16 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens pauses this week to remember 9/11 victims
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Th e “World’s Borough” will join the
nation in marking the 16th anniversary of
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with a
number of memorial vigils and ceremonies
scheduled to take place in the fi rst
half of this month.
As the city has done every year since the
coordinated attacks on the World Trade
Center, the Pentagon and United Airlines
Flight 93, families and elected offi cials will
gather in Lower Manhattan on the morning
of Sept. 11 for a memorial service at
the National September 11 Memorial to
read the victims’ names and off er prayers
and words of comfort.
Queens, which lost hundreds of residents
in the 9/11 attacks, will hold vigils
across the borough to honor the victims
and remember those who made the ultimate
sacrifi ce in the rescue and recovery
operations at Ground Zero. Th e scheduled
ceremonies, listed in chronological
order, include the following:
Maspeth
Residents of Maspeth will remember
the victims of 9/11 at the neighborhood’s
annual vigil, which will take place at 11
a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9, at Maspeth
Memorial Park, located at the corner of
69th Street and Grand Avenue. Th e program
includes prayers, patriotic music,
a wreath-laying ceremony and remarks
from elected offi cials. Th e park is located
a short walk from the headquarters of
Squad Company 288/Haz-Mat 1, which
has participated in past vigils and was
among the New York City fi rehouses
that lost the largest number of members
on 9/11.
East Elmhurst
St. Michael’s Cemetery in East Elmhurst
will commemorate the 9/11 attacks with
a memorial ceremony on Saturday aft ernoon
at 2 p.m. Th e service will pay special
tribute to the fi rst responders who
rushed to the World Trade Center on the
morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and to those
police offi cers, fi refi ghters, EMTs and
others who have since died from illnesses
aft er working in the recovery operation
at Ground Zero. Refreshments will be
served aft er the ceremony. St. Michael’s
Cemetery is located at 72-02 Astoria
Blvd. For more information, call 718-
278-3240.
Glendale
Continuing to remember the 42 residents
of Glendale, Middle Village,
Ridgewood and Woodhaven who perished
in the 9/11 attacks, hundreds will
gather for a vigil at the 9/11 Memorial
Garden in Glendale on Sunday aft ernoon,
Sept. 10, at 1 p.m. Th e commemoration
will include prayers, words of
comfort and memorial music. Th e 9/11
Memorial Garden is located near Dry
Harbor Playground at the corner of
Myrtle Avenue and 80th Street. For more
information, email haroldmecacbe@
msn.com or capaced@aol.com.
College Point
Th e Poppenhusen Institute in College
Point will hold its annual 9/11 remembrance
concert at 2 p.m. on Sept. 10 at
the historic institution located at 114-
04 14th Road. Th e concert will include
the Tarumi Violinists, inspirational music
from Mary Courtney and remarks by
Pastor Linda Gold of the First Reformed
Church and Pastor Desmond of St. John’s
Lutheran Church. Th e institute plans to
hold the concert in the garden, but the
event will take place indoors in the event
of inclement weather. For more information,
call 718-358-0067 or email poppenhusen@
juno.com.
Woodside
Woodside residents will pay tribute
to 9/11 victims with a memorial vigil
from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday night,
Sept. 11, at Doughboy Playground, located
at the corner of Woodside Avenue and
56th Street. Woodside on the Move and
the Doughboy Park Patriots are sponsoring
the commemoration. For additional
information or to volunteer, email afrager@
woodsideonthemove.org.
Bayside Hills
Th e Bayside Hills Civic Association will
again pay tribute to the victims of the 9/11
attacks with a ceremony to take place at
7 p.m. on Monday night at the northern
corner of the Horace Harding Expressway
and Bell Boulevard. Representatives of the
Police and Fire Departments, local scout
troops, elected offi cials, local religious
leaders, the Bayside Business Association
and the Bayside Village Business
Improvement District are among the
scheduled participants.
Howard Beach
Th e headquarters of Engine Company
331/Ladder Company 173 in Howard
Beach will again play host to the neighborhood’s
9/11 memorial. Th e ceremony
will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday
night at 158-57 Cross Bay Blvd. and will
feature prayers, words of comfort and
music. Light refreshments will be served
following the ceremony. For more information
or to help volunteer, call Frances
Scarantino at 718-845-1429.
Middle Village
Juniper Valley Park held one of the
largest vigils in New York City in the days
immediately following the 9/11 attacks 16
years ago this month. Th e park will again
host another candlelight vigil on Monday
night at 7:30 p.m. in the ballfi elds located
off the intersection of Juniper Boulevard
South and 78th Street. Organized by
the 9-11 Candlelight Vigil Committee
of Queens, the program includes music,
poems and refl ection. All are asked to
bring lawn chairs, an American fl ag and
either candles or a fl ashlight. For more
information, visit www.911vigil.org.
Photo: Anthony Giudice/THE COURIER
A fi refi ghter salutes at the Maspeth 9/11 memorial.
Ground broken on an array of improvements at Brookville Park in Rosedale
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A Rosedale park is going to get some
major upgrades thanks to some newly
acquired funds.
On Th ursday, Aug. 31, Queens Parks
Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski
and various Queens representatives held
a ground-breaking ceremony to launch
the $2.2 million construction project at
Brookville Park.
“Brookville Park is truly the heart of
Rosedale and serves so many in the neighborhood,
which is why we’re excited to
see such a large investment in its future,”
said Lewandowski. “Next year, Brookville
Park will reopen with more space for seating,
better lighting, and refreshed tennis
courts for the community to enjoy.”
Th e project was funded by Councilman
Donovan Richards Jr. and Mayor Bill de
Blasio. Th e plans for the park include an
expanded picnic area with additional picnic
tables, an accessible path with ADA
picnic tables attached, new grills, coal bin
trash receptacle stations, new sports lighting,
new surface at the tennis courts, and
bleacher seating at the sports fi eld.
Th e park is expected to reopen in one
year.
“Today we usher in a new era at
Brookville Park,” said Richards. “Th is
groundbreaking symbolizes the beginning
of ensuring that Brookville Park
becomes southeast Queens’ premier park,
and with the more than $4 million in
investments our offi ce secured this year,
we are excited about the future of this
oasis.”
Th e last time that the tennis courts
at Brookville Park were resurfaced was
in 2001. At that time, the courts were
dedicated to Rosedale resident Derek
Dilworth (1955-1999), an avid tennis
player and park volunteer, he lobbied for
the maintenance of Brookville Courts.
“Brookville Park is the jewel of Rosedale,
and Rosedale is the treasure of New York
City. We have made a heavy investment
in this park and there is a reason why
— when you have neighbors who have
strongly supported this park, you have to
stand by their actions, whether it be our
tennis league taking our young people
and shaping them into the next Arthur
Ashe or Serena Williams or the Friends
of Brookville Park shaping the entirety
of this area,” said state Senator James
Sanders Jr. “Th is is where we get a chance
to support the community, and every
chance we get, we are going to take.”
Photo: Daniel Avila/NYC Parks