Queens Woman Pitches Ticker Tape Parade For 9/11 First Responders

By ERICA PITZI

PIX11.com

12:07 p.m. EDT, September 14, 2011
QUEENS, N.Y. (WPIX)— If one woman gets her way, there will be a ticker tape parade right along Broadway at the Canyon of Heros, for the first responders of 9/11.

The day would be May 25, 2012 -- marking 10 years after the last piece of steel was removed from Ground Zero.

"They didn't think about if they were going to live or die, they are the reason that area exists in the beautiful way it exists today," said Jill Singer.

This confident Queens woman committed to bringing the community together to show gratitude for the first responders.

Singer says the idea came to her while watching a Yankee game last month. She remembers attending the ticker tape parade when the Yanks won the World Series two years ago.

"They are called heros, 9/11 responders are called heros, why can't the city say thank you through a ticker tape parade?" asked Singer.

So she pitched her idea to Community Board 1 this week and it passed. World Trade Center Committee Chair Catherine McVay Hughes voted in favor.

"I've lived here for two decades, over looking other ticker tapes for sport championships," said Hughes. "But it's about time, we actually have a ticker tape parade for our real heros."

Real heros like TJ Gilmartin, Singer's boyfriend, whom she met last year, while fighting for first responders rights in Washington.

Gilmartin spent two straight weeks working on the rubble of the World Trace Center and welcomes the idea of a parade.

"It would lift the spirits. Nobody is asking for any money, just a thank you," said Gilmartin. "The greatest city in the world can't say thank you to the guys who ran in, meanwhile everybody else ran out?"

Mayor Michael Bloomberg still has to give his nod of approval, and NYPD has to approve a parade permit.
http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-911-ticker-tape-parade,0,5197099.story

9/11 responders honored at Westport ceremony

Bonnie McEneaney reached the depths of despair on Sept. 11, 2001. Her husband, Eamon, was a vice president of Cantor Fitzgerald, the bond trading firm that lost hundreds of employees in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.


Updated 11:03 a.m., Thursday, September 15, 2011


The swift response from thousands of emergency workers renewed her sense of hope, she said.

"When I think of the role you played, I think of love," McEneaney told dozens of police officers, firefighters and paramedics from departments across Connecticut on Wednesday evening at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport. "Instead of despair, I think of hope."

Three days after the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, dozens of first responders and volunteers gathered under the pavilion at the waterfront park, which overlooks Long Island Sound and the state's memorial for victims of the attacks.

The Connecticut U.S. Attorney's Office, the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection and the victim outreach group Voices of September 11th hosted the ceremony as a show of gratitude for emergency workers who rushed to the rubble of ground zero a decade ago.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told the crowd, mainly first responders in full dress uniforms, that the nation's sense of volunteerism and community sets it apart from other nations. He said the first responders and volunteers who traveled to the remains of the World Trade Center embody that spirit.

Malloy, who was mayor of Stamford when the planes hit the World Trade Center, recalled how city firefighters and police officers approached him shortly after Sept. 11 and asked for permission to work at ground zero. He said while the terrorist attacks changed emergency communications, response tactics and equipment over the past several years, they did not alter the American will to rebuild or recover.

"No terrorist, no war, no set of circumstances can deny that," he said.

David Fein, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, opened the ceremony by offering effusive thanks to the state's emergency responders.

"In the hours and days after the attacks, most Americans sought solace within the safety of their homes," Fein said. "You, our first responders and volunteers, did not hesitate to act."

The ceremonies began with State Police Trooper Pat Whalen playing a somber song on the bagpipes, and it ended just as solemnly, with a slow rendition of taps. John Hughes, chief of the civil division of the Connecticut U.S. Attorney's Office, was one of the event's organizers.

"On the 10th anniversary, we wanted to do something special," Hughes said before the ceremony. "We wanted something unique and special for first responders as a way of saying thank you."

