The Township of Weehawken recalled the importance of their waterway, which was pivotal to helping New York residents on September 11, 2001, during an interfaith ceremony held last night.
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Held in front of their 9/11 monument, which was made with authentic pieces of World Trade Center steel, the interfaith ceremony saw representatives from several different faiths reflecting on the terrorist attacks from 15 years ago.
“Lord, in the midst of our grief and the memory of our loss, we gather in your presence once again and remember. We have feared the terror of the night. We have seen the sacrifices of the brave. We have cried the tears of the lost. And we have clinched our fists in rage against the pain and damage,” began Monsignor Robert Meyer of the St. Lawrence Church in Weehawken.
“What we are facing in our time is the epic battle between the forces of darkness and the forces of light,” Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, of Hoboken Chabad, later added.
“Between those who wish to enforce, upon all of us, a corrupt and dark way or life, and those who wish to keep alive and well. A world that followed the universal codes of morality and freedom of ethics.”
Imam Mohamed Moussa, of the North Hudson Islamic Educational Center, Swami Nannarayan, of the Weehawken Swaminarayan Mandir and Pastor Birgit Solano, of the Good Shepard Lutheran Church, also spoke during the ceremony.
The five names of the township residents who were lost as a result of the attack were also recognized at the event.
After the ceremony concluded, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner explained the important role the Weehawken waterway played in 9/11, as around 60,000 New York residents came to the small North Hudson municipality seeking food, water, shelter and medical treatment.
“Our fire, our police, our EMS, literally hundreds and hundreds of volunteers came forward to assist people. They set up a triage center and had to be cleaned up, others needed medical attention, others were just in a state of shock,” Turner reflected.
” … The monument you see behind me commemorates not only the five individuals that were lost, Weehawken residents, [but] all the other individuals that were lost in the World Trade Center, in Pennsylvania and in the Pentagon, but also all the groups that assisted in sheltering, feeding, providing medical assistance to the 70,000 individuals that were brought here.”
