World Trade Center Girder Arrives in Cortlandt

Dozens of local heroes were honored yesterday at Cortlandt Town Hall during the Buchanan, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson Sept. 11, 2001 Remembrance Memorial at Croton Landing ceremony.

The room was packed with dozens of the three communities' emergency responders, firefighters, veterans and emergency medical service workers who had accompanied local officials to retrieve a steel girder from the World Trade Center. The girder will be used in the creation of a Sept. 11, 2001 memorial to be built at Croton Landing.

Mohegan Lake emergency responders were among those present at the ceremony. 

“We will turn this piece of steel from the fallen north tower of the World Trade Center into a spectacular tribute to those people who perished on that day,” Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi said. “I can’t think of anything more important for our three communities to work together for than for this tribute.”

The caravan left Croton at 8 a.m. for John F. Kennedy airport where the Port Authority and airport workers awaited them with the girder. The girder was unveiled at the ceremony this afternoon and will be brought to a secure storage facility until it is ready to be installed at the memorial site.

During the ceremony Supervisor Linda Puglisi honored five Cortlandt residents who died on Sept. 11, 2001 and following the attacks.  Two Cortlandt widows who lost their husbands were present, Ann Ambrahamson and Sahra Sprance.

“I am overwhelmed,” said Sprance, whose husband went to help two days after Sept. 11 and died two years later. “I want this to stand as a beacon to remember what could happen and prevent it from happening again. As a symbol of caring and the determination to go on.”

Holding back tears Sprance also thanked the emergency personnel who accompanied her husband to the hospital just days before he passed.

Robert Ferguson, a New Rochelle police officer, responded to the attacks in 2001 and looks at the memorial as a source for inspiration. “I hope people will never become complacent,” said Ferguson. “It was 10 years ago but it still feels like yesterday. I hope people just never forget and that the memorial serves as a reminder.”

Puglisi thanked many involved with the project, specifically Janet Mainiero, Project Director of the memorial. Mainiero conceptualized the memorial and arranged the retrieval of the steel girder.

“We have something very fortunate and reflective for our children and our children’s children,” said Mainiero.