On the 20^th anniversary of 9/11, Bronxites gathered at various memorial events across the borough to honor the memories of those lost during the September 11^th attacks in 2001. They joined family members, friends, and strangers across the City to pause and remember the 2,977 people killed when two hijacked jetliners crashed into the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan twenty years ago, as well as those who subsequently died as a result of the events of that day.

 

On Saturday, Sept. 11, Bronxites gathered at the 9/11 memorial monument, erected on the grounds of Jacobi Hospital on Pelham Parkway, where they honored the 144 Bronxites killed that fateful day.

 

At the same time, a second gathering was held outside the 49th precinct on Eastchester Road in Morris Park, where police officers paid homage to the 23 NYPD police officers who died when the Twin Towers collapsed, as well as the 247 officers who have since died from 9/11-related illnesses over the intervening 20 years. During the nearly year-long, recovery efforts at Ground Zero, in the wake of the attacks, members were exposed to toxic dust, which caused various illnesses.

According to published reports, on Tuesday, Sept. 7, this year, the Office of the City’s Medical Examiner identified two additional victims, thanks to new DNA technology, bringing the total number of victims identified through DNA analysis to 1,647. The remains of the two victims were the first to be identified since October 2019. A further 1,106 victims have still to be identified.

 

On Saturday afternoon, Sept. 11, nearly 100 residents in Parkchester gathered on Unionport Road as Bronx Community Board 9 held a memorial event for those who perished. Many from the Bengali community turned out for the occasion, joining a troop of local Cub Scouts, other community residents, and members of EMS and the NYPD.

 

Speaking at the Parkchester event, Fr. David Powers said, “The shock and horror of that tragic day has subsided, but it has been replaced with an emptiness, a longing for innocence lost.”

 

On Sunday morning, Sept. 12, on Pelham Parkway, a 9/11 charity run / walk was held in honor of Lt. Thomas Clesse of the 49th precinct who died from cancer in 2000.

 

At noon on Monday, Sept. 13, Bronxites gathered again for a memorial service, organized by the Office of Bronx Borough President, Ruben Díaz. Jr., at Lou Gehrig Plaza, located at East 161st Street and the Grand Concourse. Amanda Bossard of News 12 served as the event MC, and the event featured a Presentation of Colors by the New York State Courts Ceremonial Unit, music from different artists, as well as prayers from faith leaders from across the borough.

Recalling the events of the tragic day, the borough president said, “If you look at the elected officials that are here today, my father and I, we were the only ones who were elected 20 years ago.” (Ruben Díaz Sr. is the elected Bronx City Council member for District 18.)

“On September 11, 2001, our Nation was brutally attacked in the name of misguided hate, causing the deaths of nearly 3,000 people,” added Diaz Jr. “Our borough lost 144 individuals in this tragedy, and while we fight a new enemy, COVID-19, on this day we safely joined together as a borough to pause and reflect on our neighbors who perished 20 years ago, and also recognize the first responders who bravely served without reservation, and focused solely on those who needed rescue that day.”

 

The borough president went on to describe when he first became aware of the attacks, saying Paul, his chief of staff at Borough Hall, told him at the time, “Look, we have an issue.” He told the borough president to come out and look at the images [on TV], and it was then, Díaz Jr. said, that he saw that the first of the Twin Towers had been hit.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes and I thought, like so many of you, that it was an accident,” Díaz Jr. said. “I wanted to believe it was an accident. I wanted to believe it was just something gone terribly wrong, that it was not malicious, intentional, but what we later found out was an evil act on humanity,” he added.

 

Díaz Jr. urged Bronxites not to forget what happened that day. “There was an assault on our democracy. That day was an election day,” he said. “We cannot forget the Noel family, and over 3,000 people who perished that day. Nobody asked them their political affiliation, nobody asked them who they loved, nobody asked them how old they were.”

 

The names of the 144 Bronxites who died in the attacks are inscribed on the 9/11 memorial monument at Jacobi Hospital. It has since been updated to include an additional 13 names, to account for those who have since died of 9/11-related illnesses and brings the total number of Bronx victims of the September 11^th attacks to 157.

 

Reflecting on the present day, Díaz Jr. then said, “You fast forward 20 years later, and I can’t help but say, ‘Maybe those lessons have been lost?’ You see, we are more politically divided than ever. Democracy was attacked that day, but it seems to me like more and more, throughout our country, democracy is still being assaulted.”

 

The borough president, who steps down at the end of his current term, then said the borough was at a point of ushering in new elected leadership, leadership, he said, he was proud of, and which, he said, represented an abundance of talent.

 

“After me, there’s going to be another borough president, because this goes on and she’s with us today,” Díaz Jr. continued. “She’s our City Council member, and the next borough president and the first female, the first African-American borough president in the Bronx’s history; Vanessa Gibson is with us here today.”

 

According to a New York Post article, the actual number of victims who died on Sept. 11, 2001 was 2,996, including 343 FDNY firefighters and one volunteer firefighter. The article referenced federal victim statistics from the Center for Disease Control’s World Trade Center Health Program, and an additional 3,311 people who enrolled in it who have since died, surpassing the number of those killed on the actual day of the attacks.

 

Another gathering had been held in the Bronx on Saturday, Sept. 11, outside the headquarters of FDNY’s Engine 72, on East Tremont Avenue in Throgs Neck, where the community paid their respects to the 343 FDNY firefighters and one volunteer fireman who perished that day.

On Thursday, Sept. 16, the FDNY announced the September 5th passing of retired firefighter, Steven F. Devaney, of Engine Company 46, located at 460 Cross Bronx Expressway. Devaney was a 20-year veteran of the department when he retired due to 9/11-related illness. He leaves behind a wife and three children.

 

On Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, NBC and other media outlets reported that the FBI has released a newly declassified document about the 9/11 attacks. It describes the logistical support given to two of the Saudi hijackers in the lead-up to the terrorist operation, as the world marked the 20th anniversary of one of America’s darkest days.

 

For other recent coverage of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, click here, here and here.