Each year the Pipes & Drums of the Emerald Society, an NYPD fraternal organization of Irish and Irish-American police, conducts its Annual 9/11 Memorial Parade and Ceremony. The parade, which consists of police pipe and drums bands, military marching bands, and several other groups, proceeds up South End Avenue and concludes at the NYC Police Memorial in Monsignor Kowsky Plaza. Following the parade, a short ceremony includes a speaking program and wreath laying at the Memorial wall. The Police Commissioner and several other dignitaries regularly attend this poignant tribute to those first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice.
This year, to mark the 16th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Battery Park City Authority President and Chief Operating Officer Shari C. Hyman presented Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill with the flag that flew over the Memorial that day, as a tribute to the work the NYPD does in service to the people of the City of New York.
BPCA President Hymans’s full remarks follow (as prepared for delivery):
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Good afternoon and thank you, Lt. Giorgio.
On behalf of Governor Cuomo and Battery Park City Authority Chairman Dennis Mehiel, I am honored to welcome Commissioner O’Neill, First Deputy Commissioner Tucker, PBA President Lynch, Kevin McDonough and the NYPD Emerald Society, and distinguished guests, to the New York City Police Memorial here in Battery Park City.
For a generation now the Battery Park City Authority has had the privilege of stewardship for this Memorial.
It is a place of hope.
It is a place of healing.
And it is a place of resilience.
The morning after that terrible day, 16 years ago now, our Parks staff came to this space and quietly lowered what was then a dust-covered flag from the pole behind me, and raised a new flag – bright, and vibrant, and as fresh as our resolve to defend our way of life.
The staff then cleaned the area spotless so that our first responders – some of whom I’m sure are with us again today – had a place of respite as they went back and forth in their daily work of recovery.
This place – already a Memorial to heroes who gave all – took on added meaning that day, and in the days that followed, as people left pictures, flowers, small tokens of appreciation for the work being done, and in memory of those we lost.
Years have passed since then. Our children have grown. Downtown has come roaring back. America remains the light of the world – and New York its greatest city.
And we still hope.
And heal.
And remember.
Commissioner O’Neill, it is in this spirit of solemn remembrance that I have something to present to you, and to all the men and women of the NYPD who make it their duty to protect us.
Commissioner, this is the flag that flew over this site on September 11, 2001. Please accept and keep it as a tribute to the work the New York City Police Department does, and has done for the people of this city, for more than 170 years.
At a Memorial that stands for resiliency, in a city full of resilient people, the NYPD stands tall and proud – now and always.
And your contributions will never be forgotten.
Thank you.
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