Citi Field honor for 9/11 responder’s daughter

Wantagh resident throws out first pitch at game to remember the fallen

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Kelly Talty, 14, of Wantagh, was 3 weeks old when her father, New York Police Department officer Paul Talty, died responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 

Since Talty was young, she has attended an annual benefit picnic at Citi Field, a gathering of hundreds who lost family members in the NYPD and the Fire Department of New York. After the event, hosted by the New York Police & Fire Widows’ & Children’s Benefit Fund, the families are invited to watch a Mets game. This year, Talty threw out the first pitch.

“It’s really nice that they think of us and continue to remember us,” she said.

Talty was one of three to throw the first pitch that night. She, Julian Miles Davis, of Lake Grove, and Brian Harlin, of upstate Carmel, are all children of men who died on Sept. 11. “We chose children of 9/11 first responders this year in honor of its 15th anniversary,” said Aneta Sudol, the fund’s associate director of development.

Seven hundred people attended the June 30 gathering, Sudol said. Half of the families whom the fund reaches out to were affected by 9/11. However, the fund also helps those who lost loved ones in the police and fire departments before and after the attacks. Along with providing financial assistance, the event is also social gathering.

“It’s a good thing having the families connect with each other,” Sudol said. 

Talty said it was comforting for her and her family to be surrounded by people who are in similar situations. She attended the event with her grandparents, siblings, Lauren, 24, and Paul, 27, and her mother, Barbara, a Wantagh resident for 18 years

“I think what [my father] did is just amazing,” Kelly Talty said.

Officer Paul Talty was one of the first to arrive at the Twin Towers on 9/11. He climbed the stairs to the 19th floor to rescue people trapped inside. Talty’s family members have said he was calm in times of chaos. Kelly Talty described her father’s act of heroism as “astonishing.” 

Before joining the NYPD, Paul was a carpenter and built the family’s home. He was a police officer for eight years, two of them in the emergency services unit.

Each year, the Talty family attends the memorial ceremony at ground zero on Sept. 11. And every year, members construct a white, wooden six-foot cross that reads, “In memory of Paul Talty.”

“We all pile into the police van early in the morning, and the cross goes under our feet,” Kelly Talty said. 

The family arrives at 1 Police Plaza for breakfast with the other families and then takes a shuttle to ground zero. The Talty children read their father’s name at the ceremony, and place notes, photos and the cross on the memorial. Kelly Talty said it’s always a long day, but an important one.

Barbara Talty added that while 9/11 is such a difficult day to be so public, it is comforting to be surrounded by others who have endured the same experience. 

The Mets game, she said, was “an enjoyable day, and [it was] exciting to be at Citi Field.”

Kelly Talty and her mother practiced pitching before the big day, but nothing compared to the thrill of being on the large field. “It’s a special time for our family to come together,” Barbara said, “and an honor to be remembered.”