New York held a memorial gathering on Friday to remember the eight anniversary of the September 11 attacks in the city while President Obama in Washington observed a minute of silence at the White House.

In New York hundreds of people gathered next to the World Trade Center site, currently being reconstructed, to hold moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m., the same time of the first and second plane attacks in 2001.

The weather was rainy and windy.

It doesn't matter what kind of weather there is, Elaine Dejesus of Clifton, N.J. told the Associated Press. I would be here either way. It's a way to come together and find a common place.

For me, it's just the same as it was the first day, she said. DeJesus' sister died in the attacks. You start preparing mentally, months in advance. There's a lot of praying.

She said she remembered the good times with her sister despite still having some days where she cries.

Vice President Joe Biden also attended the event, along with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

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