On Wednesday, the FDNY added 36 new names to its memorial wall to honor those who died in the past year from illnesses associated with Sept. 11, 2001.
The department held a somber ceremony to show its support for families who continue to lose loved ones in the 25 years since toxins filled the air around the World Trade Center.
“The passage of time doesn’t lessen the loss,” said FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore. “The empty chair at the table, the missed birthdays and anniversaries, [and] the milestones that they never got to celebrate.”
A total of 438 names have been added to the memorial wall in the years following 9/11, in addition to the more than 300 FDNY members who died that day.
FDNY Capt. Thomas Riches attended the ceremony in honor of his father, retired Deputy Chief Jimmy Riches Sr., who died within the past year from an illness associated with the attacks. Riches lost his brother, who was also an FDNY firefighter, on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Our dad went down there and spent months down there looking for my brother. And we’re here today to honor him because he got ill,” Riches said.
Wednesday’s ceremony included the reading of the 36 names as family members laid a white rose at the base of the wall.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani attended the ceremony and pointed to the World Trade Center Health Impact report released this week, which stated that more than 10,000 FDNY members are currently living with a health condition related to 9/11.
“When we say never forget, it’s not an abstract phrase,” he said. “It is a deep and abiding commitment to remember the sacrifice made by the FDNY and other first responders, to look after those who are sick, and to honor them by building a city that would make them proud.”