New York officials host Titanic ceremony

City Council speaker Christine Quinn joined other officials from the city, Ireland and Great Britain Friday at the South Street Seaport to remember the sinking of the Titanic 100 years ago this weekend.

Quinn represented the city, but also her family. The speaker's grandmother, who lived in a Glen Cove nursing home until her death at 101 in 1993, was one of about 700 survivors on the doomed ocean liner.

"The story of the Titanic is a human story that has the good, the bad and the great things that people demonstrate in the face of disaster," Quinn said.

Until her death, Quinn's grandmother was haunted by her harrowing tale of survival after the Titanic went down in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg.

Quinn laid a wreath at the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse at the South Street Seaport in Manhattan, which was erected a year after the Titanic sinking to remember the approximately 1,500 passengers who died, and the survivors.

The speaker was joined by the consuls general from Ireland and Great Britain for the 45-minute late-morning ceremony, which included the unveiling of an exhibit at the South Street Seaport Museum, "Titanic at 100: Myth and Memory."

The exhibition includes a ring belonging to a crew member; a felt hat from a survivor and telegraphs sent from the Titanic. Also being exhibited are the costumes worn by the actors in the miniseries "Titanic: One Voyage. A World of Untold Stories" to be broadcast on ABC Saturday and Sunday.

British Consul-General Danny Lopez recognized John George Phillips, the Titanic's chief telegrapher, who stayed aboard and sent out the last telegraph three minutes before the sinking.

"He continued to do his duties until the end," said Lopez, adding that the steamship's band continued to play music "to stifle the panic."

Irish Consul General Noel Kilkenny said, "It is fitting we gather in New York to recall the Titanic voyage and the tragic loss of life." He recognized the engine room crew who hailed from Belfast. "They proved to be brave" and triumphed in keeping the ship afloat as long as possible, he said.

Quinn said her grandmother, a teenager traveling alone from Cobh, Ireland, survived when she climbed onto a lifeboat. She arrived in Manhattan aboard the Carpathia, which rescued the survivors from the icy sea.

The historic event was never discussed in the Quinn home, fearing it would trigger painful memories, the speaker said.

It was not until late in her grandmother's life, when living at the Glengariff nursing home in Glen Cove and suffering from dementia, that she relived the maritime disaster, Quinn said.

"She would have these outbursts and scream, 'Get on the boat' and 'Hurry up and get down. He has a gun,' " said Quinn, who theorizes her grandmother may have witnessed a shooting.

"It was horrible to see her relive her memories,'' Quinn said. "She was strong and adapted, but she was never able to process the tragedy. She had to move on with her life. She was a survivor."