Floral Park was full of red roses, church bells and song as the community came out to honor the lives lost during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“It’s important to continue holding this ceremony every year to remember the people who died that day and all the first responders were bravely went in with people running out,” said Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald. “Some were there for many, many days, still trying to rescue people in a very dangerous situation.”
Over 150 residents attended the ceremony, which was centered solely on the 11 members of the Floral Park community who lost their lives during the attack. Some had simply gone to work that day and others were first responders who ran into the buildings as they crashed down in an attempt to save those stuck inside.
Robert Murray, a Floral Park resident who attended the ceremony, said he was three blocks away from the World Trade Center when the planes hit.
“I remember 9/11 and the people there who walked away when [the tower] came down,” Murray said. “There are people here who knew these people [who died] very well. It’s good to continue doing this each year.”
Between the tolling of the United Methodist Church bells at the minute the planes hit the north and south World Trade Center towers at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m., chiefs and ex-chiefs of the Floral Park Fire Department placed a rose on top of the village’s 9/11 memorial.
As each lost member of the community’s name was called, a bell was tolled and a firefighter rose and gently placed a rose above the inscription of that person’s name on the circular base of the monument.
The names read:
Robert C. King Jr, a member of the FDNY
Charles Mendez, a member of the FDNY
Robert M. Regan, a member of the FDNY
Thomas Hetzel, a member of the FDNY
Ronald P. Kloepfer, a number of the NYPD
Keith G. Fairben, a member of the New York Presbyterian Hospital
Brian Magee
Michelle Bratton
Billy Dean
Ryan D. Fitzgerald
Howard Gelling
Reverend Thomas Fusco from the Pastor of Our Lady of Victory Church then offered a prayer and blessed the monument, which includes a large steel beam from the fallen World Trade Center.
The Holy Spirit Folk Group of St. Gregory’s Parish offered songs, including “Amazing Grace,” the national anthem and “God Bless America,” throughout the ceremony.
The Floral Park Fire Department and Floral Park Police Department presented the colors for the ceremony.