Other speakers included Reuben Bradford, the state commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection; Andrew Savino, a deputy chief in the New York City Police Department's counterterrorism unit, and Paul McConnell, an assistant U.S. attorney and lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Paul Aaronson, a member of the New Canaan Volunteer Ambulance Corps, spoke about the call his paramedic department got in the days after Sept. 11 to help relieve the exhausted New York City emergency workers at ground zero. He also spoke about the anger and frustration felt by many first responders on Sept. 11 when survivors could not be found amid the destruction.

"We wished we could have done more," he said
http://www.westport-news.com/news/article/Hope-not-despair-9-11-responders-honored-at-2171771.php

Flight 93 Heroes Honored on 9/11 at Shanksville

SHANKSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The families of the 40 passengers and crew killed when Flight 93 knifed into a rural Pennsylvania field a decade ago Sunday were praised for helping to inspire a new generation of Americans while keeping the memories of their loved ones' dedication and courage burning brightly.

At a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, nearly 5,000 people listened as the names of the passengers and crew who were killed were read aloud while bells tolled. Afterward, a choir sang as those in the crowd — including family members, first responders, politicians and nearly 1,000 people who came to participate — listened intently.

"Over the past 10 years we have heard this place compared to many other places" including the Alamo and Gettysburg, Gov. Tom Corbett said at the newly dedicated national park that marks the site where Flight 93 crashed. "But the truth is that this place is like no other because the deeds aboard Flight 93 were like no other."

Corbett said the victims "charted a new course, set a new standard for American bravery."

Sunday's memorial service at the Flight 93 Memorial, about 60 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, was being held in concert with ceremonies in New York City and Washington, D.C., where other hijacked jets crashed into both towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Former Gov. Tom Ridge, the nation's first head of homeland security, thanked the approximately 2,000 people who came to the memorial for Sunday's service.

"I think your presence today means almost as much to the families, perhaps as much as the memorial itself," Ridge said. "Your very presence is a powerful message of comfort and understanding and love."

The families then turned and gave the visitors a standing ovation.

Ridge went on to pay tribute to the victims, saying their actions prove "Americans don't live in fear, we live in freedom"

Gordon Felt, brother of passenger Edward and president of the Families of Flight 93, directed some of his comments to the relatives of the other victims.

"I only wish I could have gotten to know each and every one of you under different circumstances," he said. "We lost too much."

Visitors to the Flight 93 service observed moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. — the times when two other airliners were crashed into New York's twin towers. They did the same at 9:37 a.m., when a third airliner hit the Pentagon.

There was no moment of silence at 10:03 a.m. at the memorial, but the emotion there was evident.

Susan Stine, 52, of Tamaqua, Pa., said she has come to the Flight 93 crash site to mark the anniversary each year.

"Everybody was going to New York for the first anniversary and we came here. I can't imagine not being here on 9/11," Stine said.

"The first time, I wanted to come here to see how it was, and it was amazing. I feel differently when I leave here every year," she said. "I feel better in my heart."

U.S. Rep. Mark Critz, D-Pa, choked up as he spoke about the Wall of Names, a series of 40 marble slabs inscribed with the names of the victims.

Told that the pattern of the wall delineates the flight path of the jet before it crashed, Critz said, "Ten years of emotion came rushing in."

The passengers aboard Flight 93 were hijacked after taking off from New Jersey.

Flight 93 crashed after passengers and crew, some alerted by cell phone calls from loved ones about the New York attacks, decided to try to wrest control of their plane from four hijackers.

The plane crashed during the struggle, and investigators later determined the hijackers intended to crash it into the Capitol in Washington, D.C., where the House and Senate were in session that morning.

On the Net:
■Flight 93 National Memorial: http://www.nps.gov/flni/index.htm
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j4wMJGEzTVFgAo1qf6P_RityAwag?docId=94b045f27284409c8954834a5c97241a

Fallen Firefighter Heroes Honored at St. Patrick Cathedral

Their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

A tear-soaked crowd thronged St. Patrick's Cathedral yesterday to pay tribute to the 343 members of the FDNY who died at the World Trade Center - heroes who never flinched as they ran toward unthinkable danger.

