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Tribute in Inwood
Park
An Uptown 9/11 Memorial
By GINGER ADAMS OTIS
Following the dictum of
"If you build it, they will come," Inwood resident Michael Hughes has set out to
turn a remote corner of his neighborhood park into a sea of waving flags to mark
the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
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The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang
FIELD OF HONOR: Long-time
Inwood resident and Ground Zero volunteer Michael Hughes hopes to
create a temporary installation in a local park that will mark the
fifth anniversary of 9/11. Three thousand flags bearing the names of
those who died that day will be attached to 10-foot high poles and
planted in the field; the display will be open to the public from
Sept. 8-11.
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His creation, the 9/11 Memorial Field, will feature 3,000 10-foot American flags, some bearing the names of all the civilians who died on 9/11 - Flags of Honor - and some bearing the names of all the emergency service workers who died in the line of duty that day - Flags of Heroes.
'A Place to Connect To'
Unlike the official memorial ceremonies held in lower Manhattan, the Pentagon and at the crash site of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, this installation is designed with the public in mind - it will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Sept. 8-11, free of charge. "It's not that I don't appreciate the ceremony at Ground Zero. I've been down there many times," said Mr. Hughes, who has close ties to the Police Department through his work at the Citizens' Police Academy that trains volunteers to be an extra set of eyes and ears for the local precincts.
 | | MICHAEL J. PALLADINO: 'Keeps memory alive.' |
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"I was one of the volunteers who responded on 9/11 and this community here in Inwood, it's very tight-knit, and we lost about 20 people in the World Trade Center," he said. "I just got tired of coming home every year from Ground Zero with the imprint of the fence on my forehead - I wanted something that people could walk through and feel connected to, not be on the outside looking in."
Unions Pitch In
Several trade unions have already pledged to help Mr. Hughes realize his project. Plumbers' Union Local 1 wrote him a $4,000 check and steered him toward some pipes to use as flagpole supports, while Laborers' Union 731 cut him a check and promised 50 workers with sledgehammers to help drive pipes into the ground.
Mr. Hughes said he has also reached out to the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association and several other uniformed unions, but so far only the Detectives' Endowment Association has responded with a firm offer of help.
"I support anything that recognizes and keeps the memory alive of 9/11," said DEA President Michael Palladino. "The DEA is behind this worthwhile cause."
Mr. Hughes has wanted a public 9/11 memorial ceremony in Manhattan for years, but his vision only began to take shape after he met John Michelotti.
'Had to Do Something'
Mr. Michelotti, from Connecticut, was nowhere near the Twin Towers on 9/11. He was home, recovering from emergency bypass surgery.
"I'd had an attack of what I thought was bad heartburn, and the next thing you know I'm in the hospital - age 49 and thinking I'm taking good care of myself - for emergency heart surgery," Mr. Michelotti said. "A few days later, thousands of people were dead. Maybe because it came at a time when I was dealing with the fact that my own life might be interrupted, I felt I had to do something to put a face on that loss."
He came up with the idea of weaving the names of victims into American flags. It took years before he got an official list from the Federal Government; in the meantime he compiled the names himself, painstakingly cross-checking information released by the Fire Department, Police Department, Port Authority and private firms like Cantor Fitzgerald and United Airlines.
Couldn't Get a Permit
His flags have stood at ceremonies all around the country - but never in New York City.
"I was always turned down for a permit," he said. "I was trying to get the flags placed in Central Park."
The two men form an ideal partnership. Mr. Hughes, as a long-time civilian volunteer with links to the NYPD and upper Manhattan elected officials, had enough juice to get Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to issue them a permit for Inwood Park.
Mr. Michelotti had the design for the flags - and the wherewithal to pump out 3,000 of them in time for the 9/11 fifth-year anniversary.
It also turned out that their fall-back location, Inwood Hill Park, was the perfect spot.
Right above the exit of the A train that services the neighborhood's Irish and Dominican enclaves is the Good Shepherd Church, which has its own 9/11 memorial garden.
Mr. Hughes sees the church's shrine as the first part of his larger installation.
'Signified Eternity'
"People can get off the train and cross to the church to see the garden before heading up the hill," he said, while pointing out its three major elements.
"This is the Good Shepherd statue, signifying life. Our priest got it in Italy with donations raised by the congregation. This iron cross from the World Trade Center was brought to us by a member of the Port Authority, and it signifies death. Then you step into the memorial garden, where there are stones commemorating each of the 20 people we lost, and that signifies eternity," Mr. Hughes said.
Inwood Park is just behind Good Shepherd Church, at the northern point of Manhattan where the Harlem and Hudson Rivers converge. At the edge of the field where Mr. Hughes will plant his 3,000 flagpoles is a dense growth of trees and brush, home to several bald eagles.
The location lies in the flight path of the military jets that every year do a fly-over at Ground Zero.
Tributes, Then Silence
Mr. Hughes and Mr. Michelotti hope to have a series of tributes over the course of the four-day exhibit to those who died on 9/11, including military bands, speeches from the leaders of uniformed unions, and other events. But the field will be quiet on the actual anniversary of the attacks.
"That's a day when we hope people will just come and
walk among the flags. They can touch them, see the names of victims, maybe get a
little closer to understanding what their families lost," said Mr. Michelotti.
"The flagpoles will be up that day, even if Mike and I have to drive in every
one of them ourselves."
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