Maspeth Remembers Its Lost

Hundreds of people crowded into the plaza in front of FDNY Hazmat 1/Squad 288 in Maspeth last Saturday for an emotional ceremony dedicating a memorial to the firefighters and civilians from the community who perished on September 11.
Hazmat 1/Squad 288 lost 19 firefighters that daythe most of any firehouse in the city.
"The Maspeth community will always remember the heroes," said Raymond Benoit, president of the local United Veterans and Fraternal Organizations, which gathered donations from the area for the memorial. "[Its] a monument to the brave in the home of the brave."
The stone and metal monument stood about six feet high and was planted in a circle of flowers. Its plaque bore the names of 19 firefighters and six residents of Maspeth who died in the World Trade Center under a raised likeness of the pre-9/11 skyline. An eagle is shown flying above the Twin Towers carrying a banner that reads "September 11, 2001" in its talons.
Among the many elected officials in attendance was Governor George Pataki, who had just come from a ceremony aboard the USS Intrepid in New York Harbor to announce the naming of a new Navy warship, the USS New York.
"When a crisis comes, when sacrifice is demanded, there are no stronger or better people than the people of New York," Pataki said to wild applause.
Firefighter Philip McArdle, formerly of Hazmat 1 and now a sergeant-at-arms in the Uniformed Firefighters Association, thanked the patriotic community of Maspeth for its support through an extremely difficult year.
"Without the support from the community, we would never have been able to endure so long and do so much," he said, adding that people did everything from hold vigils to stop in to the firehouse to say hello.
The biggest applause came when McArdle thanked "the guys"firefighters and emergency personnel from companies all over Queens who watched the ceremony from atop their vehicles.
"We lost two members of Ladder 136, so this is a memorial for them, too," said firefighter Jim Lodispoto of Engine Company 287 in Elmhurst, which is housed alongside Ladder 136.
Members of Hazmat 1/Squad 288 laid a red and white wreath next to the memorial, and the ceremony was punctuated with the playing of "Taps," during which many in the crowd wept openly. Nearly everyone came dressed in FDNY t-shirts.
"I came here to thank the community for what they did," said retired police officer Lenny Crisci, who arrived at the ceremony carrying a photograph of his brother, Lieutenant John Crisci of Hazmat 1, who died September 11.
"Im thanking everyone in the crowd in the name of my brother, because he cant be here," said Crisci. "What the people of Maspeth did is beyond words. It makes you feel good."
For Nancy Shakouri, a resident of Rockland County, the memorial hardly made a dent in the grief she felt for her brother, Hazmat 1 firefighter Dennis Scauso. "My brothers body was never found," she said. "I dont know that there is any closure, but its a beautiful tribute."