Long Beach Remembers Local 9/11 Casualties

“We will always remember them and keep them and their families in our hearts, no matter how many years go by,” Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford said after she read the names of Long Beach barrier island residents who were killed by Islamic terrorists at the World Trade Center ten years ago. “But they are suffering because of their loss.”

Ford stood in front of the Garden of Remembrance, a 9/11 memorial she and her fellow West End neighbors created at the corner of West Beech Street and Virginia Avenue in 2003, and addressed a crowd that included residents, local firefighters and family members of the deceased. Their names are listed on a stone monument in the garden that features a replica of the Twin Towers shaped out of steel from the WTC.

Among those who had gather were family members of first-responder William Quick of East Atlantic Beach, a firefighter who died in January of lung disease after working some 60 days at Ground Zero.

Long Beach Fire Department Chief Richard Corbett spoke in his honor, focusing on a side that he said most didn’t know about Quick, 55, a 23-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department who was assigned to Ladder Company 134 in Far Rockaway and was a more than 20 year member of Tower Ladder 2372 in Long Beach.

“A lot of us didn’t know the humble Billy Quick, and it’s hard to believe there was a humble Billy Quick,” said Corbett as he told relevant stories about his former colleague. “You always saw him in the newspaper, magazines and on TV. He was always in the right place at the wrong time, and he was the first person to give credit to someone else for the job that they did.”

Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg reflected on the past decade and remembered the many funerals he attended of 9/11 causalities, including Michael Keifer, a Long Beach lifeguard and FDNY firefighter with Ladder 132.

“A young man, a fireman in Long Beach, I see him two months earlier and then I don’t see him anymore and I’m with his family,” Weisenberg recalled. "And I’m saying to myself ‘Look what happened.’ But we set up a scholarship in his memory.”

Friday's ceremony commenced with resident Peggy Costigan singing the National Anthem and concluded with City Councilman Michael Fagen leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. Former Councilman Leonard Remo represented the City of Long Beach and conducted the memorial.       

Rev. Deacon Thomas Evrard Sr., during his opening prayer, spoke of the evil and “twisted minds” of the terrorists, and their opposite, the caring and resolve of the American people following their horrific attacks. He also touched on his love of country.

“We pay gratitude for our beloved country, founded on principals of human dignity, freedom for all, love and respect for the rights of others,” he said. “However imperfect our humanity, however failed our progress, we continue to struggle to secure these self-evident truths as our bedrock foundation.”

The Long Beach barrier island individuals memorialized at the Garden of Remembrance.

• Bettina Brown-Radburn - AON

• Michael Carlo - FDNY Engine 230

• Capt. Terrence Hatton - FDNY Rescue 1

• Stephen Hoffman - Cantor Fitzgerald

• Michael Kiefer - FDNY Ladder 132

• Neil Levin - Port Authority

• Charles Lucania - Electrician Local 3

• Noell Maerz - Eurobrokers

• Terrance Manning - Conference at WTC

• Ken Marino - FDNY Rescue 1

• Greg Stajk - FDNY Engine 22