The decade that has passed since the Fire Department's darkest day has done nothing to dull the memories of those lost, according to the speakers at the emotional afternoon service.

"This is an awfully tough week for the FDNY," said Mayor Bloomberg. "It's an awfully tough week for all of us."

"The emotions keep rushing back along with so many memories and so many stories," Bloomberg said. "We'll remember the brave 343. We'll honor them. We salute them."

An image of each firefighter killed that fateful morning was flashed on a video screen on the altar as their loved ones dabbed at tears.

"I really wish I could have met you," said 9-year-old Patrick Lyons, born just weeks after the death of his firefighter father, who shared his name.

"As I get older, everyone says I walk like you," said Patrick, who read a letter to his dad. "I play flag football like you did, and I play the same position you did, quarterback."

An honor guard of firefighters carrying American flags solemnly filed down the aisle at St. Patrick's to begin the memorial service, presided over by Archbishop Timothy Dolan.

Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano, who was nearly killed during the attacks, spoke movingly about how the FDNY has honored those lost a decade ago.

"Out of the depths of this tragedy, we rebuilt the greatest fire department in the world," said Cassano.

The challenges for the FDNY did not end in the moments after the towers fell, killing the 343 Bravest and many of the department's top leaders.

Hundreds of firefighters worked for weeks at the smoldering World Trade Center site, and the exposure to the toxins has killed 55 FDNY members - and made scores more ill. "The world may have called them 'Brave,'" said Cassano, "but we called it doing our job."

Hundreds of firefighters packed the midtown house of worship, and dozens more - many from departments around the globe - stood outside to pay their respects.

"We're here to show our support for our brothers in New York," said Steve Joudrey, 52, of London, Ontario.

Amid prayers that no one be harmed during the 10th anniversary of the attacks, a hushed silence fell over the crowd as Ashley Fodor remembered her slain father, Michael.

"To us, Dad was untouchable, a constant in our lives," she said, "but he was taken away, lost in a city he loved, buried under buildings he had admired, doing his job with honor and vigor."

The children of firefighters who were killed then each lit a candle to conclude the Mass, moments before the bagpipes blared and the flags marched out of the cathedral again.

"That roll call, my friends, is nothing less than a litany of saints," said Dolan.

"Those firefighters were and you firefighters are what the Bible calls prophets. You go against everything that degrades human life.

Later yesterday, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly attended a memorial service honoring slain officers at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. "We know that the city, the world, owes you a debt that we can never repay," Kelly said.

With Clare Trapasso

jlemire@nydailynews.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/09/10/2011-09-10_343_stars_still_shining_fallen_bravest_honored_during_st_pats_mass.html

Next Terrorist Attack Could Be Nuclear or Biological

Police Search Trucks in New York City on Terror Threat

New York police increased security, including vehicle checkpoints in midtown Manhattan and armed guards in front of the Office of Emergency Management, after receiving credible information that terrorists may be plotting an attack in the city around the Sept. 11 anniversary.

Police cruisers took up positions on a midtown block of Lexington Avenue this morning as officers stopped trucks and other vehicles for inspection. Drivers were made to open the storage spaces of delivery trucks for police. In Brooklyn, U.S. marshals armed with machine guns guarded the federal courthouse and increased security was observed in front of the nearby city emergency management office.

“We have already had a full complement of people working shifts because of the Sept. 11 anniversary prior to this,” said Jim Margolin, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York office. “We are taking the logical investigative measures to assess this threat.”

The threat concerns a possible al-Qaeda-sponsored attack targeting New York or Washington on or near the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attack, said a U.S. official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The official said the intelligence concerns a possible vehicle-borne attack, perhaps on a transportation hub or bottleneck, and cautioned that the options may be broader than a car or truck bombing.

