COMMUNITY NEWS

Nassau 9/11 memorial in disrepair

Rep. Peter King, residents ask county to clean site in Eisenhower Park

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A local congressman and county residents are urging Nassau County officials to repair cracked tiles, peeling paint and other damage to the Sept. 11 memorial in Eisenhower Park.

The monument — which features plaques inscribed with the names of the 344 Nassau victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, steel beams salvaged from the World Trade Center and two aluminum towers representing the buildings that fell 15 years ago — was dedicated in 2007, and cost more than $2 million to build. It sits across Salisbury Lake from the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theater and various veterans’ memorials in the East Meadow park.

U.S. Rep. Peter King, of Seaford, said he contacted County Executive Ed Mangano because he saw that the memorial was in disrepair. “It’s in need of a pretty significant repair,” King said. “This, to me, has to have a top priority. There are so many people on Long Island and in Nassau County that lost family members and friends who lost people.”

Spotting damage

Visitors and passersby first noticed that a metal sign at the entrance to the memorial is rusted. Bird droppings and dirt, presumably brought to the site by geese and other birds that swim near the lake, can also be found around the monument — including on the plaques with victims’ names.

Tiles around a fountain that surrounds the towers are missing; others are cracked. At the base of the fountain, paint is peeling or discolored. Litter can be found inside the fountain’s basin — which is empty in the winter months — as well as on the lawn. Wooden planters have rotted, and parts of a chain-link fence surrounding the site are broken.

The condition of the site drew the ire of East Meadow residents on multiple Facebook pages dedicated to the community. Rickey Chamberlain and Betsy Kammerer-Johnston said that county leaders should be ashamed. “It’s terrible that they are neglecting this memorial,” Kammerer-Johnston added.

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