Memorial Day Celebration in Cadman Plaza Park

June 1, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

A wreath honoring veterans. Photo by John McCarten.

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Elected officials, community, civic, and religious leaders joined Toba Potofsky and Doreen Gallo, co-founders of the Cadman Park Conservancy on Memorial Day to celebrate a “Promise To Remember” ceremony. Below are reports from two competing candidates for Borough President, Jo Anne Simon and Robert Cornegy, followed by an extensive Brooklyn Eagle photo gallery of the day’s events by photographer John McCarten.

Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon gives remarks.

Hope you’re doing well and enjoying the holiday weekend! Earlier today I attended the Memorial Day wreath ceremony at the Brooklyn War Memorial in Cadman Plaza and the Revolutionary War Memorial in Bay Ridge, where I had the privilege of hearing several veterans honor their fellow soldiers.

Memorial Day has been a meaningful holiday for me and my family for quite some time. My Uncle Raymond (pictured below with my mother shortly before he deployed) was killed fighting in the Battle of the Bulge and growing up my family and I would lay a wreath at his grave every year to honor his memory and service. This gave me an early appreciation for service to one’s country and the importance of remembering those who sacrificed their lives for our nation.

That value of service stayed with me throughout my life and is one of the reasons I became an educator, a disability civil rights attorney, an Assemblymember, and am now running for Borough President.

Brave men and women like my uncle died defending our nation because they believed in the core values of freedom and liberty that America has always stood for. We truly owe a tremendous debt to them and their families, one that can never be repaid.

As Borough President, I will work every day to uphold the principles our fallen soldiers died fighting to defend and ensure every veteran and Gold Star family in Brooklyn is not forgotten.

Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. gives remarks.

I was honored to attend the annual Memorial Day ceremony this morning at Cadman Plaza Park’s Brooklyn War Memorial alongside the hero that is Seymour Kaplan, a Brooklyn WWII veteran who helped liberate our Jewish brothers and sisters from Dachau, Nazi Germany’s first concentration camp.

As we remember the great service of our veterans today, we must also recognize the increasing violence plaguing our country. Anti-Semitism is on the rise, hate crimes against our friends in the Jewish and Asian communities are becoming too frequent, and our city’s mosques are targets of vandalism.

In honoring our veterans today, we must live up to America’s ideals and principles and strive for peace and harmony within our city, and our country.

Today and every day, we remember the men and women who have sacrificed everything for our country. May we honor their memories and keep their families in our thoughts on this Memorial Day.

Mr. Kaplan, and all veterans — I humbly thank you for your service.