Honoring 9/11: Floral Pied Piper Cheers Up NYC with Flash Displays

By Jill Brooke

🌹 Remembering the Individual Lives 🌹

Today, as we honor the 2,983 victims of the 1993 and 2001 attacks on the #911Memorial, we pay tribute to their individuality. Each life had its unique story, dreams, and loved ones. 🕊️

Before opening to the public, our staff along with others places a white rose at the name of each victim today. It’s a powerful reminder that these were people like us, with families, hobbies, and dreams. 💔💐

Let’s remember that as we face the challenges of today, we stand together in unity. 🤝 We don’t forget, and we won’t forget. 🇺🇸 #NeverForget #September11

Others pay respects in different ways.

In the past,  Lewis Miller Designs created four fabulous four Flower Flashes in honor of 9/11.

With a partnership with @FifthAvenueNYC to help fund this generosity, the soft-spoken artistic maestro found places between 52 and 58th Streets that speak to that awful day and the sacrifices that were made.

They include a “quirky smokestack overrun with daisies and marigolds, a bus stop draped in giant happy sunflowers and a secret garden bench where someone can remember a loved one.”

As he explained, “Honoring this day and every day because New Yorkers have been through a lot and we always get up.”

I love how he put up a display of roses and delphiniums to literally create a blanket of comfort for anyone sitting on the bench remembering their loved one since grief is so privately felt. The flowers act as a silent companion.

The smokestack does trigger memories of the smoke that plumed high in the air as selfless firemen and policemen ran to their deaths to help fellow citizens.

The dancing sunflowers draped around a bus stop with the promise of better days.  And of course, the love sculpture which is loaded with so much symbolism.

Lewis Miller loves New York. And New York loves him back.

He also generously created one of the Flower Flashes for the essential workers who are helping citizens battle Covid.

Consider this as someone recently wrote:

19 years ago, 246 people went to sleep last night in preparation for their morning flights.

2,606 people went to sleep in preparation for work in the morning.

343 firefighters went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift.

60 police officers went to sleep in preparation for morning patrol.

8 paramedics went to sleep in preparation for the morning shift.

None of them saw past 10:00am Sept 11, 2001.

In one single moment life may never be the same.

Today is a day for remembrance but also contemplation. Enjoy the breaths we breathe, kiss the ones you love, call someone to tell them you care or perhaps give someone a flower.

Perhaps find a way to share your gifts and love with others as Lewis Miller and his team did today.

In a world full of challenges, love and generosity is a powerful force for good. And no act of kindness is ever wasted.

Jill Brooke is a former CNN correspondent, Post columnist and editor-in-chief of Avenue and Travel Savvy magazine. She is an author and the editorial director of FPD.