9/11 Vigils, Wreath-Laying Happening In Northeast Queens

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — The 20th Anniversary of 9/11 is on Saturday, and this weekend there are multiple memorials in Bayside, and northeast Queens, honoring the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.

While most of the events, which range from candle lightings to wreath-layings, will be held on Saturday, some will commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 the day before.

Here are the details and times of three major 9/11 related events happening in northeast Queens this weekend that Patch knows about.

Northwest Bayside Civic Association’s Wreath Laying Ceremony

The day before 9/11, Friday, Sept. 10, the civic association will hold a wreath-laying ceremony at 7 p.m. at its 204th Street and 33rd Avenue monument.

Bayside Hills Civic Association (BHCA) 9/11 Ceremony

The neighborhood group is holding its annual 9/11 ceremony at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11. The ceremony will take place at BHCA’s dedicated Memorial Garden, located at Horace Harding Expressway and Bell Boulevard.

Like past years, the event will include speeches from local politicians and neighbors, prayers, blessings and songs — including a rendition of “God Bless America,” during which attendees are invited to place commemorative lit glass candles alongside flags in the garden.

This year, for the first time, the civic association will unveil a plaque thanking local Assembly Member Nily Rozic and students at John Bowne High School, who helped secure funding for a 9/11 sapling.

BHCA President Michael Feiner told QNS that going to the Memorial Garden on the evening of 9/11 dates back to the day itself 20 years ago, when Feiner walked to the would-be site and looked west to Manhattan.

“I actually see smoke coming out of the two spots where the twin towers used to be. It was like the ghost of the twin towers and I looked at it so sadly, it was very overwhelming,” he told the site.

This ceremony will be masked and socially distanced.

A Better College Point Civic Association and Coastal Preservation Network Candlelight Vigil

The two community groups will host a candlelight vigil at 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 at the 9/11 Living Memorial Grove in MacNeil Park, the Queens Chronicle reported.

The park is one of five Living Memorial Groves citywide, with one in each borough. The Parks Department says that each of the flowering groves is located in an area of its respective borough where park-goers have a clear view of downtown Manhattan, where the twin towers once stood.

All of the groves also have trees that flower with white blossoms in the spring, according to the Parks Department.