Thursday, October 1, 2026
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo spoke at the New York Remembers exhibition at the John A. Anderson Recreation Center in Rockville Centre on Wednesday, Sept. 7 to discuss the importance of the thirty memorials across the state and the importance of learning the lesson learned from Sept. 11 and teaching it to new generations.
Politicians from throughout the state, including Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray and State Senator Dean Skelos, joined Cuomo at the exhibit.
Murray was the first to speak to the crowd of first responders, families of victims and village residents. “As we all know, Rockville Centre paid a terrible price on Sept. 11, 2001. Our community changed forever,” Murray said, “and we never recover. We learn how to live with it and only pieces of us heal. But out of that tragedy came a togetherness that continues to this day.”
The mayor added his support for the New York Remembers exhibit and began discussion of the theme of remembering the importance of the terrorist attack and passing it on to others.
Skelos discussed how fitting it was for the exhibit to be placed in Rockville Centre, noting that the monument on Maple Avenue has the names of victims from Rockville Centre who lost their lives on Sept. 11, “whether they were firemen, police officers, everyday citizens going to work… there were 48 just from my hometown of Rockville Centre.”
Before the governor spoke to the crowd, Bernie O’Brien, the father of two men who had died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, spoke about his personal loss, as well as the strength of the community after the attack. “There are so many people from this community that we are thankful for that makes Rockville Centre one of the best communities in this country,” O’Brien said. “Too many people to thank individually. To one and all, we say thank you and god bless you.”
The governor began his speech by defining one of the main purposes of the exhibits throughout the state as allowing each New Yorker to fulfill two obligations. “The first is to remember and part of remembering is to honor, to honor the victims’ families, the first responders, honor the memories,” Cuomo said. “And the second part is to teach. Ten years, there’s an entire generation that doesn’t remember, that didn’t really appreciate [the attacks].”
As the event ended, Murray asked for any first responders present to move to the front. Murray and Cuomo offered their thanks to the Rockville Centre men and women, including Rockville Centre Fire Chief John Bushing, who had risked their lives to work at ground zero just after the attacks.
