New York remembers

The Sphere was damaged in the attacks

New Yorkers are pausing to reflect as they mark six months since the attacks of 11 September.

At 0830 (1230 GMT) local time, police officers stood outside of their precinct headquarters to observe a moment of silence and read the names of 23 of their comrades who died in the attacks.

And New York officials gathered early on Monday morning to dedicate one of two temporary memorials to the victims of the attack.

The Sphere, a steel-and-bronze sculpture that stood between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, has been moved to Battery Park to give New Yorkers a place to reflect and remember.

'Changed forever'

"We're coming up to the time when America was changed forever," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg before one of two moments of silence - at 0846 (1246 GMT) and the other at 0903 (1303 GMT) to mark the exact time when the airliners hit the two towers of the World Trade Center.

As the moment approached marking the time the American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower, Mr Bloomberg asked the crowd to "look into your hearts and remember those who are no longer with us".

Friends comfort each other

There was silence except for the peals of bells.

The Sphere was damaged in the collapse, some of the metal was gashed and twisted, but it remained structurally intact.

Fritz Koenig designed the sculpture to celebrate world peace through trade, and Mayor Bloomberg said: "The Sphere may be damaged but our belief in what they stand for has never been stronger."

Emotions are still raw. Many in the crowd who braved a chilly March wind wiped tears from their eyes.

After the ceremony, a man in a Stony Point Ambulance Corps melted into sobs in the arms of a friend.

Many in the crowd left yellow daffodils and pictures of loved ones at the base of the sculpture.

'Like just yesterday'

"It seems like just yesterday," said Joe Flanagan, who works just blocks from the WTC.

Joe Flanagan will never forget that day when the explosion caused by the second airplane shook his building.

He gathered with hundreds of others in Battery Park to watch in disbelief as the towers burned.

The Sphere will remain in Battery Park until the redevelopment of Ground Zero

For 20 minutes he watched, before being called back to begin emergency work to try to deal with the damage done to the communications systems in lower Manhattan.

Ironically, the communications worker who spent the following three days restoring communications to Manhattan had trouble contacting his wife and six-year-old daughter.

She feared that a building had fallen on her father, he said.

For the next eight weeks, Mr Flanagan and his colleagues worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week to repair the damage to fibre optic loops in lower Manhattan.

"We'll never forget until the day we die," he said, adding that the city had recovered very strongly. "It pulled the city together ... and we'll move on. That is what New York is all about."