with the [[NYC Bird Alliance]] on the illumination.<ref>{{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 }}</ref> A 2017 study found that the installation "dramatically altered multiple behaviors of nocturnally migrating birds—but these effects disappeared when lights were extinguished".<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{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 }}</ref>

==In popular culture==
''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 (TV series)|Blue Bloods]]''. These lights were featured in the music video of [[U2]]'s "[[You're the Best Thing About Me]]".

The [[Spider-Man 2 (2004 video game)|video game adaptation]] of the film ''[[Spider-Man 2]]'' features the lights at the approximate location of the WTC site, while [[The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014 video game)|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}}

==See also==
*[[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 and fanfare|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 (installation)|spectra]]'', an installation series of light and sound artworks featuring searchlights
**[[A Symphony of Lights]], a contemporary light display in Hong Kong
**[[Luxor Hotel#Luxor Sky Beam|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}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{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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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tribute In Light}}

[[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]]