Rockaway has never forgotten. On the morning of Friday, September 11, the community gathered at Tribute Park on Beach 116th St. to mark the 25th anniversary of September 11.
The park was full, including with 9/11 family members who opted to commemorate the solemn occasion at home, rather than the 9/11 ceremony at the World Trade Center site in Manhattan.
The ceremony began with FDNY bagpipes and the passing of a folded flag between Kevin O’Mealy, and retired firefighters, Dan Mundy Sr. and Dan Mundy Jr. Fellow firefighters carefully unfolded the flag and raised it to half-staff above Tribute Park. Rabbi Rebecca Epstein of West End Temple led a prayer for the fallen before elected officials, firefighters, Friends of Tribute Park members and others read the names of the locals who died in the World Trade Center, while family members, friends, neighbors and other community members laid roses around the covered mosaic at the center of the park. A firefighter rang a bell at the mention of each name. Aerial Acoustics played music while Sydney Williams sang.
Once the names were read, a firefighter placed roses upon Firefighter Rock in memory of the fallen firefighters and 100th Precinct Captain Sachi Singh and 101st Precinct Captain George Ng placed roses on a memorial bench for fallen police officers. Friends of Tribute Park also placed roses on the piece of World Trade Center steel in the park. As the ceremony ended, many took time to look at the memorials in the park and the Freedom Tower in the distance amid the city skyline.
