Thursday, October 1, 2026
A memorial was held in West Hempstead Friday to commemorate people from the area who died on September 11, 2001. Names of the deceased were read aloud and honored with candles and flowers at the 9/11 monument in Halls Pond Park on the 25th anniversary of the attacks.
Boy Scouts Troop 240 presented a candle and a flower for each name read, presenting a 13th for all lives lost on 9/11.
Assemblyman Ed Ra spoke of the importance of the scouts being here as a way to educate the youth on the importance of the event.
“We have a huge portion of our population who was not born on that date,” Ra said. “I don’t know that we’re doing a good enough job within the school system of teaching about this and making sure everybody learns this piece of history and remembers it.”
The West Hempstead and Lakeview fire departments presented a massive American flag on the corner of Nassau Boulevard and Hempstead Avenue, at the entrance of the park. They also presented the colors during the ceremony.
“We lost more than 343 firefighters that day. Just seeing these firefighters reminds me of the danger that all first responders sign up for. They paid the ultimate sacrifice,” said Nassau County Legislator Carrie Solages in a speech.
Town of Hempstead Councilman Thomas Muscarella also spoke about the importance of how 9/11 is viewed, outlining three “R’s” in his speech: recall, remember and resolve. He put an emphasis on resolving.
“Use 9/11 to bring out America’s greatness, generosity, faith, kindness and justice to the betterment of the world’s tomorrow,” Muscarella said.
Students from the West Hempstead Secondary School band played America the Beautiful and God Bless America during the ceremony. They were led by Benjamin Coleman, the band teacher.
Pastor Ray Lorthoir, who offered prayers during the ceremony, took a moment after the band played to reflect on one of the people who died whose name was read, Kevin Colbert. Colbert attended West Hempstead Secondary School and graduated in 1995. His body was found in the rubble of the towers two years after the attacks, according to Lorthoir. He faced the band directly when talking about Colbert.
“These are the things that we do have to remember as we go along. These are real people, some of them having roamed the halls of West Hempstead [secondary] school, where you are now,” Lorthoir said.
The memorial was hosted by the West Hempstead Civic Association in conjunction with Lakeview Fire Department and West Hempstead Fire Department. The event was organized by Maureen Mahoney, Sarah Alvarado and Neal Rosenblatt of the Civic Association. Rosenblatt read out the names of each person listed on the memorial.
