NYC begins rededicating streets for 9/11 victims ahead of 25th anniversary
New York City will memorialize first responders killed on 9/11, including, from left, Centereach's Walter Weaver, Franklin Square’s Michael Haub and Bayport’s Glenn E. Wilkinson, by rededicating streets with updated signs.
Walter Weaver, a 30-year-old NYPD officer from Centereach, was last seen alive 25 years ago at the World Trade Center trying to free trapped elevator passengers.
Michael Haub, a 34-year-old FDNY firefighter from Franklin Square, was ending his shift when the call came in about a disaster at the Twin Towers; some of his remains were later found among the south tower’s lobby debris.
Glenn E. Wilkinson, a 46-year-old FDNY lieutenant from Bayport, had ordered his men out of the building that morning but went back in to find a missing man and was never seen again.
Haub, Weaver and Wilkinson were among hundreds of NYPD and FDNY personnel killed responding to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks who will have streets across New York City rededicated in their memory between now and the 25th anniversary. Red signs for FDNY personnel and blue signs for NYPD will be placed above or below existing signs.
"As we approach the 25th anniversary of September 11th, it is more important than ever to honor the New Yorkers who gave their lives protecting our city," Julie Menin, the speaker of the City Council, who helped allocate $90,000 for the project, said in a statement. She added: “We owe it to these heroes and their families to ensure their courage and sacrifice are never forgotten.”
The signs are among more than 1,000 permanent markers — statues, memorials, plaques, plazas, reflective pools and benches — worldwide that commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the victims who were killed slain in it.
For the city’s 9/11 street sign replacement project, the first one was placed earlier this week — for FDNY Lt. Kenneth J. Phelan Sr., at the corner of 69th Lane and Eliot Avenue in Maspeth, Queens.
Phelan, who started working for the NYPD in 1981, transferred to the FDNY in 1989 and was promoted in 2000, was among those killed.
As with other street co-namings, the existing geographic name for a street or intersection stays as is and a sign with the “co-name” is added, typically below the existing sign.
For example, White Plains Road and East 233rd Street in the Bronx is co-named Police Officer Walter E. Weaver Way; Lt. Glenn Wilkinson Way remains Greenpoint Avenue near McGuinness Boulevard in Brooklyn; and Firefighter Michael Haub Road is the northwest corner of 14th Road and 120th Street in Queens.
The idea to change the green signs to red or blue was suggested in March, when Councilman Phil Wong, of Queens, asked the city’s Department of Transportation, whose jurisdiction includes street signage, to identify all the signs in the city in advance of the 9/11 anniversary, and replace them to reflect the standard red and blue currently used to co-name streets for FDNY and NYPD personnel.
Each of the 326 or so signs being rededicated are in memory of a firefighter or police officer who was killed on 9/11 and who have some connection to New York City, such as having been born somewhere in the five boroughs or lived there, according to Wong's chief of staff, Daniel Kurzyna.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
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