Mercaz Academy Finds a 9/11 Hero Close to Home in Plainview

Plainview’s Mercaz Academy marked 9/11 this week with their own Andy Cohen, Director of Facilities and Security at the school and a 9/11 first responder. Mr. Cohen spoke to students in grades four through six about the events of that terrible day with great sensitivity, explaining what happened while shielding the students from the horrific details. As Mr. Cohen–a former police officer who has been a volunteer firefighter for 35 years–told his story, he focused on the people who immediately banded together to help in a tragic situation.

He reminisced about driving into Manhattan that day and seeing state troopers salute him and his friends as they sped towards the wreckage of the World Trade Center. Students who weren’t even born when the attack occurred were shocked when he described an empty Long Island Expressway, closed to all but emergency responders, as well as dust-covered survivors walking across the bridges to get back to Long Island. Mr. Cohen told students about his race to New Jersey to interview someone for information about the attackers; that trip saved him from being present at the collapse of Building 7 later that day. He described working on the pile in his capacity as a police officer for two straight days. Instead of going home and resting, he returned with the fire truck because he wanted to help.

Mercaz Academy students asked several thoughtful questions. One fourth grader wanted to know how it was possible to get through airport screenings with weapons, and was surprised to discover that most of those protocols were created in the aftermath of 9/11. A fifth grader asked which country had attacked; Mr. Cohen explained that it was a hate group, not a country.

“On 9/11, terrorists wanted to hurt and defeat us,” Mr. Cohen said. “They hurt us badly, but they couldn’t defeat us.”