Photo by Stacie Joy
Outside the 9/11 mass for the FDNY today at St. Brigid on Avenue B ...
Robert William McPadden‚ 30‚ firefighter‚ FDNY‚ Engine 23. McPadden was continuing his family's proud tradition of public service when he joined the FDNY. His father had served the department for almost 40 years‚ and his brother and sister are both police officers. While he waited for an opening in the FDNY‚ he earned a graduate degree in criminal justice and played a lot of Jeopardy. He and his wife had just bought a home in Pearl River so they could be closer to family and friends.
Assembled on the roof of the Battery Parking Garage south of the 9/11 Memorial, the twin beams reach up to four miles into the sky and are comprised of eighty-eight 7,000-watt xenon lightbulbs positioned into two 48-foot squares, echoing the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers. The installation can also be viewed from a 60-mile radius around lower Manhattan.
A documentary masterpiece featuring rare footage shot on the morning of 9/11 by Italian artist Luigi Cazzaniga... While some of Cazzaniga’s now-historic footage of 9/11 has been shown on CNN, HBO, RAI, and other television networks around the world as well as the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan, Cazzaniga had never edited it into a film of his own. Until now.It was during the pandemic when Cazzaniga, a longtime correspondent for Italian television, was able to sit down with this heartbreaking footage and reckon with what he saw that day. With editorial help from Hernan Valle and producers Ilka Scobie and Exquisite Pandemic editor Rick Whitaker, Cazzaniga was able to actualize his vision for this nearly hour-long film in time for the 20th anniversary of that tragic event with so many global consequences.
Manny had just finished an overnight at Engine 5 ... when the call came in around 8:47 am.. that a plane had hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Engine Company 5 was assigned to team up with another company to walk up 80 floors and stretch the hose line. Manny Delvalle Jr. was carrying the rollup lines of hose and an oxygen tank. The last time Manny was seen, he had stopped on the 10th floor to give a woman oxygen. His unit had made it to the 15th floor when they were called back when the building began to rumble. They looked for Manny but could not find him and after the North Tower fell at 10:28 a.m., he was reported missing.
At home in the Bronx, Mr. DelValle took advanced classes in salsa dancing. He loved Latin music but listened to everything. "Rap," said his brother Pete Moyer. "And R&B," added his sister Grace Nolly. "Old school," said his father, Manuel Del Valle, to be specific.
Mr. DelValle, who graduated from the University of Maryland, was also an accomplished moguls skier and roller skater, a traveler, a lover of war movies and, his family says, a lady's man. He also got Engine Company No. 5, where he was assigned, to participate in the Puerto Rican Day Parade. He was the one in the family who always sent a card and gift to siblings, half-siblings and cousins.