Borough Hall marks 20th anniversary
of 9/11 attacks with solemn ceremony
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
Two days before the 20th
anniversary of the 9/11 terror
attacks, Queens Borough
President Donovan Richards
hosted a solemn ceremony at
Queens Borough Hall honoring
the innocent lives who
died that day and the heroic
actions of first responders.
Alongside members of the
NYPD and FDNY, elected officials
and community representatives,
Richards recalled
the horrific day that claimed
2,977 victims, including 232
Queens residents.
Richards, who was in college
at the time, said that everyone
remembered where
they were on that dreadful
day when two planes crashed
into the towers, and many
families lost their loved ones.
He thanked the first responders
for their bravery
and their sacrifice on that
day.
He noted 343 FDNY firefighters,
23 NYPD officers, 37
Port Authority officers, eight
EMTs, three court officers and
one patrolman from the New
York Fire Patrol knowingly
went into danger and paid the
ultimate price trying to save
others. Since then, hundreds
of first responders have been
suffering or have died from
9/11-related illnesses.
“We often don’t give them
the credit that they deserve,”
Richards said. “And it gets
rocky at times. But one thing I
never forget is when something
catastrophic like 9/11 happens,
it is our first responders who
run into the burning buildings.
It’s our first responders
who are putting out the fires.
It is our first responders who,
just like on that ultimate day,
give their lives.”
FDNY firefighter Regina
Wilson recited the Pledge
of Allegiance and sang the
National Anthem before two
clerics led in those present in
prayer.
FDNY Battalion Chief
Christopher G. Eysser said
that it was hard to believe
that it had been 20 years since
the 9/11 attacks and that despite
the challenging time,
the FDNY rose to the challenge.
“Ceremonies like this
one tonight honor our fallen
friends and allow us to fulfill
the pledge that we will never
forget,” Eysser said.
NYPD Assistant Chief
and commanding officer of
Queens South Ruben Beltran
urged everyone to keep the
memories and stories of the
9/11 heroes alive.
“It needs to be retold and
retold in an encouraging
way,” Beltran said. “You just
don’t want to look back and
reflect and be despondent on
the losses that we had that
day. But be proud of the recovery
that it inspired and how
we continue to honor those
memories.”
James Hendon, commissioner
of the NYC Department
of Veterans’ Services,
said it was essential to retell
the stories of what happened
in Shanksville, at the Pentagon,
and in New York City.
He recalled the lives lost
in the wars that followed the
attacks. Ninety-three of the
7,057 service members who
died in Afghanistan and Iraq
called New York City home —
with 34 of the 93 coming from
Queens.
“I will tell you about the
first NYPD personnel to lose
their lives in the wars of Iraq
and Afghanistan was Jimmy
McNaughton, who was from
Middle Village, Queens. At 27
years old, he lost his life in
2005,” Hendon said.
State Senator John Liu
said that the memory of 9/11
will never be erased and that
no one will ever forget the
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.16 COM | SEPT. 17 - SEPT. 23, 2021
horror they saw unfold on
television as “these massive
steel towers crumbling like
toothpicks.”
“But I also never forget
the incredible heroism that
was displayed by the brothers
and sisters of these very public
servants in uniform that
we’re standing with: our New
York Bravest, our New York
Finest, the Port Authority police
department and civilians
who stepped up and helped
out, many of whom also perished
in the aftermath,” Liu
said.
Assembly members Catalina
Cruz and David Weprin
also thanked the first responders
for putting their
lives before others.
“On 9/11, many of the
first responders didn’t get
to go back home,” Cruz said.
“Now, 15, 20 years later, many
of them are never going to get
to go back home because of
the health risks, the health
consequences of having to put
our lives before their own.”
Weprin recalled running
for the first time on 9/11,
which was also primary day
in New York City.
“We prepared for that election
for a long time, but of
course, it was so meaningless
and became so insignificant,”
Weprin said.
City Council members
Barry Grodenchik, Selvena
Brooks-Powers and James
Gennaro also recalled the
day. Grodenchik said that despite
the terror, it also showed
the strength of New Yorkers.
“Evil tried to rob us of our
dignity. And while they took
many thousands of our brothers
and sisters, they could not
take our dignity, and they
could not take the love that
we have for one another,”
Grodenchik said.
Grodenchik remembered
Assembly member Michael
Simanowitz, who died at age
46 four years ago and was an
NYPD auxiliary member at
the 107th Precinct.
“He was on the pile selflessly,”
Grodenchik said.
“This year, his illnesses were
confirmed to be 9/11-related.”
Brooks-Power recalled
that she was in college, and
on her way to class, she
passed the security desk and
saw that a plane was flying
into one of the towers on television.
“I was thinking that this
must be a movie that security
is watching early in the
morning, only for security to
come to the classrooms looking
for the students that were
from New York to pull us into
a room to tell us what had just
happened,” Brooks-Powers
said.
Brooks-Powers shared the
story of a close family friend
who lost his only child on 9/11
but whose body, like many
others, was never found.
Crossley Williams Jr.
worked in the south tower as
a financial analyst for Fiduciary
Trust.
“That type of pain that a
parent has to live with each
day, I can only imagine what
that experience is,” Brooks-
Powers said.
Gennaro wondered what
the fallen, who dedicated
their lives to service, would
want and concluded that they
would want to be sources of
inspiration.
“We should be receptive
to the inspiration that they
showed us by their life, and
by their service, and by their
sacrifice and honor them by
carrying on and being like
them,” Gennaro said.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, FDNY firefighters and Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz
observe a moment of silence for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
FDNY firefighters stand in salute during the National Anthem at a
memorial in honor of victims lost on 9/11.