A day of remembrance was observed throughout Westchester and the nation Thursday on the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Thousands gathered at the site of the World Trade Center as the names of the 2,751 victims were read aloud by family members and people representing each country that lost citizens in the attacks. As in years past, moments of silence were observed at the times the planes hit each tower of the World Trade Center and the moments at which each tower fell.

Many gathered at the memorial in Valhalla dedicated to all Westchester victims. They say it?s a quiet, intimate place they prefer to visit.

"I cannot go down to Ground Zero, it hurts too much," says Joan Balkcom, whose sister lived in Greenburgh and worked on the 96th floor of the north tower. "We were one of the unfortunate families that were not able to obtain any of her remains or artifacts, so this is a place where we can come to remember her."

Moments of silence were also observed at Yonkers City Hall Thursday morning. City workers gathered to remember the 14 residents who were killed as well as the three soldiers who have died in wars since the attacks.

Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone, who worked as a Port Authority engineer as the twin towers were being built, says he hasn?t returned to the site since 2001.

?It makes me so angry,? Amicone says. ?I never really did go down to Ground Zero, look in this incredible hole created by the destruction of [those] two towers and those lives.?

A total of 111 people from Westchester were killed in the attack.

Watch:Victims? families gather for ?Voices of Sept. 11? event in Manhattan Yonkers officials hold remembrance ceremony for Sept. 11 victims