Crime & Safety

VIDEO: St. Anthony's Dedicates 9/11 Memorial

WTC steel relic installed at entrance of South Huntington Catholic school.

in South Huntington marked the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 by dedicating a steel beam from the World Trade Center on Monday. 

After a morning mass, the entire student body of 2,600 marched through the parking lot, under the American flag hung between two Huntington Manor fire trucks and toward the entrance of the school. 

Father Irinel Racos, the school’s chaplain, led the solemn crowd in prayer and then christened the WTC relic, a 15-foot I-beam.

Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We too gather this morning to ask your blessing upon this relic commemorating our own loved ones as well as the many other victims and heroes who perished on Sept. 11, 2001,” Racos told the crowd.

St. Anthony’s lost seven graduates on 9/11 and four parents of students at the time. 

Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

J. Petrocelli Construction erected the beam last month after the school was one of 1,500 organizations to receive WTC steel from the Port Authority, according to St. Anthony’s Principal Bro. Gary Cregan.

“History is a funny animal,” Cregan said. “These kids don’t remember too much. For succeeding generations, this object is going to be a focus of American history. For us to have a piece of history of this magnitude on our property, I’m delighted to know our students are going to have this.”

Edward Brady, commanding officer of the Suffolk County Police Department’s , was on hand. So too was FDNY Battalion 51 Chief Pat Ginty, Chief Dominic Heavey and members of the Huntington Manor Fire Department.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.