BY LINCOLN ANDERSON | May 30 marked a decade since the end of the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero. Volunteers who pitched in selflessly to help were a key part of the effort.
On May 31, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver presented Assembly resolutions honoring the 9/11 volunteers to Catherine McVay Hughes, vice chairperson of Community Board 1, and Morris Faitelewicz of Community Board 3, during the ceremony in the Well at the Legislative Office Building in Albany.
Faitelewicz is citywide commanding officer for the Auxiliary Patrol Support Unit.
“I was proud to be chosen to accept this proclamation from the Assembly, which of course was also passed by the Senate on behalf of all the curiously and repeatedly forgotten unsung heroes who have been operating in New York City for decades,” said Faitelewicz, a Lower East Side resident.
“In particular, I point out those Auxiliary Police volunteers who were created in 1950 to be the auxiliary arm/adjunct of the New York Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit and most recently called APSU (Auxiliary Patrol Support Unit) — known previously as Auxiliary E.S.U. and Rescue Services. They directly supported and worked side by side
with N.Y.P.D. Special Operations Division and Emergency Service Unit officers, who teamed with Port Authority E.S.U. and other agencies at Ground Zero, and whose volunteer service I coordinated for the full duration
of the rescue/recovery,” Faitelewicz said.
“I was proud to later be appointed the citywide commanding officer of these very same volunteers who came from units around the city.”
Said Speaker Silver, “Following the world-changing events of September 11th, the men and women who worked and volunteered at Ground Zero demonstrated the resolve felt by all New Yorkers and Americans. Their hard work reflected our dedication to come together to rebuild and restore Lower Manhattan.”
A copy of the Assembly resolution will be given to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.