Interest in Anniversaries
“As we know from the intelligence gathered from the Osama bin Laden raid, al-Qaeda has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries, such as 9/11,” Janice Fedarcyk, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the New York office, said at a press conference yesterday. “In this instance, it’s accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed information. We take all threats reported seriously and have taken and will continue to take all steps necessary to mitigate all threats as they arise.”

New Jersey’s Director of Homeland Security Charles McKenna said the threat involves two foreigners traveling into the U.S., where they may join a third party who is already here to carry out the attack. McKenna said New Jersey officials are concerned that as New York and Washington are “hardened targets,” the would-be attackers may turn to New Jersey as a back-up option.

McKenna said the state has increased security, though he declined to specify what steps have been taken.

No Surprise
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, speaking at a meeting of administration officials in Princeton, said people should not alter their plans and lives.

“This is nothing that should come to folks as any surprise nor is it something that should cause any panic,” Christie said. “The fact is that we live in a different world.”

On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airliners. Two were flown into the twin World Trade Center towers in New York, destroying them; a third hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia; and one crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers attacked the hijackers. More than 3,000 people were killed.

New York police have stopped at least 13 terrorist attacks since 2001, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. While the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has helped reduce the threat, the mayor said, “The one thing we know is the terrorists have not gone away.”

Foiled Plot
In February 2010, Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to a plot to detonate bombs on New York subways around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Brooklyn federal courthouse has supplemented its usual security, said James Elcik, supervisor deputy U.S. marshal.

“We’re here to protect the building, and more importantly the people in it around the anniversary of 9/11 given the non- specific threat,” Elcik said, standing next to an armed guard on Adams Street, where tourists and bicyclists entered the pedestrian path over Brooklyn Bridge.

Elcik said it hadn’t been decided whether the extra security would also be in place Monday and throughout next week.

“The safety of our federal judiciary and security in the U.S. courthouses continue to be a top priority of the U.S. Marshals Service,” said Roland Ubaldo, a spokesman for Joseph Guccione, the U.S. Marshal of the Southern District of New York. “We take all threats reported seriously and we have taken and will continue to take all steps necessary to mitigate any threats that arise.”

Police Stand Guard
At the subway station in the Port Authority bus terminal at 42nd Street, two police officers stood guard at the turnstiles while two others patrolled the platform. Police officers in a group of four stood on the platform at Broadway and Murray streets in Lower Manhattan giving directions to tourists making their way to and from Ground Zero four blocks south.

“We have threats all the time,” Bloomberg said today during his weekly appearance on WOR radio, after having taken the subway to City Hall from his Upper East Side home. “Each time we increase our security, which obviously we had done for this. Are we increasing a little more? Yes, we’re increasing a little more but there’s a limit to how much you can have, just because you can’t have a cop on every corner. But remember, a lot of the precautions we take, you don’t see.”

Specific Threat
New York Republican Congressman Peter King, who heads the House Homeland Security Committee, said he was briefed on the threat, which he said was specific and credible.

“All appropriate agencies, the federal government, and state officials and local officials as well, are tracking it down to see if it is real, and if so, how do we stop it,” King said.

Another intelligence official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the information hasn’t been fully vetted.

Terrorists view the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks as an opportunity to strike again, the FBI’s Fedarcyk said.

The information of a new plot was specific and credible, though not corroborated, she said at a press conference yesterday with Bloomberg.

In the Washington metropolitan area today, Montgomery County, Maryland, police patrolled the Silver Spring and Forest Glen Metro platforms, north of the city.

Extend Shifts
New York police officers will extend their shifts by four hours at least through Sept. 12, said Commissioner Ray Kelly. Police will increase vehicle checks and monitoring of bridges and tunnels, Kelly said. Police will also increase baggage screenings in subways, patrol outside places of worship and government buildings and conduct bomb sweeps of public garages.

