Bayside Remembers 9/11

The Bayside Hills Civic Association held its annual 9/11 commemoration at the Memorial Gardens on Bell Boulevard and Horace Harding Expressway. About 200 citizens including police officers, firefighters, activists and elected officials came together to honor the 2,753 people that died in the 9/11 attacks, 244 of whom were from Queens.
Michael Feiner, President of the Bayside Hills Civic Association led the ceremony.
Reverend Monsignor Martin T. Geraghty of St. Robert Bellarmine opened with a prayer for “a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.”
After the Boy Scouts of America led the Pledge of Allegiance, local Bayside recording artists Cathy and Michael Chimenti sang the National Anthem.
City officials spoke poignantly about the event that forever changed Queens, the whole of New York City, and America as a country.
Former President of Bayside Hills Civic Association Jerry Iannece spoke passionately about the significance of the Memorial Gardens which include special dedications to community residents Port Authority police officers Alfonse Niedermeyer and George Merino, both of whom died in the attacks.
Councilmember Dan Halloran, whose cousin, Lt. Vincent Halloran was killed on 9/11, thanked the “22 first responders from this area who perished that day.”
Construction worker and 9/11 activist Andy Sullivan recounted his experience during the attacks as he searched for his employee in Tower 1 whom he eventually found. He spoke of his unforgettable moment with the First Responders after warning them that the top of the building would probably collapse.
“They just kind of looked at me, and patted me on the shoulder, and walked right by me into that building,” Sullivan said.
“That special time in our country’s history was so amazing; where there was no Liberals, there was no Conservatives, there was no Democrat, no Republican, everybody was American,” Sullivan said.
— Erica Camhi