There are textbooks, documentaries and firsthand accounts of what took place on September 11, 2001. But only longtime locals remember how Rockaway responded to unimaginable tragedy and immense loss—in the ways Rockaway knew how.
At 8:46 a.m. on September 11, 2001, the world changed forever. American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center, between Floors 93 to 99. Was it an accident? That question was answered at 9:03 a.m. when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower between Floors 77 to 85. This was no accident.
As many of Rockaway’s first responders answered the call from their firehouses, police departments or homes, and others worried about relatives who worked in the towers, people across the peninsula noticed the New York City skyline transforming before their eyes.
“I was a senior in high school at Stella Maris on September 11, 2001. We could see the billowing smoke from across the bay,” local resident Lizzy Hurley said. “I remember going to Norton Drive in Bayswater where you had a view of Manhattan across the bay. A bunch of other people had the same idea apparently because there was quite a crowd,” Harold Flay said.
At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed. At 10:28 a.m., the North Tower followed, forever changing Rockaway’s view of Manhattan—and bringing with it the gut-wrenching reality that some friends, family members and neighbors wouldn’t be coming home.
From that day forward, the communities of Rockaway, Breezy Point and Broad Channel responded in the ways only they could.
Some neighbors took immediate action to help those responding to the scene, as well as those whose commutes were upended when bridges shut down and public transportation ceased, leaving many to walk home, some still covered in the dust that filled Lower Manhattan as the towers came crashing down.
Many had their children in mind, who had just started the new school year. “As a faculty member at Xavier HS, I tended to any student who thought their loved one might have been in the buildings. The list was a lot longer than we imagined. Parents came to sign them out and made their way home,” Jayne Lee said. “Because the trains were not operating, many of the boys were going to have to spend the night. Many volunteered to stay with them in the library for the night. Several of us had cars. We got word that they were allowing cars to drive to Brooklyn via the Midtown Tunnel. With the permission of their parents, Gerry McKinney and I drove several boys home to their families in both Brooklyn and Rockaway.”
Others helped dust-covered strangers as they encountered them walking over bridges from Manhattan. “We caught the people running over the Brooklyn Bridge and conducted triage and safety,” Lisa Redmond, who worked at the NYS Courthouse on Adams Street said. “Eye flushes, water, de-escalation and support.”
Others quietly stepped in for neighbors who didn’t make it home that day—and for widowed spouses who, amid their own grief, were trying to figure out how to tell their children that their father wouldn’t be coming home. “We hid a neighbor’s car in our garage for a few days who lost his life, giving his wife time to explain it to their young children,” Timothy Flynn said.
Many neighbors made sure those who lost a loved one, didn’t have to worry about dinner. “I did not cook for six months,” Paul King said. His ex-wife and the mother of his children, Lisa, died in the South Tower. “Food showed up at my door every night.”
As the dust of what had been the World Trade Center—and everything inside—settled over Lower Manhattan, a few firefighters looked for a sign of hope and resilience among the devastation. Firefighters Dan McWilliams, Billy Eisengrein, and Rockaway resident George Johnson, removed the flag of a yacht docked at the nearby Hudson River Marina. Among the rubble, they found a flagpole from the destroyed Marriott Hotel. And in a moment reminiscent of Iwo Jima, the three men raised that flag above the pile, a moment captured by Thomas E. Franklin of The Record in Bergen County, NJ. The iconic photo would grace front pages for years as a sign of America’s spirit in the wake of unimaginable tragedy.
Back in Rockaway, as daylight faded, those who had made it home, those who had watched the skyline transform and those desperately awaiting phone calls from loved ones did the only thing that felt right—they turned to God, and to each other.
“I was working at St. Francis de Sales at the time. I spoke with Monsignor Geraghty and told him to ‘Ring the bells.’ He did, and people came. The church was packed that night,” Tom Harnett said. Many answered the call of those bells. “I remember the church bells ringing out of the blue and everyone flocked to a Mass that wasn’t announced and during the Mass, Msgr. Geraghty asked people to pray for those lost and everyone just started calling out names,” Barbara O’Connor Knott recalled.
