Twenty-five years ago, the sky over Atlantic Beach looked much as it did Friday morning as 50 residents gathered at the village’s 9/11 Memorial to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and honor two local residents who never came home.
The Village of Atlantic Beach’s Community Wreath-Laying Ceremony began at 8 a.m. beside Village Hall, bringing residents, village officials and first responders together to remember Neil Levin and Bettina Browne-Radburn, as well as the thousands of victims and first responders affected by the attacks.
Trustee Doug Garczynski opened the ceremony by reflecting on the significance of the 25th anniversary.
“On this 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on America, we gather to honor the memory of the residents who perished that day, Neil Levin and Bettina Browne-Radburn, and pay tribute to all the victims and first responders whose courage and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Garczynski said.
He also used the occasion to rededicate the village’s memorial park, pledging that the community would continue to preserve it as a place of remembrance.
“We would also like to take this opportunity to rededicate this memorial park and pledge to maintain it with the dignity it deserves,” Garczynski said. “Let it be an inviting place of quiet reflection and peace.”
Residents participated in a processional walk, accompanying the wreath to the memorial monument honoring Levin and Browne-Radburn. Atlantic Beach Rescue first responders Anthony “Zeke” Rivelli and Carl Schulman escorted the wreath.
Twenty-five single white roses were then placed at the base of the monument, one representing each year since the attacks.
Deputy Mayor Joseph Pierantoni delivered the keynote address, recalling the lives of the two residents and the community’s connection to the tragedy.
“Two names are on this memorial,” Pierantoni said.
Browne-Radburn, who was 49, lived in Atlantic Beach with her husband, Ed. She was a lawyer and entrepreneur who founded her own company after leaving a law firm.
Levin, 46, grew up in Atlantic Beach and had become executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey just five months before the attacks. He would have turned 47 five days later.
Pierantoni shared a message from Levin’s brother, Stan, who described Neil as someone who cared deeply about people and their dignity.
“Loyal. Respectful. A good, decent man,” Pierantoni said. “That is his brother, 25 years on. So I am saying it out loud here, where all of us neighbors can hear it.”
Pierantoni said that as a generation grows up knowing Sept. 11 primarily as history, remembering the victims has become a deliberate choice.
“Twenty-five years is long enough that an entire generation has come up with September 11th as history rather than memory,” he said. “Remembering has stopped being a reflex. It is a decision somebody has to make on purpose.”
The ceremony concluded at 8:46 a.m., marking the exact time the first plane struck the World Trade Center’s North Tower and the first national moment of silence that morning.
“So we are standing here,” he said. “And we will be here next September, and the September after that.”
