By Katie Vasquez
ROCKAWAY PARK, N.Y. — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, a memorial mosaic in Rockaway is getting a new chance to preserve the memories of those who never came home.
Tribute Park in Rockaway is a place of comfort for Patricia Hynes-Farragher, who visits to remember her only sibling, FDNY Capt. Walter Hynes.
“That’s my brother’s star there, facing the heavens,” she said.
Hynes responded to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and never made it home.
“He followed his faith because my brother would never leave anyone behind. He always sacrificed himself for others,” Hynes-Farragher said.
On a clear day, visitors to Tribute Park can look toward where the World Trade Center once stood.
For Hynes-Farragher’s husband, retired FDNY firefighter Thomas Farragher, the park is also a place of healing.
“We had a funeral. We had closure. But there were so many people that had nothing,” Farragher said.
At the center of the park is a mosaic that holds a physical piece of 9/11 history.
Hynes-Farragher and Farragher are part of a community effort to restore the mosaic, along with Rockaway artist and St. Francis de Sales parishioner Patrick Clark.
“When 9/11 happened, we were all involved, like family. And a number of them were from our parish, you know, St. Francis de Sales, but also the other parishes in Rockaway. So it was a very personal experience. And being an artist, my first reaction was, what can I do?” Clark said.
St. Camillus parishioners Thomas and Patricia were among several family members involved in creating the mosaic. They helped dust off stone fragments that had been collected from Ground Zero.
“It was emotional because we knew what those pieces meant. It meant the life of the people who were in the building that day,” Patricia said.
Thomas described the experience of handling the fragments as spiritual.
“It was like a spiritual experience touching anything from there, because they were connected to this site now, you know, to this tragedy. And this loss,” he said.
When the mosaic was completed in 2005, Clark said the community was excited to see the finished project.
“When it was done, it was super exciting because it met all of our expectations,” he said.
But the memorial was badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and has been covered by a tarp ever since.
The city Parks Department nearly removed the mosaic until community members pushed back.
“We were saying, no, sorry, this is not, you know, this is a community park. We created it. It’s very important to the 9/11 families and to the community,” Clark said.
Now, the plan is to restore the 9/11 memorial mosaic and make it stronger than ever.
The restored mosaic will use gold-plated material designed to stand the test of time.
And just as Rockaway rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy, the memorial will rise again, preserving a piece of history and the memories of those who never came home.
“Even though it’s 25 years later, it hurts the same as it did that day,” Hynes-Farragher said.
If you would like to help in the fundraising effort, click here.