On Sunday morning, September 8, approximately 60 active members of the New York City Fire Department will set off from the World Trade Center on a 95-mile ride to commemorate the 343 New York City Fire Department firefighters who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, while also raising funds for veterans in need in the tri-state area.
Pictured above (left to right): Robert Knudsen, Tom Cunningham, retired FDNY Deputy Chief Paul Mannix, retired firefighters Don Cotrone and Thomas J. May, and retired Fire Chief Brian Hughes at Southold City Hall on August 13 with a poster of all New York City firefighters who died on September 11, which they took with them on their bike rides.
Their ride will take them along the spine of Long Island and out to the North Fork, where they plan to end their day with a community celebration at Pindar Vineyards in Peconic. This is a ride these cyclists have already undertaken in 2018 and 2019, but their request for a permit was initially denied by the Southold Town Board, which is now expected to approve the ride at its Aug. 27 meeting.
Members of the FDNY 343 Ride group attended the Southold Town Board’s special meeting on August 13, along with Pindar Damianos, general manager and co-owner of Pindar Vineyards, to ask the board to reconsider its denial based on a 2015 law that prohibits bicycle events on Southold Town streets between May and November, even though Southold has allowed such rides since the law went into effect.
Mr. Damianos, who also serves as first assistant chief of the Southold Volunteer Fire Department, said the event reminded him of the bond that binds firefighters together as a team.
“I can only imagine the bond of those brothers and sisters who walked up the stairs as the civilians walked down,” he said of the firefighters who rushed to the World Trade Center that day. “The 343 Bike Ride is a tribute to those we lost and a way to remember the day that changed us forever.”
Southold Mayor Al Krupski said the original ban on bike events was enacted for public safety reasons, but he noted that this all-volunteer bike ride, which has raised $2 million to charity, is different from many large, professionally organized bike fundraisers that have been opposed since the law went into effect.
City Councilman Greg Doroski added that this ride was different because there was no public participation and the well-trained athletes simply rode from the city limits to Pindar Vineyards on Main Street.
The riders are expected to arrive in Pindar between 4 and 5 p.m. for a community celebration.
“Our local firefighters are proud to say this is over in our city,” said Councilwoman Jill Doherty. “I see that this is independent of any other requests we’ve had.”
Retired FDNY Lt. Don Cotrone of Ladder 130 in Queens, who lives in East Marion, brought to the meeting a poster with portraits of all the firefighters who died on 9/11.
He said he knew 41 of them personally and took the poster on a 3,200-mile bike ride from San Diego to the East Coast to raise money for the 343 Ride initiative, stopping at fire stations across the country to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks.
He said he knows 27 members of the FDNY who live in Southold Town. While he still rides his bike about 60 miles a day, he is not fit enough to traverse the entire length of Long Island on this trip. Instead, he will join the welcoming committee that greets cyclists in Pindar.
“His dedication is beyond me,” Brian Hughes, former Southold Town Judge, said of Mr. Cotrone. “He did it all on his own, with the logistical support of small groups like 343 Ride. That’s something we feel very strongly about. … The residents of our town participated in both the initial phase of the events of 9/11 and the aftermath. People in this town suffered from cancer and all the other diseases that come with 9/11. That’s a bond that many of us share.”
Retired New York City Fire Department firefighter Thomas Joseph May Jr. of Cutchogue said the 343 Ride was originally organized by the New York City Fire Department’s Engine 50, Ladder 19, Battalion 36 fire station in the Bronx.
“The riders are in very good shape and ride 60 miles a day. I couldn’t keep up with that,” he said. “They are definitely a good organization.”
For more information on how you can contribute to the work of 343 Ride, visit www.fdny343ride.com.
