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Parade organizer proposes Forest Park 9/11 monument

By Matthew Monks

Now, the organizer of an annual fall parade that honors Sept. 11 victims from that area wants to pay tribute to their lives with a small memorial in Forest Park near Myrtle Avenue and 80th Street in Glendale. “We lost a lot of people. Woodhaven lost a lot of people. Middle Village,” said Ed Walter, head of the American Day Parade committee. “There's no monuments for these people that we lost. We just thought it would be good idea.”While the annual fall parade marches through the Community Board 5 area, the memorial's proposed location is in Community Board 9 to the east covering Woodhaven, Forest Hills and Ozone Park. Walter is trying to drum up support from both boards. Lewis Monuments on Myrtle Avenue in Glendale would design the $3,300 monument, a two-foot-high slab of black marble with a brass plate. Forest Park is the ideal location, Walter said, because that is the end point of the parade. He has also considered an open spot near the Union Turnpike. “Forest Park would be the best place for it because it's got more people (passing by) and it ain't going to be hit by a car,” Walter said. City Councilman Dennis Gallagher (R-Middle Village) said he liked the idea of the monument. He said it is unclear how many people from his area died in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. His office has presided over 32 street renamings for Sept. 11 victims. He said a candlelight vigil in Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village last year honored 87 people with ties to the community. “I think (the memorial) is well-intentioned,” Gallagher said. “Any way that we can pay tribute to the victims of 9/11. I think it's appropriate.”Reach reporter Matt Monks at news@timesledger.com or 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.