25 years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Throggs Neck continues to remember the neighbors who were lost that day and those who have died in the years since.
The Throggs Neck 9/11 Memorial, located near East Tremont Avenue and the Cross Bronx Expressway service road beside FDNY Engine 72, has been a place for the community to gather and remember for more than two decades.
The memorial bears the names of 15 members of the community who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Every year, families, firefighters, police officers, veterans, elected officials and neighbors gather at the site to make sure those names are not forgotten.
The memorial came together because of a group of local residents who wanted Throggs Neck to have its own place to remember those who never came home.
The late Jim McQuade, longtime director of Schuyler Hill Funeral Home, was one of the community members involved in making the memorial a reality. For McQuade and others involved, it was important that Throggs Neck had a permanent place where families and neighbors could come together each Sept. 11.
His daughter, Jackie McQuade, was young when the memorial was built. While she was not directly involved at the time, she remembers how much it meant to her father and the group that worked alongside him. Years later, when she learned the memorial was in need of repairs, getting involved was an easy decision.
“I was young when the memorial was built, but I remember how much it meant to my dad and the people who worked alongside him,” McQuade said.
“When I found out the memorial needed repairs, it was a no brainer for me to get involved. I feel a responsibility to keep that tradition going and honor what they started. It reminds me just how strong our community is and what we can accomplish when we come together.”
FDNY firefighter Mike Rahilly has also helped keep the annual ceremony going over the years. What started with a group of neighbors determined to remember those they lost has continued with another generation stepping up to carry on that tradition.
The meaning of the memorial has also changed with time. September 11 did not stop claiming lives when the towers came down. First responders and others exposed to toxins at Ground Zero have continued to die from 9/11 related illnesses.
Now, as the community prepares to mark 25 years since September 11, 2001, the memorial remains a place for Throggs Neck to remember its own and for a new generation to continue what those before them started.
