Bayside Hills Civic Honors 9/11 Victims at Annual Ceremony

Northeast Queens residents turned out in droves to honor the memory of the 2,996 people who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 during the Bayside Hills Civic Association’s annual 9/11 ceremony.

The civic’s event, which took place at the Bayside Hills 9/11 Memorial Garden on Bell Boulevard, drew numerous residents, Boy Scout troops and a bevy of local elected officials.

Michael Feiner, the civic’s president, said the ceremony was the largest of its kind in the area.

“It’s a local, homey version of a 9/11 ceremony,” Feiner said. “It takes place at 7 p.m. every year because I stood in this spot on 9/11 at that time and saw smoke billowing from the towers.”

Boy Scout troops led the pledge of allegiance at the event, while guitarist Seth Baskin played “The National Anthem.”

Community Board 11 Jerry Iannece, who donated and helped to install a plaque at the garden, was the ceremony’s featured speaker.

“This mall here is very special,” he said. “It’s a sacred and solemn place we can gather and remember.”

Iannece said two trees in the garden represented the World Trade Center’s towers.

A number of elected officials representing the community spoke during the ceremony, including state Assembly members Edward Braunstein and Nily Rozic, Councilman Mark Weprin, Queens Deputy Borough President Barry Grodenchik and Paul Vallone, who recently won the Democratic primary in the race for Councilman Dan Halloran’s seat.

“When I think of 9/11, I, of course, think of the lives lost,” Braunstein said. “But I also think of the true courage we saw on that day. I’m proud to call the people in this community my neighbors.”

The plaque and Bayside Hills Civic’s 9/11 Memorial Display includes actual artifacts from the World Trade Center. Bayside’s Keil Bros. nursery assists with the memorial’s upkeep.