The New Hyde Park Fire Department continued its decade-long tradition of honoring those who died, including four of their members, on Sunday, Sept. 7, afternoon.
Led by James Kane, a 46-year Fire Department member who was a first responder on Sept. 11, 2001, elected officials from the village, town and county spoke, emphasizing the necessity of paying tribute to those lost.
“It’s a personal thing for me,” said Kane. “As long as I’m alive, there’ll be a ceremony, because I feel it’s important that we don’t forget about things like this. I feel it’s really important for younger department members to remember. We have quite a few that weren’t even born on 9/11 who know the history, but it’s not just something in the history books. It’s also something that affected their neighborhood.”
As someone who was on the ground that day, Kane said he felt it was critical to continue honoring the lives of those lost and those who survived and are forever scarred. Mayor Christopher Devane said 15 people died in the village that day.
“There are other members who were directly affected by it as we worked in the city,” Kane said. “When the towers were hit, many of us had spent way too many days down there.”
He said many members of the New Hyde Park Fire Department supported the city’s response by either going directly to the World Trade Center or by providing mutual aid service to cover calls to city firehouses whose members responded to the attack.
Firemen Michael F. Lynch and Michael G. Montesi from New Hyde Park died that day responding to the attack at the World Trade Center.
“Two of our former members were killed,” Kane said. “They were both city firemen. Since then we’ve had more pass away from illnesses from it.”
“Each year as we stand here in front of this memorial, this commemoration serves as a vivid reminder of the sacrifices made by both brave civilians and first responders,” said New Hyde Park Fire Department Chief Thomas Farina. “Let us remember that each name represents a life that was built with dreams, loved ones, and unfilled potential that was cut short.”
New York State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, Town of Hempstead Supervisor John Feretti, Nassau County Legislator Scott Straus and New Hyde Park Mayor Christopher Devane spoke at the event. Town of North Hempstead Council Members Dennis Walsh and Thomas Muscarella were also in attendance, among the many who spoke.
“I think that we all strive to feel the unity that we did in the days following Sept. 11,” said Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, “When we had American flags on every car and we held the door for people that we didn’t know and we were just a little bit kinder and compassionate, knowing that all of us were struggling with what went on.”
Straus, a first responder on Sept. 11 also commemorated those who responded to the World Trade Center during the terrorist attack and those lost that day with a speech.
“It is said people die twice. The first time is when we stop breathing, the second time when someone says their name for the last time,” said Straus. “It’s up to us to keep telling the stories of our friends, our loved ones who died that day. We need to keep their stories alive.”
Devane spoke at the ceremony about all the New Hyde Park residents and firefighters who lost their lives during the terrorist attack. He detailed each victim’s life before they left the house for work.
“I just ask you to keep these families in your prayers, not only today, but every single day, because that’s what they need, that’s what they deserve,” said Devane.
The ceremony concluded with a reading of the names and a tolling of a bell for each New Hyde Park victim who died on Sept. 11, 2001.
