9/11 anniversary commemoration remains the same, but little around it does

FILE- In this Sept. 10, 2013 file photo, the Tribute in Light rises above buildings during a test in New York. While the plaza at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum will be closed to the public, during the September 11 commemoration ceremony and much of the rest of the day, it will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight for those who want to pay respects and view one of the anniversary's most evocative traditions, the twin beams called the Tribute in Light. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2001 file photo, people run from a collapsing World Trade Center tower in New York. For over a decade after the autumn of 2001, America, with its allies, has been at war against factions of Islamist militants and terrorists, including the Taliban and al-Qaida, as well as offshoots in Yemen, Somalia and elsewhere. (AP Photo/Suzanne Plunkett, File) (The Associated Press)

This June 10, 2014 file photo provided by Carol Orazem, shows a pair of boots with melted soles that Orazem wore while working at the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of 2001. Orazem was a New York City police detective when the towers were destroyed. She donated the boots she wore while working at the World Trade Center rescue/recovery operation to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. (AP Photo/Carol Orazem) (The Associated Press)

The annual Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony has changed little over the years. But so much around it has.

The museum now sits open at the site of the tragedy.

The fences have come down around the memorial plaza, more fully integrating it into Manhattan's streets.

A new mayor is in office, Bill de Blasio, one far less linked to the attacks and their aftermath than his predecessors.

And One World Trade Center is nearly complete and set to open later this year, perhaps signaling that page in the city's history may be turning.

For some who lost loved ones in the terror attacks, the change is a sign of progress.

For others, it threatens to interfere with their grief.