Bronx communities mark 25 years since 9/11 with local memorials
Every year, families, firefighters, police officers, veterans, elected leaders and neighbors meet for a reading of the names. It is a promise to keep their memories and stories alive.
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It has been 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks, and people across New York City are coming together to remember those who were killed and the first responders who rushed to help.
In the Bronx, the Throggs Neck community will gather Friday night at its neighborhood memorial near East Tremont Avenue and the Cross Bronx Expressway service road, beside FDNY Engine 72.
The memorial bears the names of 15 people from the community who were killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Every year, families, firefighters, police officers, veterans, elected leaders and neighbors meet at the site for a reading of the names. It is a promise to keep their memories and stories alive.
The memorial was created more than two decades ago by a group of local residents who wanted Throggs Neck to have a permanent place to remember the neighbors who never came home.
The late Jim McQuade, the longtime director of Schuyler Hill Funeral Home, was among the people who helped make it happen.
His daughter, Jackie McQuade, was young when the memorial was built. Years later, when she learned it needed repairs, she stepped in to help continue the work that meant so much to her father.
Ahead of the 25th anniversary, the memorial received a refresh with help from McQuade, Crown Monuments, Ray West Jr., the Bronx business manager for Local 3 IBEW, and electricians from the union. The stone was repainted, and its lighting was restored.
The Throggs Neck memorial ceremony is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Friday.
Earlier in the day, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and North Central Bronx will hold a separate tribute at the Jacobi 9/11 Memorial Garden. Staff members have shared testimonials about what they saw and experienced on the day of the attacks.
Christopher Fugazy, a senior associate executive director at Jacobi, recalled his experience.
“I could see smoke billowing away from the city from the Hutch,” Fugazy said. “I arrived in the executive office, and we were already in full disaster mode.”
The Jacobi ceremony is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. near Building 2. Attendees are asked to arrive by 8:15 a.m.
