A Piece of History

The bond between New York City and Point Pleasant Beach is one of steel.

The New York City Fire Department presented a piece of World Trade Center steel - as well as a helmet and badges - to Point Beach firefighters Saturday for their "fantastic support" during numerous funerals for the fallen since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mark Drew, Point Beach's volunteer fire department chief, said he and his volunteers drove their aerial truck, displaying a large American flag, from one funeral to another in the days following the Sept. 11th attacks.

Drew posed with New York City Fire Department Capt. Peter Tronolone at the Point Pleasant Beach Fire House on Laurel Avenue in Point Beach on Saturday.

Between them was the piece of steel from the World Trade Center that had been sent to a landfill in Staten Island after the attack, as well as the New York City fire department helmet and city uniform badges.

In the background is a Sept. 11th memorial plaque designed and constructed by Ian Cooper, a member of the Point Beach department. Cooper did the plaque in 2005 as an Eagle Scout project.

There is also a plaque, next to Drew, of the Twin Towers, given by the city's Squad 18, to the Point Beach department.

Drew lives in neighboring Point Boro. Tronolone got to know him when he bought a summer home across the street from Drew about three years ago.