Sutton Landing Communities Come Together to Remember September 11th

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, the Sutton Landing communities in Commack, Patchogue, and Uniondale came together to remember those who were lost, honor the courage of those who responded, and reflect on the sense of unity that emerged in the days following the attacks.

Each Sutton Landing community held a memorial vigil beginning at 8:46 a.m., the time the first plane struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Residents, team members, and members of the surrounding communities gathered together for a morning of reflection, prayer, and remembrance.

A Community in Remembrance

At the gatherings, candles were lit and passed from person to person, creating a simple but meaningful expression of collective remembrance. Following opening remarks, attendees were invited to reflect according to their own faith or tradition before observing a moment of silence.

The ceremonies also recognized the extraordinary courage of the first responders who ran toward danger that morning. Firefighters, police officers, paramedics, chaplains, and countless others answered the call while others were fleeing to safety. The gatherings remembered not only those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, but also the families, responders, and survivors whose lives were forever changed.

B2K Development CEO Steven Krieger spoke to the importance of gathering together on such a significant anniversary.

“Our intent is to gather as a community at each of our Sutton Landing locations to remember that on 9/11, all Americans put aside their differences and stood united in the face of an attack on our nation and the freedoms we embrace.”

That spirit of togetherness was also reflected in remarks from Rabbi Joel Levenson of Midway Jewish Center, former president of the Long Island Board of Rabbis, and Pastor Bob Cederstrom of Christ Lutheran Church. Both emphasized the comfort that can come from gathering with others to mourn and remember, recalling how Long Island communities came together in the aftermath of 9/11 regardless of faith, ethnicity, or background.

Remembering Beyond the Anniversary

The anniversary also offered an opportunity to create lasting places of remembrance. At Sutton Landing at Commack and Sutton Landing at Patchogue, memorial benches and reflecting gardens provide a quiet place to sit, pause, and remember beyond the anniversary itself.

The sentiment behind the memorials was simple: remembrance should have a place to live.

A Legacy of Togetherness

As the ceremonies came to a close, attendees were invited to carry that remembrance with them—not only by honoring those who were lost, but by remembering the kindness, courage, gratitude, and sense of community that defined so much of the nation’s response in the days that followed September 11.

Twenty-five years later, Sutton Landing communities came together to remember. And in doing so, they reaffirmed something that remains just as meaningful today: some memories are too important to carry alone.