Once again on Saturday, September 11, the community will come together to remember the 9th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.
Everyone of the over 150 victims who lived or worked in the Bronx will have their name read aloud during a memorial service at Throggs Neck’s 9/11 memorial triangle at the corner of E. Tremont Avenue and the Cross Bronx Expressway service road.
The ceremony will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 11. The street in front of the triangle on the service road will be closed to traffic, and a crowd can begin gathering at 6:30 p.m. The remembrance usually lasts an hour.
Organizer Michael Rahilly said that he and fellow organizer Collen McCarthy, both of Edgewater Park, could not hold the ceremony if it were not for donations and support from the Throggs Neck community.
“This event has no budget, and the only money that we spent was to get the city permit for the street closure,” Rahilly said. “It is a grassroots community effort. Everyone steps up to contribute something, and hundreds of people every year attend the beautiful ceremony.”
Rahilly said that the firefighters from Engine 72, whose station is next to the Throggs Neck 9/11 Memorial, are always gracious in assisting his efforts. So are members of S.U.N.Y. Maritime’s chorus, who regularly perform at the event. Their songs include “American Tears,” written by Maritime students.
Rahilly said that local electrician Joseph Mondello donates his time and sound equipment for the public address system, the Parks department has provided a raised platform for the event, and flowers just seem to show up every year.
The Star of the Sea Cadets will provide the color guard, and members of the Throggs Neck Volunteer Ambulance Corps. are always generous with their time, he said. Elected officals are always in attendence as well.
This year, Rahilly is calling on veterans from the community who have served during World War II or during that era to read the names of the fallen at the ceremony.
In the past, children and family members of the deceased have read the names. The event is non-denominational, and there is no formal religious invocation.
“A lot of family members who lost loved ones on 9/11 tell me that it is the only memorial service they go to every year,” Rahilly said. “We will continue to hold this event for the community as long as the community needs it.”