“Father Peter Gillen from Saint Rose of Lima also had Mass that night, I sang at It,” Sheila Cassidy said. “I worked downtown on the AMEX across the street from Ground Zero and couldn’t get home until the next day. I don’t remember how I got home, but I do remember it was dark out and I went straight to St. Rose of Lima where Fr. Peter Gillen was saying Mass and people were calling out names of the missing,” Kristin Kearns shared.
At a service at West End Temple, Rabbi Allen Block prayed, ““Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.” At a later service at Temple Beth-El, Rabbi Allan Blaine said, “What happened to New York is New York’s Holocaust.”
Others came to shared community spaces. “We had the supermarket in Breezy and were emptying out every candle we had for the people who came to gather at the ball field,” Clare Ann Timmins said. “There were pictures of loved ones missing and others just needed a shoulder to cry on.”
Candles became a staple of vigils. “I remember a vigil in Broad Channel. It was impromptu. We all walked up to Cross Bay Blvd. and stood shoulder to shoulder as a community, holding candles,” Dan Guarino recalled.
On September 23, 2001, more than 3,000 people gathered at a massive candlelight vigil called “Rockaway Reaching Out,” hosted in place of the Rockaway Music and Arts Council’s cancelled fall festival. Joining locals was Sen. Chuck Schumer, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Borough President Claire Shulman, state Sen. Malcolm Smith and City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, for the night of prayer. A huge American flag hung above the crowd from the ladder of Ladder 137’s truck. Artist Geoff Rawling unveiled a 9/11 mural. People were invited to place their painted handprint on it.
Rockaway native Gerald Bair performed a brand-new song, “This Changed Everything,” which was later put on a CD and sold to raise money for a Rockaway Partnership Relief/Memorial Fund established by the Chamber of Commerce. The fund would help local families affected by the tragedy and eventually lead to establishing Rockaway’s Tribute Park. That same night, another vigil was held in Broad Channel and at the firehouse in Far Rockaway, both attended by hundreds more people.
Piles of flowers began to surround Rockaway’s firehouses and police precincts as locals paid tribute to first responders. Meanwhile, American flags became a staple. It was hard to come across a home that didn’t have one outside as a sign of resilience.
Through September, people and places did unconventional things. James Sanders, Jr., paused his campaign for city council to hold a clothing drive for the emergency personnel working the pile at Ground Zero. St. Rose of Lima Church, St. Thomas More Church and Peninsula Hospital became sites for blood drives for locals who wanted to help survivors amid a blood shortage.
Even local children who were old enough to understand the tragedy stepped up. On September 12, several kids baked cookies and other goodies and delivered them to local firehouses and police precincts. On September 27, they took it further when 13-year-old Sheila O’Rourke and 12-year-old Kelly Magee gathered their friends and held a massive bake sale on Beach 130th Street. Cars were lined up down the block, as were crowds at tables filled with baked goods. After five hours, the kids had raised nearly $1,200 to support the Rockaway Partnership Relief/Memorial Fund.
But as Rockaway rallied to help, the extent of the community’s loss was becoming painfully clear. Within days of 9/11, confirmed names of the fallen began to emerge. As families waited to hear from loved ones who would never respond, that list of names grew with the presumed dead or missing. By September 29, 2001, The Wave published a list of 59 names of locals who had died, a list that grew to more than 70 with names of those who were summer residents, had grown up in the neighborhood or had worked in local firehouses.
Funerals began. So did memorials. From late September through at least November 2001, they became an all-too common occurrence. One memorial, held September 29 for firefighter Steve Belson, drew some 2,000 people and had to be held at Beach Channel High School. Other memorials filled churches including St. Camillus, St. Thomas More and St. Francis de Sales. Msgr. Martin Geraghty presided over 12 himself. At firefighter funerals, Rockaway had come to expect a firetruck carrying the casket as part of the procession. At several, there was no casket— a painful reminder that many bodies were never found. About 40% of victims killed at the World Trade Center still have not had remains identified.
Rockaway let the world know how they really felt. On October 20, 2001, a massive fundraiser, the Concert for New York City, was held at Madison Square Garden, attended by several locals. One was Firefighter Mike Moran, who spoke on behalf of the many who died in Rockaway, including fellow firefighters and his brother, John Moran. From the stage he announced, “In the spirit of the Irish people, Osama Bin Laden…you can kiss my royal Irish ass…I live in Rockaway and this is my face.”
