Memorializing its firefighter neighbors, Brooklyn Eagle published early illuminated tribute

September 11, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

The very first publication anywhere of how a light tribute to 9/11 might look first appeared as a suggestion by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle just one month after 9/11 on Oct. 12, 2001. FDNY Engine Company 205 and Ladder Company 118, located next door to the Eagle at that time, just a block from Brooklyn Bridge access, were perhaps the most decimated of all FDNY companies on 9/ll.

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — AS AN INTRIGUING PERSONAL EAGLE FIRST: The Tribute In Light that shines over Lower Manhattan each year may well have been conceived by Brooklyn Eagle staffers wishing to create a fitting tribute to the 2,977 persons who died on Sept. 11, 2001, particularly to the first responders who were their neighbors.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle for many years made its home at the corner of Henry and Middagh streets, around the corner from FDNY Engine Company 205/Hook & Ladder 118. The deaths of the entire crew of firefighters that day caused profound sorrow to the Eagle staff, who on countless occasions had been treated to Firefighter Vernon Cherry’s singing, as well as extra cookies and other treats that he and his compatriots would share.

Within a couple of weeks of covering and experiencing the tragedy of 9/11, the Eagle staff had an early perspective on how to honor the rescuers who gave their lives saving other people. Some Eagle staffers began suggesting a memorial image to share with the world.

A month after the attacks, the front page of the Eagle’s Oct. 12, 2001, edition became the first publication anywhere showing how a 9/11 tribute of light might appear.

According to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, the “Tribute in Light is a commemorative public art installation first presented six months after 9/11 and then every year thereafter, from dusk to dawn, on the night of Sept. 11. It has become an iconic symbol that both honors those killed and celebrates the unbreakable spirit of New York.”

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