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NYC Honors 10th Anniversary Of End Of World Trade Center Cleanup

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of the end of the cleanup at the World Trade Center site.

WCBS 880's Rich Lamb On The Story

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A special ceremony will be held tonight at 6:30 at the 9/11 Memorial.

The people whose hands carried the buckets, whose torches cut the steel, and whose searching discovered the bodies will be honored with choirs, wreath layings, color guards, and a line of officials including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.

Workers inhaled toxic fumes and often were covered in a poisonous grit.

EXTRA: Tri-State Top 11 Of 2011: No. 6 – 9/11 Plus 10

Bloomberg said he is looking forward to shaking their hands, and called their efforts "nothing short of heroic."

"We think back about the pile that those workers toiled on. It was one of just hellish proportions," 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels told Lamb. "The fires burning for 99, more than 100 days, fathers down there, friends and brethren looking for remains and for the bodies of their loved ones."

Daniels said it will be an honor for him to thank them.

What do you have to say about the men and women who worked on the pile? Sound off in the comments section below.

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