Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams hosted his annual 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony in at Brooklyn Borough Hall Tuesday morning in a tranquil ceremony honoring the innocent lives lost fifteen years ago today.
Featuring prayers, tributary readings from surviving family members, and moments of silence as the clock struck the fateful minutes of the towers’ collapse, the event solemnly moved along backed by beautiful selections from the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
Two family tributes moved all present with their raw emotion. Vernon A. Richard II – the son of the late FDNY captain of the same name – spoke in awe of the heroism his father and other first responders demonstrated in their call of duty. Rabbi Abe Friedman, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the Borough President, introduced Evelyn Zelmanowitz – sister-in-law to the late Abe Zelmanowitz. She spoke with grace of the pure humanity everyday citizens showed that day, from rushing back into the towers in search of a co-worker or, like Abe, saving a life by waiting – as the towers burned – with a disabled friend for help that just could not get there in time.
Silence and 9:58 AM struck at the same time in memory of the fall of the South Tower. Borough Hall lowered its flag as the victims’ families laid a remembrance wreath outside. Borough President Adams, NYPD Commissioner William J. Bratton, FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro, NYPD Chief James O’Neill, FDNY Chief James E. Leonard, and US Army Fort Hamilton Commander Colonel Peter Sicoli all delivered remarks in the high-profile event. Adams discussed terrorism’s enduring impact on the city and the opportunity 9/11 presents to “rededicate ourselves to the families of men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice,” “work together to recover and rebuild,” and to “unite as One Brooklyn, now and forever.”
{Matzav.com / PHOTOS: JDN}