The Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance

New York City’s first memorial to 9/11 is The Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance, in Coney Island, Brooklyn.

Located on the side of MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, the wall is comprised of three granite walls with laser-engraved portraits of 346 Firefighters, 37 Port Authority Officers, 23 NYC Police Officers, three NYS Officers, one fire patrol, and one K-9 Rescue dog, Sirius.

The Wall’s chairman and founder is Sol Moglen. Born in Brooklyn but a resident of New Jersey, Moglen approached then-mayor (and childhood friend) Rudy Giuliani about a memorial “shortly” after the attacks.

Though the Wall’s website attributes the location to the laughter of children on the boardwalk nearby (the Cyclones support this theory, too) Moglen told The South Florida Sun-Sentinel in 2003 the location was ideal due to the large volume of people passing the stadium in the summer. He added, “The wall’s location just outside the ballpark was very important. No one has to pay to see it.” (The 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s facility, which will reopen Saturday, requires tickets. Adult admission is $26. Tickets are not required to access the Memorial Pools or 9/11 Memorial Glade.)

And Moglen had previously lobbied for the space to honor the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. Moglen, a “perpetual Brooklyn Dodgers fan,” had wanted a space at the stadium, Brooklyn’s heralded return to baseball, to commemorate the borough’s last success in America’s national pastime.

Another consideration for its location is that one-third of the responders who perished were from Brooklyn. MCU Park has 7,000 seats. The Park can sell as many as 2,500 standing room tickets. The ramp past the Wall leads to Coney Island’s iconic Parachute Jump, which attracts locals and tourists alike.

The cost of the Wall was approximately $140,000. $110,000 was raised through donations for the Ebbets Field Wall of Remembrance Foundation; Jon Voight and Gary Senise, who is a board member, were among the celebrities that raised funds for the Wall.

The Wall was dedicated in 2003.

Moglen raised funds for a memorial on Chaplain’s Hill in Arlington National Cemetery. The memorial, which honors 14 Jewish chaplains who died on active duty, was dedicated in 2011.

The Wall has its own dedication as a secondary street name. Brooklyn Wall of Remembrance Way is located on West 19th Street at Surf Avenue.