Photos: September 11th Memorial At Bill Brown Park

This year was the first time I was able to make the Brooklyn/Bedford Park 9/11 Memorial, a colorful grassroots service with a character so unapologetically Brooklyn.

This was not a traditional event. Politicians didn’t show up just to show up, taking off to the next microphone and photo-op; nor was it small and forgotten. It boasted, easily, 350 people at minimum. The mood swung from somber to joyous, as smiles and singing surmounted the oppressive stoicism in which memorials too often find themselves mired.

Speeches were given, surely, but by residents and loved ones, with most focusing on that beautiful moment in history in which Americans were united and differences set aside in the wake of September 11th. And police, firefighters, servicemen and volunteers were thanked for the work they do and the sacrifices they and their colleagues have made.

[Video of the event and speeches will be available tomorrow.]

The color guard of the U.S.S. New York, a ship forged from the steel of the World Trade Center, was on hand bearing the stars and stripes. Their presence was a “dream come true,” according to organizer Tina Gray, who said she had always hoped but never expected that they would participate.

“Part of your ship contains the steel of my beloved World Trade Center,” she said. “But it’s even more. There’s a part of me that believes there’s a part of everyone that died in the trade center that day on your ship. I know it’s a physical impossibility, but if souls could take shape, surely they’re with you every day.”

In return, the Brooklyn/Bedford Park Association gave them each a gift of a flag with the names of all those who died on September 11th, as well as a book containing the poem “The Dash.”

The event unfolded in front of Rockin’ Ray Fiore’s mural, which he painted out of grief. He spoke about neighbors coming to give him food and water as he worked on the tribute, and said the artwork wasn’t done by him, but by the “hand of God.”

“Until I was there at the pit by Ground Zero,” Fiore had never painted, he said. “When I was on the pile in the pit with other men digging with my bare hands, I was given the gift to draw … through the grace of God, the first thing I drew was this.”

Bedford Park’s September 11th Memorial is every bit as colorful and heartfelt as Fiore’s painting. And like his painting, it’s rough around the edges and lacks the polish of those well-funded tributes put on by more established organizations.

But it surpasses all in heart and sincerity.

Some of the photos below were contributed by Erica Sherman.