On Monday, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson hosted “Lest We Forget,” a remembrance ceremony at Lou Gehrig Plaza marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Gary Axelbank, BronxTalk host, led the ceremony, setting a tone for what the event would be: a recognition of the 150 Bronxites, civilians and first responders alike, who lost their lives due to the Sept. 11 attacks and the loved ones who have counted every day in the 25 years since.
“That’s what this remembrance is about and that’s what this day is about. It’s about the first responders, and it’s about, of course, the families who have survived all those days, months, and years of [grieving] people they lost on that horrible day,” Axelbank said.
In a respectful show of cross-cultural community, interfaith prayers were led by NYPD Inspector and Bishop Michael Lopez, Bishop Courtney A. Scullark of Greater Deliverance International Ministries, Imam Omar Niass of Masjid Ansaruden Islamic Center and Pastor Elvio Eliezer Gross of Evangelical Church Disciples of Christ.
These were preceded by a rendition of the national anthem from evangelist Meloni Smith.
Joseph E. Capella, an Administrative Judge at the Bronx Supreme Court, worked only a few blocks from the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and recalled that being the last day he saw his friend and co-worker, William Harry Thompson.
“As you can imagine, there was a pure pandemonium at the office. While most people at the office—in the entire building—were trying to figure out a way to go home and get out of there, Harry and our court officers got together, and they ran over to help,” Capella said.
Borough President Gibson then shared her own gratitude for the first responders who bravely risked their lives on Sept. 11.
“343 members of the FDNY and 71 members of law enforcement made the ultimate sacrifice while in the line of duty. Yes, they wore different uniforms. Yes, they represented different agencies. Yes, they came from different neighborhoods and different backgrounds. But yet, when our city needed them the most, they answered one call. The call to serve,” Gibson said.
In sharing her condolences and sorrow over the tragedy, Gibson intentionally specified that the victims of Sept. 11 include not only those who died in lower Manhattan the day of, but also the many who later succumbed to illnesses associated with exposure to toxic air in the weeks and months that followed.
“25 years may have passed, but the grief does not follow a calendar. So to every family here that continues to carry that loss, I want you to hear this very clearly and confidently. We remember your loved one. We remember your sacrifice. The Bronx remembers, and we will always stand with you,” Gibson said.
Gibson encouraged Bronxites to recognize that there is now a generation of young people who do not remember September 11, 2001, and only see it as history, who need guidance in bridging the two.
“When we tell our young people, ‘Never forget,’ we teach them what those words truly mean,” she said.
Lillian Bonsignore, FDNY Fire Commissioner, continued with a message specific to our borough.
“Our shared responsibility is to remember the people, the stories, and the love behind each and every name. And to continue to honor the families who have carried their loss for a quarter of a century,” Bonsignore said. “We pledge to take care of them forever. The Bronx understands that spirit, because this is a borough built on resilience. Where neighbors look out for each other, and where people come together at difficult times.”
Christina Farrell, Emergency Management Commissioner, shared a beautiful story exemplifying how the Bronx is “full of people whose work is keeping alive what arrives broken,” including a Callery pear tree which was found within the rubble at ground zero in October of 2001, and left in the care of the Arthur Ross Nursery in Van Cortlandt Park. Nine years later, it was transferred to the 9/11 Memorial Plaza.
“It stands there today, and if you go look at it, you can see the line where the old wood ends and the new growth begins. Smooth young limbs coming straight out of the gnarled stumps. They call it the Survivor Tree. Ground Zero sent the Bronx, something broken, and the Bronx sent it back alive, and it kept going. For years, the 9/11 memorial raised seedlings from that tree and sent them to communities that had lived through disasters of their own,” Farrell said.
