as
borrowed from a NY Post article posted above the statue temporarily located
at West 45th and West 46th Streets on Eighth Avenue in midtown Manhattan.
On September 17, 2001, Pittsburgh-based Matthews International Corporation
donated to the City of New York a 6' x 6' statue of a firefighter in an
emotional kneeling position along with two 4' x 8' bronze feature plaques
in remembrance of the heroes who gave their lives while assisting in rescue
operations following the unprecedented act of terrorism against the United
States on September 11, 2001.
The statue, which was originally commissioned to Matthews by the Firefighters
Association of Missouri in October 2000, was completed in August 2001.
It was custom manufactured by Matthews' plant in Karma, Italy for shipment
to Missouri. However, many coincidences surrounded the statue's arrival
in New York City according to David J. DeCarlo, President of the Bronx
Division of Matthews International. |
"It was fate
that the 2,700 lb statue arrived in the United States on September 9 at
Kennedy Airport. The statue, which was originally intended to be shipped
by ocean freight to the United States for a mid-October delivery to the
Missouri Firefighters' Association, was air freighted to the United States
at the direction of the Matthews' product manager to ensure the October
delivery."
It turned out, the statue arrived two days prior to the tragic events
of September 11 and was detained in customs during the closure of Kennedy
airport. Based on these turn of events, Matthews immediately decided
to donate the statue to New York City with their promise to the Missouri
Firefighters Association that Matthews would make and supply them a duplicate
firefighter statue.
Another coincidence occurred when, on the day the bronze statue was
released, The New York Post published a full-page photo of a fireman - in
the same pose the statue depicts- at "Ground Zero." |