From the Mayor’s Office – Memoria Tenere, To Hold Memories

Today marks the 22nd Anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. The attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and four hijacked planes resulted in the loss of 2,977 souls and led to illnesses that have resulted in the loss of as many lives as that day. We gather to remember and to pay tribute to the heroism of the first responders, the men and women who gave their lives in the valiant effort to save others. We are here to pay tribute to the men and women we lost who made Warwick their home and to offer our support and love to their families.

September 11th, 2001, was a crystal clear day, the sky was a piercing blue that we see at the end of Summer and beginning of Fall. Here in our Town, we were we were all going about our daily routines. I had just begun my tenure as Mayor and with a 1-year-old, my role as a parent.

I was at Village Hall that morning and watched on television with staff the horror unfold.  Meanwhile, my wife had taken our son to daycare, she and the daycare provider watched the televised events alone in an upstairs living room. She remembers her reaction, her shock and began crying as the towers collapsed. She took our son home and called me for comfort and to try to make sense of what had occurred.

At Village Hall the phones rang incessantly, and the day brought chaos and a strange numbness. There was so much unknown and the question of who we possibly had lost had not yet been answered. We immediately organized a vigil to take place in Memorial Park for later that evening.

My wife called a little later to tell me that she had received a call from our friend Miri whose mom worked at the World Trade Center, and she had not yet heard from her. My wife was able to console our friend, but the sense of foreboding was great. By that evening we got the call that her mom was ok. A young man helped her down the stairwell out of the building in time and they walked uptown to a safe place.

Nearly 100 folks came out that evening and by then we had found out the names of the 7 residents who had perished.  With the help of the American Legion and VFW we had a meaningful vigil in the face of deep loss and still the fear of the unknown.

When I finally got home that evening to reunite with my wife and son, in our safe refuge, the events of the day washed over me and as I held my wife, with my head in her shoulder I wept.

Thank you to the Warwick Fire Department for organizing today’s ceremony. It is through this event here and across the country that we come together as a community, as a nation and are able to hold these memories near and to honor the lives of those we’ve lost.

The next Village Board Meeting will take place on Thursday, September 14, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at Village Hall, 77 Main Street.