Limited Edition MetroCards Feature 9/11 Emergency Responders At Ground Zero
May 13, 2019, 5 p.m.
There are 250,000 MetroCards.
A set of new MetroCards will pay tribute to those who worked at Ground Zero after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks.
On Wednesday, 250,000 MetroCards, with four different images, will be available at 10 subway stations, according to the Daily News, with most being near the World Trade Center site: "World Trade Center on the E line, WTC Cortlandt St. and Rector St. on the No. 1 line, Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall on the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 trains, Cortlandt St. on the R and W lines and Wall St. on the 4 and 5 lines. Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station, Times Square and Jay St. in Brooklyn are the others."
The MetroCards and their subjects are highlighting the 9/11 Memorial and Museum's new 9/11 Memorial Glade, which honors the rescue, recovery and relief works "who are sick or have died from exposure to toxins in the aftermath of 9/11." The Glade, located on the Memorial Plaza, opens on May 30th, which the NY Times also points out will be the 17th anniversary of recovery effort's conclusion.
"The memory of September 11 is part of our DNA as New Yorkers and as a transit agency whose employees heroically helped bring the City back after those terrible attacks," MTA Chairman Pat Foye said. "We’re proud to have played a major role in the City’s recovery and in joining ongoing remembrances such as this one."
The individuals on the cards include Michael Nugent, a firefighter from Florida who helped recover bodies of FDNY and Port Authority employees (he developed sarcoidosis); Daniel Armenta, a firefighter from San Francisco who died of cancer; Mark Bogush, a firefighter from Florida, and his K-9 Marley; and Roslyn Nieves, a former NYPD officer. The Daily News asked Nieves what she remembered of those days after the attacks, and she replied, "The devastation. And the smell of death. You could never forget that smell. It was coming up through the sewers."
"I think people have forgotten," Nugent, who now works for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Department of Fire Rescue, told the NY Times. "The only people who haven’t forgotten are the people who dealt with it."
The Memorial Glade will be open after a 10:30 a.m. dedication ceremony on May 30th. It features six stone monoliths, each between 13 and 17.8 tons, that are made of quarried granite. The 9/11 Memorial and Museum says the monoliths are "worn, but not beaten, symbolizing strength and determination through adversity."
