Leaders, residents reflect on 9/11 changes

For many, it's hard to believe that eight years have passed since the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The images — both on television and in living color — for many New Yorkers, are conduits to a time when both the worst and best in humanity was on display.

It's the horror of feeling naked and vulnerable in an attack incredibly close to home. But it's also a call to service, the image of neighbor helping neighbor and people putting aside their differences to face tragedy arm in arm. Firemen helping their brothers in arms and policemen, teachers and community leaders speaking into telephones, walkie-talkies and colleague's ears to spread good news and bad.

It's a day no one who lived through will ever forget.

Many Franklin Square and Elmont residents remember Sept. 11, 2001 as if it was moments ago. They hold these memories under glass, fresh and still painful, and for them, the change in their communities is palpable because that infamous date is still frozen in time.

Assemblyman Tom Alfano said he still remembers the calls that came into his office, and the important role that Elmont played in the lifesaving efforts at the World Trade Center site.

"Most people don't know this, but Belmont's parking lot was a staging area to get the volunteer fire trucks into the city. Hundreds of trucks rolled down Hempstead Turnpike and went into the city on shifts for days. You really got to see the hearts of these men and women who serve in the fire department. They put on the uniform that day and went in and they made a difference," Alfano said. "We remember and grieve about all those we lost that day, and we should. But we also need to reflect about the tens of thousands who were saved and got out of the area because of the work, sacrifice and knowledge of these first responders. Those men and women are our neighbors right here in our community. ... I'll never forget visiting the Elmont Fire Department on Meacham Avenue and seeing all those men sleeping in the bunks exhausted and some still wearing some gear. They were only going to sleep for a few hours and wanted to go back in."