“We will deploy quick-reaction teams consisting of heavily armored officers,” Kelly said.

“Sky Watch” towers will be manned, license plate readers monitored and all manhole covers inspected and sealed. City landmarks, including Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station, will have heightened security as well as other major events Sunday, including the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Queens.

A heavily guarded “frozen zone” is being created from West Street to Broadway and Murray to Albany streets in Lower Manhattan. Several streets in the area will be closed during the weekend, including northbound West Street from Battery Place to Murray Street and southbound West Street from Battery Place to Chambers Street. Church Street between Rector and Barclay streets will be closed 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Bomb Technicians
To assist the police, the FBI will mobilize specialized teams, including special agents, bomb technicians and SWAT and hazardous materials crews.

Richard Adamonis, a NYSE Euronext spokesman, declined to comment on security measure for the stock exchange on Wall Street.

President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to attend ceremonies at Ground Zero on Sept. 11 with former President George W. Bush, was briefed on the threat today by National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, and Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough before leaving for a speech in Richmond, Virginia, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

Obama directed counter-terrorism officials to redouble their efforts, which had already been increased in advance of the Sept. 11 anniversary, Carney said.

The first intelligence official said the report is credible largely because of al-Qaeda’s longstanding interest in important anniversaries and symbolic targets.

Intense Focus
“Sometimes this reporting is credible and warrants intense focus,” Matt Chandler, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesman, said in a statement. “Other times it lacks credibility and is highly unlikely to be reflective of real plots under way.”

“Regardless, we take all threat reporting seriously, and we have taken, and will continue to take all steps necessary to mitigate any threats that arise,” Chandler said.

Attorney General Eric Holder said in May that intelligence retrieved from the compound in Pakistan where bin Laden was killed suggested that he wanted to harm people around the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The mayor is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net; Tiffany Kary in Brooklyn at tkary@bloomberg.net; Patricia Hurtado in New York pathurado@bloomberg.net.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-09/-credible-terrorist-threats-received-new-york-mayor-bloomberg-says.html
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net; Michael Hytha mhytha@bloomberg.net

Missing trucks possible lead in terror plot

U.S. security officials warn of 'specific and credible' threat of 9/11 anniversary terrorist attack by al QaedaBy Daily Mail Reporter


Federal officials say the individuals - one believed to be a U.S. citizen - entered the country last month by air with 'intent' to carry out a terrorist plot against Washington, D.C. or New York.
Reports suggest the potential plot is connected to al Qaeda.
According to ABC News, The US Department of Homeland Security confirmed that they have evidence of a 'specific and credible threat' of terror attacks planned for September 11.
Investigators said the trio were suspected of planning to launch a 'vehicle-borne' attack against New York and Washington, D.C. - the two American cities targeted by the hijacked airliners that crashed into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon ten years ago
An unnamed official said: 'It seems like the information has been worked for a while.'
Law enforcement sources told reporters the individuals are belived to have come to the U.S. via Afghanistan with at lease one stop in another country, possibly Iran.

An official said at least two rental trucks were being sought nationwide.


Two GMC trucks - one from Budget and one from Penske - both were missing from locations in Kansas City, Missouri at press time. However, reports do not indicate if the search for the missing vehicles is connected to the possible terror threat. A White House official told ABC: 'The President was briefed on this specific threat information this morning and has been updated on it throughout the day.

'The United States government has already significantly enhanced its security posture in advance of the 9/11 anniversary to protect the country against possible terrorist threats.

'Nevertheless, the President directed the counterterrorism community to redouble its efforts in response to this credible but unconfirmed information.'

Law enforcement officials are expected to release a declassified bulletin on the information connected to the possible threat this evening.

Authorities had not raised the national threat level at press time.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was planning a press conference to give further details of the alleged plot
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2035207/U-S-security-officials-warn-specific-credible-threat-9-11-anniversary-terrorist-attack-al-Qaeda.html