Senator Klein, Assemblyman Dinowitz & Council Member Cohen successful in push for better lighting at Riverdale site where 9/11 memorial plaque was stolen

After Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and Council Member Andrew Cohen wrote a joint letter to the city Department of Transportation requesting the agency conduct a lighting study in a Riverdale community garden where numerous 9/11 memorials have been stolen since June, the agency is taking action.

DOT’s Street Lighting Division concluded in a survey that the area did indeed lack sufficient lighting. DOT informed the elected officials that they would be installing additional street lighting at West 253rd Street and Fieldston Road in order to correct this issue. In all, six new street light brackets will be installed at that intersection in the vicinity of the community garden. Four existing street light brackets at the intersection will also be replaced with new LED lights.

“I want to applaud the New York City Department of Transportation for quickly determining that additional street lighting is warranted around Endor Community Gardens. The thefts over the summer of several 9/11 memorials were utterly disrespectful to the victims, their families and our community. I’m confident that these new measures will increase safety and help prevent future crimes from occurring in the area,” said Senator Jeff Klein.  

“The Endor Community Garden is a beautiful nook in our neighborhood that local residents have worked very hard to maintain and preserve to honor police officers and firefighters killed in the 9/11 attacks. This beautiful memorial has been vandalized on more than one occasion and we must take action to make sure this does not happen again. Providing better lighting discourages vandalism and so I am thankful that the DOT is taking the necessary steps to correct this problem,” said Assemblyman Dinowitz

“A memorial honoring the lives lost in 9/11 is especially sacred and should  never be tampered with,” said Council Member Andrew Cohen. “These new measures will help deter any future act of vandalism in the area.  I applaud the Department of Transportation for taking the issue seriously and taking the proper next steps.”

The thefts at Endor Community Gardens occurred over a span of several weeks this summer. A plaque honoring local police officers and firefighters killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks was the first memorial taken. A local resident temporary replaced the plaque with American flags, but those too were taken on five separate occasions.

The elected officials sent their joint letter in September, and the DOT concluded their lighting survey about a month later.