By Alex Christodoulides
St. Michael's Cemetery in East Elmhurst is expecting its biggest crowd to date for its Sept. 11 commemoration ceremony this year.
“We're having the dedication of our First Responders monument,” which is the focal point of the seventh anniversary, said St. Michael's spokesman Ed Horn. The ceremony is to take place a few days in advance of the seventh anniversary date on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 1 p.m. at the cemetery, located at 72-02 Astoria Blvd. in East Elmhurst.
“This year we'll probably have our largest turnout,” Horn said.
The monument has three sections to honor firefighters, police officers and Port Authority officers who died at Ground Zero, some of whom lived or worked in Queens, Horn said.
The monument includes the names of the 343 firefighters who died Sept. 11, 2001, 76 of whom lived or worked in Queens, and the names of all the fallen NYPD and PAPD officers, Horn said.
“The lead officers from each organization will be there” along with the Explorers, an NYPD youth leadership corps; the Blue Knights, an organization of law enforcement motorcycle enthusiasts; and film actor Tony LoBianco, Horn said.
The memorial service and monument dedication are open to the public.
