9/11 memorial to be unveiled in St. James

Escorted by firefighters and more than 20 motorcyclists, a seven-ton steel column from the World Trade Center was transported earlier this month to a Manorville shop on the first leg of its journey to a planned 9/11 memorial in St. James.

The steel, recovered from Tower One after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, was carried by truck from a hangar at Kennedy Airport, said Tom Donohue, a member and past captain of the St. James Fire Department.

The column was accompanied by a St. James Fire Department tower ladder truck, Suffolk fire marshals and motorcyclists from the Suffolk sheriff’s office and members of the Patriot Guard Riders.

The beam passed under a U.S. flag held aloft by Manorville and Mastic firefighters as the procession left the Long Island Expressway at Exit 69 in Manorville, Donohue said.

The Manorville shop is to prepare the steel to serve as the centerpiece of the memorial, to be located at Woodlawn and Jefferson avenues in St. James, Donohue said.

Organizers plan to hold a parade when the column is delivered to St. James next month.

The memorial is to be unveiled on Sept. 11.