This evening, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has directed the lights of One World Trade Center’s 408-foot spire to be displayed in the blue and white colors of the Israeli flag to honor the life of noted author, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. New York stands in solidarity with the Jewish people and the State of Israel, who lost one of its preeminent leaders, and mourns the loss of a great New Yorker. Elie inspired millions, not just here in New York, but across the globe. It is fitting that the spire of One World Trade Center, which was built as a response to terrorism be lit in honor of a man who spent his life fighting hate.

“Today, we mourn the loss of legendary New Yorker, author and activist Elie Wiesel,” Governor Cuomo said. “Elie was born in 1927 in the town of Sighet, and during the Holocaust, when Elie was faced with certain death in the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, he refused to give up the will to live. Elie used his personal story to show the world that the triumph of the human spirit can overcome the face of evil. This became his mission in life. The world will never be the same without him. I extend my deepest condolences to Elie’s wife Marion and his son Shlomo Elisha. May Elie’s memory forever be a blessing.”

(YWN Desk – NYC)