Twenty-five years ago, I was working at my desk as the bookkeeper for Colonial Steel in the Bronx when I received the initial notification that an aircraft had struck the World Trade Center.
We didn’t know any details then, but almost immediately, I began calling all of our workers making deliveries in the Financial District to make sure everyone was safe. A few minutes later, we learned that a second plane had struck the World Trade Center and started to understand the full scale of the attack we were facing. We immediately halted all deliveries, called our employees back to the warehouse, and closed for the day.
On the ride home, I remember looking toward Manhattan from the Triborough Bridge and seeing the towers burning—something none of us ever thought we would see, and something that is indelibly burned into my memory as a New Yorker.
When I finally made the long trip home to the Rockaways, the reality of what had happened became even more personal. I remember seeing burned documents being carried through the air . I remember giving my one-year-old son an extra kiss and thinking about all of the families who would never have the opportunity to do the same with their loved ones again.
September 11, 2001, was one of those days that changed all of our lives.
For the Rockaways, with our large number of first responders in our community, our close proximity to JFK Airport and our unique geographic location, we felt the impact more intensely than many…But 9/11 also taught us an important lesson: communities cannot always wait for help to arrive. We have to ALWAYS be prepared to help one another.
Following 9/11, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs began taking root in communities across the country through FEMA. In the Rockaways, a local CERT program was established with funding from UJA-Federation and administered through the Jewish Community Center of the Rockaway Peninsula. The goal was simple but important: give residents the training and knowledge and the relationships they needed to respond when their neighbors needed them most.
The program was built around the recognition that whether facing a terrorist attack like 9/11 or a natural disaster, our communities need to be ready to help ourselves, with trained residents ready to step up, respond, and help their neighbors.
The Rockaway CERT program received its first major test in 2007, when a six-alarm fire broke out on Neilson Street in Far Rockaway. The program’s members responded, putting their training into action and assisting members of the community during a difficult and dangerous moment.
In 2010, the New York City Office of Emergency Management expanded the Rockaway CERT program, adding another 37 members and further strengthening our community’s ability to respond during an emergency.
Twenty-five years later, the memories of September 11 remain painful and deeply personal. But as much as the attacks showed us the worst of humanity, our response and our unity in the days and years that followed showed us the best of what our community and our city represent. One of the lessons I continue to carry with me is that preparedness matters. Community involvement matters. And neighbors looking out for one another can make all the difference when it matters most.
We can never predict when the next emergency will happen. But it will happen, we know that, and we can make sure our communities are ready when it does.
Here in the Rockaways, we must remember and honor the legacy of some of our neighbors who were the first responders and public employees who ran toward danger while others were running away. They saved countless lives, all giving some, some giving all in their efforts and sacrifices. But for more, their sacrifice did not end on September 11. The health consequences of their service continued for years afterward and for many families, that pain continues today especially as we learn of more dire health outcomes and toxins in the air than was previously reported.
This past legislative session, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, as Chair of Governmental Employees helped move legislation honoring the legacy of New York City sanitation workers who died from illnesses related to their 9/11 response. When I am elected to the State Assembly, I will build on that work, and as we learn more about the previously unreported air quality issues and fight to ensure that other public workers and first responders who sacrificed for our city receive the recognition and support they deserve.
Twenty-five years later, remembering 9/11 means more than looking back. It means honoring those we lost, standing with the families who continue to carry that loss, supporting the heroes who answered the call, and making sure our communities are better prepared for whatever comes next.
The best way we can honor their memory is by never forgetting their sacrifice, taking care of those who are still suffering from 9/11-related illnesses and by continuing to build communities that are prepared to protect and care for one another.
Pesach Osina is the Democratic candidate for Assembly 23.