Moran’s brave statement was the talk of the town for days…and was in the back of many minds when on November 12, 2001, just two months after 9/11, American Airlines Flight 587 came crashing down in Belle Harbor, devastating an already-bruised Rockaway and killing five more people on the ground. Some questioned whether the crash was some form of revenge, before investigators ruled it was an accident due to pilot error.
Fundraisers continued to support families who lost loved ones. On October 28, 2001, a major fundraiser was held at the Knights of Columbus to help the families of 9/11 victims. In December, the Little North Pole lit up to raise funds for the children of 9/11 victims, rather than juvenile diabetes research.
As the fallen were buried or memorialized, Rockaway began looking toward the future, with them in mind. Signs of resilience emerged. Some efforts started simply—with t-shirts. Broad Channel locals Marlene Bregante and Jane Murray began selling patriotic t-shirts on behalf of the Broad Channel Volunteer Fire Department (BCVFD), which lost its ambulance when the towers came down and injured four vollies. The shirts gained national attention and were sold as far away as Alaska, raising money to replace the BCVFD’s ambulance.
Some efforts started with flowers. On October 20, 2001, The Belle Harbor Garden Club and the Shore Garden Club came together to plant daffodils, a cheery yellow flower planted in the fall, that would blossom in the spring. The groups planted bulbs at Patricia Brackley Park on Beach 124th Street, at the Rotary Triangle at Beach 116th St. and by the Beach 116th St. boardwalk. A similar effort emerged citywide as Lynden Miller started the Daffodil Project in memory of those who died in the World Trade Center attack. In coordination with NYC Parks, more daffodils were planted along the bay between Beach 127th and Beach 128th St., a viewpoint from which locals were once able to see the Twin Towers. The Daffodil Project continues today through New Yorkers for Parks, which has provided 7.5 million bulbs to be planted across the city as an ongoing memorial for the 9/11 victims.
The Graybeards became much more than a Summer Classic basketball team. Following in the footsteps of the Rockaway Fishheads, the group of men with varying skills, put them to good use for the benefit of the neighborhood in the wake of 9/11 and the crash of Flight 587. From blood drives and food drives to fundraisers and quiet actions for local families in need that many don’t hear about, The Graybeards haven’t stopped serving the community since. They even inspired other groups of do-gooders to form.
Eventually, discussions for more permanent memorials began. As the Rockaway Relief/Memorial Fund grew through September and October, the Rockaway Chamber of Commerce began considering how the community could permanently pay tribute to the fallen. By the November Community Board 14 meeting, it was a major topic of discussion. A memorial park was deemed fitting—a solemn place where families and neighbors could visit for generations. By September 2002, a plot of land on the bayside of Beach 116th St., with a direct view of where the World Trade Center once stood, was allocated for the park. By 2003, stained-glass artist Patrick Clark’s pieces were selected through a contest as central components of the park. In November 2005, Tribute Park was officially dedicated, with final elements, including the dome and a piece of World Trade Center steel, added later. Breezy Point and Roxbury established memorials of their own. Tribute Park has since become Rockaway’s central gathering place each September 11, where the community comes together year after year to remember. The same will go for Friday, when Rockaway marks the 25th anniversary of the day that changed everything.
Throughout the last 25 years, Rockaway has held strong in its mission to Never Forget. That day is woven in the fabric of the community. It is common to still see t-shirts from 9/11 or from events held for victims. Those have included golf outings, galas, memorial paddle outs and surf competitions, memorial Masses and a 5K run.
The American flags? They never, never stopped flying. In these hard-hit communities, they still fly along main thoroughfares and outside homes with Never Forget 9/11 lawn signs that raise money for other good causes. Locals and visitors remember the victims each time they look up at a street sign or walk along the boardwalk, which bear the names of many who died that day. They remember when they gather at Tribute Park to hear the names read aloud as a bell tolls and they place roses in their memory. And for those who weren’t alive when 9/11 happened, parents and schools make sure they understand why that day still matters, as kids place flags around local churches, red, white and blue ribbons around Tribute Park, and bring memorial candles to neighbors’ homes and local firehouses and police precincts.
Twenty-five years later, the people who witnessed that day are older. A new generation has grown up knowing September 11 only through the stories they’ve heard.
But in Rockaway, Breezy Point and Broad Channel, those stories are still being told.
We will Never Forget 9/11.
