State. Sen. Tony Avella honored the lives of 24 men and women who died from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks during a motorcade Monday that traveled through six northeast Queens communities.
For the past 10 years, Avella, D-Bayside, has led the motorcade through sections of Bayside, Little Neck, Flushing, Whitestone, College Point and Auburndale to honor those who died on 9/11.
During this year’s 11th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Avella added two new sites along his route.
The first – Lt. Peter J. Farrakopf Place at 207th Street and 26th Avenue in Bayside – is named after a first responder who died from cancer in 2009.
The second, Flushing’s Dominick J. Berardi Way at 149th Street and 32nd Avenue, pays tribute to an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald.
“It’s been 11 years, but we can’t forget what happened that day,” the senator said. “We still live with the ramifications. People are still sick and we are still dealing with the war on terrorism. I think it’s important to remember the people who made the ultimate sacrifice that day.”
The senator laid a wreath at each street renamed after civilians, firefighters and police officers who died as a result of the 9/11 attacks.
Avella was joined in Whitestone by Jean Prevete, whose son, James, died while serving in Iraq.
“He was one of the young men who gave his life to answer what happened on 9/11,” the senator said.
Another site on the route included a street named after James Corrigan, a retired FDNY captain who was working as the World Trade Center’s fire and safety director at the time of the attacks.
Avella said he had attempted to convince the city to put up plaques at each of the stops for .
He hopes to get the plaques placed at the 24 stops in his motorcade for the 15th anniversary.
“They would give a little history of who the person was,” he said of the proposed plaques. “I think it’s important for people to remember.”
The motorcade stopped in College Point to honor Firefighters Michael J. Elferis and Michael Haub, Battalion Chief Lawrence T. Stack and Thomas J. Shubert.
Whitestone residents commemorated during the ceremony included PFC James E. Prevete and Thomas A. Casoria as well as Firefighters Michael Carlo, Carl F. Asaro, Sergio Gabriel Villanueva, Michael Cawley, Scott M. Kopytko and Thomas A. Gardner.
A street named in memory of Firefighter Timothy M. Welty was the sole Auburndale stop during the procession. Flushing stops included William M. Feehan Triangle, Jennifer Y. Wong Way and Berardi.
Bayside residents commemorated during the motorcade included Farrakopf, Corrigan, Michael D. Mullan, Captain Vincent F. Giammona, Firefighter Andrew Christopher Brunn, Arthur Warren Scullin and Glenn J. Travers Sr.
Christopher Racaniello 9/11 Memorial Way, located at the corner of Marathon Parkway and Thornhill Avenue in Little Neck, was the final stop.
