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MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. Mount Vernon paid tribute Tuesday to all the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks including five people from the city who perished that day 11 years ago.
Residents, elected officials and first responders gathered on the steps of City Hall to remember the senseless violence of that fateful day. Mount Vernon remembered Michael Boccardi, Jonathan Briley, Sandra Campbell, Katie McCloskey and Rochelle Snell, all of whom were in the World Trade Center buildings.
We are here to show empathy and sympathy for what happened on that day, said Mayor Ernie Davis. We couldnt fathom an attack like this happening to America at the time, and it changed everything from policy to politics to economics.
Davis commended the Mount Vernon Fire Department, which was one of the first departments outside of New York City on the scene on Sept. 11, 2001. Davis also said that it is important that children are educated about the tragedy and understand what happened.
Assemblyman Gary Pretlow said everyone who is old enough to remember the attacks can remember where they were that day. Pretlow carried with him his first responders pass he had used when he was at Ground Zero helping to clear the rubble in the aftermath of the attacks.
It was not a pretty site and not one any of us should ever endure again, Pretlow said. It should be in our city charter that we reflect and honor the five brave Mount Vernonites who died that day.
City Council President Roberta Apuzzo said that, as much as she remembers where she was in the morning of 9/11, she remembers gathering on the steps of City Hall that night with other members of the community to pray for the victims.
We prayed for a more kind and gentle world but that has not happened, Apuzzo said. We need our country and city to come together to make this a great and safe place to live.
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