Walkabout: The Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance
On the eve of a New Year, we are reminded that not only buildings make up neighborhoods, people do. Here is a story about someone who makes a difference in Brooklyn. Life-long Brooklynite, and perpetual Brooklyn Dodgers fan, Sol Moglen, wanted to dedicate a wall of Keyspan Park, the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team home, to…
On the eve of a New Year, we are reminded that not only buildings make up neighborhoods, people do. Here is a story about someone who makes a difference in Brooklyn.
Life-long Brooklynite, and perpetual Brooklyn Dodgers fan, Sol Moglen, wanted to dedicate a wall of Keyspan Park, the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team home, to his heroes, the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. Everything was set up for the tribute, and then 9/11 happened.
Sol was touched to learn that over a third of the first responders who died that day lived in, were born in, or worked in Brooklyn.
He wanted to have a tribute to those brave firefighters, police officers and EMT’s who gave their lives for the city – and he had this wall….. Long story short, he gathered a diverse group of friends, business people, politicians, celebrities, first responders, and artists, who all donated their time, money, and talents towards building the Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance on an exterior wall of the Keyspan ball park in Coney Island.
All of the fallen, a list which now includes all 416 first responders who died, as well as Sirus, a K-9 Rescue dog, are depicted by portraits on individual bronze plaques.
A 6′ bronze relief of two firefighters holding the helmet of a third ties the memorial together, and the Wall has been an appreciated and comforting source of solace, especially for those families whose loved ones were never found. Now, funds are being raised to turn part of the surrounding parking lot into a permanent green park.
Sol Moglen, his family, executive board, actors Gary Sinese and Jon Voight, local politicians, and a host of volunteers, fundraisers and donors, have created something good in Brooklyn, a place to honor those who rushed forward to give their lives that day, so the activities that take place around this memorial Coney Island, the Cyclones, the Boardwalk and the beach, the laughter of children, and the cry of Play ball can continue.
Please check the website, learn more about this project, and visit the next time you are at Coney Island.
When there’s no trash pickup on a holiday Friday, i see it all comes out on thursday.
Hi randy.
There’s been a wide range of topics this week & I’ve thought it was terrific. (By the way, Ran, today is Thursday.)
Thanks for posting this MM! For the past 2 years there was a candlelight ceremony at the Wall on 9/10. After a short interfaith service, family members came up and started telling stories about the men and women on the Wall. Not sad ones, funny ones, interesting ones- it was very lovely and pointed up what Sol Moglen wanted the memorial to be- a place of remembering and celebrating, not sorrow.
randolph- denton is right, and judging by the reaction from most of the PLUSAs, we like it.
“On the eve of a New Year, we are reminded that not only buildings make up neighborhoods, people do.”
I was beginning to wonder about you, MM 🙂
randolph, MM is just bringing it back to what it started as, as in ‘brownstoner’.
is it just me or is this whole blog turning into a history lesson? i liked montrose’s first thing, but this is getting out of hand. BRING BACK HORROR SHOW FRIDAY!!!