Riverdale Honors 9/11 Heroes Lost to Illness

The sound of bagpipes from the NYPD ceremonial unit echoed through Fieldston’s Endor Garden, where hundreds gathered outside its entrance to mark 24 years since the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Like each year before, the ceremony followed familiar traditions: prayers offered by clergy, the Pledge of Allegiance recited in a solemn unison and the mournful notes of “Amazing Grace.” 

Yet, this year carried a deeper sorrow.

It featured the unveiling of a new plaque bearing the names of men who died years after  9/11, many from cancers, respiratory diseases and other conditions linked to the toxic dust that blanketed Lower Manhattan.

The ten names are now permanently displayed in the garden — firefighters, police officers and three construction workers who volunteered in the recovery effort. 

Their inclusion marks a stark reality. The tragedy of Sept. 11 continued, quietly and relentlessly, in the lives of those who breathed the toxins – asbestos, jet fuel and pulverized concrete, to name a few.

More than 132,000 responders and survivors are now enrolled in the federal World Trade Center Health Program.

At least 3,000 deaths have been linked to 9/11-related illnesses. Among firefighters, the toll has surpassed 400 — more than those killed on the day of the attacks.

For retired firefighter Mike Courtney, the losses are deeply personal. He spent 20 years with Engine Company 79 on Briggs Avenue in the Bronx and knew several of the men honored. In the years since the attack, he watched as the death toll climb steadily.

“We lost 343 firefighters that day,” he said. “Now it’s hundreds more. The names just keep coming. These were people who placed duty above safety, who carried the weight of tragedy long after the flames were gone.”

He also remembers when the site of Endor Garden itself was nothing more than a wooden plaque nailed to a tree. 

Placed anonymously by a neighbor in the years after the attacks, it listed a handful of local first responders. In 2017, when it was vandalized and disappeared, Courtney felt compelled to step in.

“I knew a couple of the guys on that plaque,” he said. “And I knew a lot more who were killed that day. To see it disappear broke my heart.”

Along with neighbors, Courtney began the slow work of rebuilding. Students from Riverdale Country School came several times a year to plant bulbs and clear brush. Local landscapers donated their services. 

Support came from every corner.

Since then, a steel beam from Ground Zero, as well as a flag that once flew at the World Trade Center — secured with permission from the Fire Department — had been added donated by the Riverdale Main Street Alliance.

Touch that steel

“Everyone who visits wants to touch that piece of steel,” Courtney said. “It makes the whole thing real. You feel it in your bones.”

The timing of this year’s additions carried added resonance. 

Earlier that same day, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a package of bills in Albany aimed at expanding support for families affected by 9/11. The legislation revives the Sept. 11 Worker Protection Task Force, extending its mandate through 2030 and requiring new appointments and reports.

It also streamlines access to disability and death benefits for those who served in the rescue and cleanup by allowing the New York City Police Pension Fund to accept a timely and properly filed notice of participation as sufficient proof of involvement.

Hochul called the package a way to “make good on promises long delayed.” For many in Riverdale, the legislation echoed the meaning of the memorial itself: an acknowledgment that the impact of 9/11 stretches far beyond a single day.

‘Never Forget’

Now in his seventies, Courtney lives with asthma and other health problems tied to the aftermath of 9/11, and like thousands of others, he undergoes annual checks through the health program. He has come to see himself as the caretaker of the space, though others call him its heart.

Looking out over the beam and the flag overhead, he spoke the words that have closed so many of these gatherings. 

“Don’t forget,” he said. “Never forget.”