Sea Cliff leaders gathered on Thursday, Sept. 11, at the Sea Cliff 9/11 memorial to observe the 24th anniversary of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, holding a ceremony at 8:46 a.m. to mark the time that the first tower was struck.
“‘Never Forget’ is not a phrase. It’s a responsibility,” Mayor Elena Villafane said.
Sept. 11, 2001, “changed our nation forever,” Villifane said, and that “remembering is how we honor innocent lives stolen.” She said it is the nation’s responsibility to continue teaching the new generation about the events, so they can understand and remember.
“Nearly 3,000 innocent voices were lost in that attack, including first responders who ran toward danger to save others… For those of us who lived through it, the images, the fear, the grief and the unity that followed are etched deeply in our hearts,” she said.
Sea Cliff was among the many Long Island communities that felt the impact of the terrorist attack.
Thomas Jurgens, the son of Sea Cliff resident Joseph Jurgens, was a trained emergency medical technician and volunteer firefighter who responded to and died in the attack. He was one of many who the Sea Cliff community lost.
Resident Phil Como, who was the deputy mayor in 2001, has organized a Sea Cliff remembrance ceremony every year since the event, with the exception of last year. He said it is the “same sad day” each year, but that it is important to remember those who lost their lives during and after the attacks.
He said that the village installed a clock outside the children’s library, located at 281 Sea Cliff Ave., in 2001, which was into a memorial approximately four weeks after the attacks.
“We had no idea that the metaphor for time would be so telling,” Como said.
Como read the poem “No Man Is an Island” by John Donne, and resident Cathy Virgilio performed a rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
Rabbi Irwin Huberman, who leads Congregation Tifereth Israel in Glen Cove, said that it is important to complete acts of kindness, even through difficult times.
“We have to rechannel the hardship of that day. What is in our hearts? Is it hatred and revenge? Or is it kindness that we need to take to our children?… Kindness and love begin with us,” he said.
