Events were held around the city and the world Tuesday for the 21st World AIDS Day, to raise awareness of the disease and remember its victims.

Officials for the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation announced that nearly 190,000 New Yorkers were tested for HIV in the past fiscal year, which is a 17-percent increase from last year.

Of the 1,800 New Yorkers who learned they were HIV-positive in the past fiscal year, 90 percent were treated for the immune system disease within 90 days of their diagnoses, according to HHC officials.

The HHC report says that New York City has the country's highest number of AIDS diagnoses and that an estimated 20,000 New Yorkers have HIV but are not aware of it.

Among the city's World AIDS Day events was a 24-hour reading of AIDS victims' names in City Hall Park that began at midnight.

The readers include activists, volunteers and those who are living with HIV and AIDS. The event, run by Housing Works, seeks to memorialize loved ones and bring attention to homelessness.

"We read names for 24 hours of those who have died from HIV/AIDS. We do that because we want people to remember that the epidemic had not yet ended and we want to also acknowledge those who have died due to the epidemic," said a reader.

Outside Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side, where the mayor was having a breakfast to mark World AIDS Day, 10 people were arrested at a protest organized by Housing Works for trying to chain themselves to a gate.

The protestors said the Bloomberg administration has cut funding for services and housing for people living with HIV and AIDS.

"We just don't really believe that he is committed to the issue and that's why we are here today," said Kristin Goodwin of Housing Works.

At the breakfast, the mayor touted the city's response to the AIDS crisis.

"We've ramped up our prevention efforts, including opening new needle exchange sites and encouraging early testing," said Bloomberg. "We've also dramatically improved care options, including doubling the number of supportive housing units."

On a hopeful note, the mayor said the number of New Yorkers who die each year from AIDS has declined by more than a third in the past eight years.

Meanwhile, for the 16th year in a row, students in Edward R. Murrow High School in Midwood, Brooklyn created and displayed memorial quilts for AIDS victims. The school's unique program, called HIV/AIDS Education Action Response Team or HEART, shares lessons on safe sex and reminds students on how the epidemic has affected families.

"It seems like their families really appreciated what they did, and it's very touching when you look at them," said student Rekisha Rankin.

"Each year I've learned progressively more and more and also I've learned that you have to make wise decisions," said student Rebecca Zwerling. "It's all about you and you have to use protection. You know, everything that you do has a consequence, so just be smart in what you do."

"Every year it just grows and grows, and what I see is there are so many high school students who want to make a difference, they want to help in some way," said HEART founder and Murrow High School teacher Sally Hipscher. "They want to be involved in charity work and fundraising and activism and this provides them a place to do it."

World AIDS Day comes on the heels of a United Nations report that finds there's a greater effort to keep children from contracting the disease than ever before.

It also found that 45 percent of women at risk of passing HIV to their children are getting help, compared to 10 percent just four years ago.

Researchers say preventing the transmission of HIV from mother to child is key to keeping the virus from spreading.

"An AIDS-free generation is now within sight," said Chief Jimmy Kolker of the UNICEF HIV and AIDS Section. "We know what we need to do to prevent new infections but the sad fact which is highlighted in the report is how uneven the progress has been. Where services are integrated, where there's strong commitment, the uptake of those services has been very high. There's still, though, a huge deficiency in prevention."

After the report was released, there was a UN panel discussion on efforts to help children affected by AIDS.

To find a city public hospital or health center providing HIV testing and treatment, call 311 or visit nyc.gov.