Governor Andrew Cuomo continued his tradition of commemorating the September 11th attacks with a motorcycle ride to Ground Zero. Cuomo hosted several hundred riders who traveled from Albany and Nassau County at a Javits Center luncheon, then joined them for the last ride segment to the World Trade Center. That final segment retraces the route of the FDNY’s Rescue Company 1 that dark day from their West 43rd Street quarters to the World Trade Center, where 11 of their members perished.
Past years have featured celebrity guests including then-Vice President Joe Biden, Robert De Niro, Billy Joel and reality TV star Paul Teutul Jr. (Joel and Teutul Jr. joined the ride to the World Trade Center.) This year’s celebrity guest and fellow rider was Paul Teutul Sr., while Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and NYS Attorney General Tish James joined Cuomo at the lunch. Several state legislators and NYC council members attended the lunch but none were spotted on the ride. None of the three citywide electeds or Council Speaker Corey Johnson attended.
Following the ride Governor Cuomo spent about 15 minutes greeting fellow riders, receiving a warm reception as he walked through crowd shaking hands and admiring the parked motorcycles. He did not take questions or speak with reporters.
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