Completion of Final Phase of Memorial Announced
The Town of North Hempstead will host its annual 9/11 Memorial Service on Thursday, September 11, at 8:15 a.m. at Manhasset Valley Park, located at East Shore Road and Northern Boulevard in Manhasset. Additional parking is available at 461 Maple Street. The public is invited and encouraged to attend this solemn event honoring the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The ceremony is being organized by Town Clerk Ragini Srivastava, who shared the significance of the event. “Each year, we come together to remember September 11th — one of the darkest days in our nation’s history,” Srivastava said. “We gather not only to honor the lives lost but also to recognize the bravery and resilience of the heroes who emerged that day. This ceremony reaffirms our shared commitment to unity, hope, and our promise to never forget.”
This year’s ceremony marks the 24th anniversary of the attacks and will also commemorate the completion of the final phase of the Town’s 9/11 memorial — an expanded and newly constructed space that will be formally unveiled during the event. The nearly $500,000 project, which began in May, centers around a steel beam recovered from Ground Zero. Surrounding the beam is a newly installed semi-circular black granite wall, made up of 11 engraved panels.
Eight of those panels are inscribed with the names of the 56 residents who perished in the terror attacks. They will be flanked by two end panels, which will bear the names of North Hempstead residents who succumbed to 9/11 related illnesses, to be inscribed at a later date. The center panel bears the Town’s logo and the powerful inscription: “What we call resilience is often the quiet courage of ordinary people who refuse to be defeated.”
Reflecting on the memorial’s completion, Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena added, “This second phase of the memorial had unfortunately been on hold for nearly 12 years. But it’s here at last as a testament to a small town with a big heart, and a community that never gives up.”