Thursday, October 1, 2026
For nine-year-old Andrew Rosenblum, reading the names of those killed on Sept. 11 at the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero was a chance to honor a grandfather he never knew.
For his father, Jordan Rosenblum, a 2005 South Side High School graduate and Rockville Centre native, watching his son speak his grandfather’s name brought 25 years of memories into focus — and gave the family a new way to keep Andrew Ira Rosenblum’s memory alive.
His grandfather was 45 when he died on Sept. 11, 2001. He worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial firm whose 658 employees were killed when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower.
Andrew, a fourth grader at Quaker Ridge Elementary School in Scarsdale, was selected through a lottery to participate in the annual ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. He had learned about his grandfather and what happened on Sept. 11 only a couple of months before the ceremony.
“He was somebody that always loved to make people laugh,” Andrew said when asked what his father had told him.
Jordan, who had just started high school the day of the attacks, said he felt Andrew was old enough to understand what happened and learn about the grandfather he never met.
“What I explained to him was 25 years ago, some people who didn't like America felt that the best way that they could attack the country would be to fly a plane into these buildings,” Jordan said. “And I explained that my father was working inside along with thousands of others. The buildings collapsed and thousands of people lost their lives.
“But it's important not to dwell on what happened, but to remember him and talk about him and keep his memory alive,” he added.
Andrew said he felt “happy” and “excited, a little nervous” when he learned he had been chosen. He practiced every night from Monday through Thursday, and his mother, Sari, lauded him for his effort.
“I was beyond proud of Andrew,” she said. “He took the honor and responsibility very seriously, practicing very hard for many nights leading up to the ceremony. He was very nervous he’d mispronounce a name, and all he wanted to do was make all family members of those who were lost proud.”
On the morning of the ceremony, Jordan and Andrew arrived around 6:45 a.m. Andrew had never been to the site before.
They first visited his grandfather’s name at the memorial pool. Andrew said seeing the name made him “a little sad,” but it gave him a connection to his grandfather.
When his turn came, Andrew read names alongside another participant as part of the second pair of readers whose last names began with “A” before delivering the tribute he and his father had prepared. It connected him to a part of his grandfather’s life that had been passed down through the family: New York sports.
“You blessed us with the Knicks and this year we got our first championship. Knicks in five,” Andrew said. He then drew laughter after adding, “You also cursed us with the Jets. We’re still waiting on that one.”
The Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs last June for their first NBA championship since 1973. The Jets currently hold the longest active playoff drought in North American professional sports at 15 consecutive years, but they did win their season opener against the Tennessee Titans two days later.
Andrew said he heard both the laughter and cheering from the crowd.
“I felt proud of myself,” he said. “Like, happy that I did it. And it was a really good way to represent my grandfather.”
For Jordan, watching his son speak was deeply emotional.
“I was so incredibly proud of him,” he said. “Just his poise and calm and ability to... he's in fourth grade and he's never spoken in public before or even to an auditorium full of people or his classmates, let alone to stand in front of the world with millions of people watching.”
Clips of the speech quickly spread across local newspapers such as the New York Post, social media platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), and Spectrum News NY1. Andrew even appeared live on ABC7NY's Eyewitness News the next morning.
“The virality was totally unexpected,” Sari said. “Andrew has been very humble about it all. He’s gone back to his life of football and other sports. But Jordan and I, on the other hand, are in awe. Also, because of how this has revived Andy’s legacy 25 years later. People are saying his name again — how beautiful is that?”
Twenty-five years later, Jordan said, the passage of time became especially clear while watching his own son stand at Ground Zero.
“No,” he said when asked whether it felt like 25 years. “It's such a long time. It's funny, like, I didn't really think about the passage of time until I saw Andrew standing there giving the speech.”
For Jordan, that was ultimately the purpose of Andrew’s participation: remembering a man who died before his grandson was born while finding a way for his grandson to carry a piece of him forward.
“Even though they didn't get to meet my father, that piece of him kind of lives on through them,” Jordan said.
