By Michael V. Cusenza
City Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) on Friday led the president and staff of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum on a tour of Tribute Park and the Flight 587 Memorial, presenting the daily visceral reminders of the immense impact that the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 has had on the residents and businesses on the Rockaway Peninsula.
Photo Courtesy of Councilwoman AriolA
The group reflects on the events of Sept. 11, 2001 inside Tribute Park, which is located in Rockaway Park.
“Rockaway suffered tremendously in 2001, and the scars of that year’s events remain visible in many ways today,” Ariola said. “So many members of the Rockaway community lost their lives during the attacks of Sept. 11, and then less than two months later Belle Harbor was hit by the crash of Flight 587, claiming five lives on the ground as well as 260 people on board the aircraft. These two tragedies, happening so close together and to such a tight-knit community, had a tremendous impact on the people here, and it is so important that we not only preserve the memories of those lost, but also honor those who survived and still carry the weight of the trauma from those days more than twenty years ago.”
“It’s been a great privilege, as president and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, to visit neighborhoods of the city and learn how they were touched by Sept. 11, 2001,” added Elizabeth L. Hillman, president and CEO of the memorial and museum. “I am especially grateful to the local communities, including the Rockaways, that share in our mission to never forget those killed. Council Member Ariola’s support of my recent visit to Queens, and to the Breezy Point Civic Association, the volunteer firefighters, and 9/11 family members, revealed powerful, beautiful memorials created and sustained to remember 9/11.”
