Communities across the North Fork and Suffolk County will mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Friday with memorial ceremonies, flag displays and other events honoring the 2,977 people killed that day.
In Southold, 2,977 American flags, one for each victim, will be placed throughout Jean Cochran Park as part of the Southold Town Fire Chiefs’ Council’s annual remembrance.
Members of the Southold Town 9/11 Committee, local Scouts and members of the public will begin placing the flags at 5 p.m. Friday. A 15-minute remembrance ceremony led by local fire departments will begin at 6 p.m. Members of the Mattituck, Cutchogue, Southold, Greenport, East Marion, Orient, Plum Island, Fishers Island and Shelter Island fire departments are expected to participate and lay wreaths honoring those who died.
In addition to the townwide ceremony at Jean Cochran Park, CAST will host a special screening of “9/11: An American Requiem” at 3 p.m. Friday.
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks killed 2,753 people in New York, 184 at the Pentagon and 40 passengers and crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed near Shanksville, Pa., after those aboard fought back against the hijackers.
Nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners that morning. Two were flown into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan and a third struck the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C.
Long Island was particularly hard hit by the attacks, with many New York City firefighters and World Trade Center employees living in communities across Nassau and Suffolk counties. Local firefighters also participated in the rescue and recovery effort in New York City in the aftermath of the attacks.
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Riverhead Town will hold its annual 9/11 memorial ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday at World Trade Center Memorial Park, at the corner of Edwards and Riley avenues in Calverton. The ceremony will be led by Town Clerk Jim Wooten. Town Hall will delay opening until 11:30 a.m. to allow town employees to attend the observance.
The Flanders Fire Department will hold its annual Sept. 11 memorial service at 6 p.m. Friday at Flanders Memorial Park. The Sound Park Heights Civic Association will hold its annual candlelight walk and remembrance at the 9/11 Memorial Park on Sound Avenue and Park Road. The walk begins at 5:45 p.m., followed by the ceremony at 6 p.m.
The Greenport Fire Department will hold a separate ceremony of remembrance at 11 a.m. Friday at the Third Street firehouse. The retired FDNY fireboat Fire Fighter, which responded to Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, is also scheduled to be at the Greenport waterfront and available for tours through at least the village’s Maritime Festival weekend, Sept. 26-27.
Numerous commemorations are scheduled across the region Friday and through this weekend.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine will host a memorial service at noon Friday at the Suffolk County 9/11 Memorial at Armed Forces Plaza on the north side of the H. Lee Dennison Building, 100 Veterans Memorial Highway in Hauppauge.
Sept. 12
On Saturday, Sept. 12, volunteers will gather at Calverton National Cemetery for a 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance. The event begins at 10 a.m. with a brief ceremony, followed by several hours of volunteer work at the cemetery, in which participants will help restore headstones and beautify the grounds as part of a nationwide service initiative organized by Carry The Load in partnership with G.E.H.A. and the National Cemetery Administration. The event is free, family-friendly and open to the public, but registration is required.
Sept. 13
On Sunday, Sept. 13, Northeast Stage and the North Fork Arts Center will present Anne Nelson’s The Guys, a play about an FDNY captain who turns to a writer for help preparing eulogies for firefighters killed on 9/11.
The production stars retired FDNY firefighter Kevin Shea, who served with Engine 40/Ladder 35 and survived the World Trade Center response, alongside Eileen Trilli. Performances are scheduled for 2 and 6 p.m.
