A memorial service was held Thursday morning in Queens to mark 14 years since the crash of American Airlines Flight 587.
There was a moment of silence at 9:16 a.m., marking the moment when the plane crashed, and the name of every victim was read out loud.
Mayor Bill de Blasio arrived a half hour early, and met privately with some families before the ceremony.
"We may be a city of eight and half million people, we may seem all different, but today we mourn as one," de Blasio said.
Last year, he angered the relatives of some victims when he was late to the annual commemoration.
About 200 people attended Thursday's memorial.
"Everytime when this day approaches you're feeling, you know, that something in your heart is itching you, reminding you that this day was a terrible day in your life," said one attendee.
Flight 587 was headed for the Dominican Republic on November 12, 2001 when it went down shortly after takeoff from JFK Airport in Belle Harbor.
The crash happened just two months after the September 11th attacks, and immediately there were fears that the plane might have been brought down by terrorists.
Investigators later concluded the plane's tail broke because the pilots overused the rudder during turbulence caused by another plane.
All 251 passengers and nine crew members died in the crash. Five people on the ground also were killed.