Sept. 11, 2011, marked the 10-year anniversary of the devastating attacks on the United States. The following are images taken from Jersey City's Liberty State Park across from Manhattan last year as well as this year. I traveled from Toms River to Jersey City this and last year on and around Sept. 11 to capture some of the memorial activities. The lights have been going on for some time during Sept. 11, and this year was their last, but there's a new element to the memorial in Jersey City: This year's photos include images of the new memorial unveiled this year, called "Empty Sky: New Jersey…

It comes as a surprise to no one that, across the board, the world has changed since September 11, 2001. Patch asked local leaders about changes in business, government policy, and people’s attitudes and beliefs. Here’s what they had to say. Mark Mutter, Toms River Township Clerk, spoke about security issues and the tightening of regulations as it pertains to vital records and identification documents. In 2001, (then) Governor Jim McGreevey issued an executive order regarding requirements to obtain vital records. Prior to 2001, accessing documents was relatively easy, Mutter said. Today, …

Ten years ago, families and friends came together in support and sadness. Church and State wept together. Ten years later, communities came together to remember those lost, to honor those who served and to reflect on how this tragic event changed us forever. Representatives throughout the community spoke during Toms River’s Memorial Service honoring all that passed away on September 11, 2001 began Sunday morning, at 9 a.m. on the corner of Washington and Robbins Street. Radio station WJRZ’s deejays, Glenn Kalina and Diane DeOliveira, were the Masters of Ceremonies for the solemn hour. The …

In Holiday City, Toms River and elsewhere, Jersey Shore residents remembered, cried and came to terms with what happened 10 years ago, when 3,000 people - some of them local, others not - perished at the hands of terrorists. A large crowd gathered at Holiday City at Berkeley's Clubhouse 2 for a ceremony to honor those who were lost during the attacks of 9/11. Berkeley Mayor Jason Varano addressed the audience and said although the tragedy was horrific, it united the country. "While the loss was great beyond description... we came together to support each other during those terrible days," …

The story that follows is another in our series profiling local residents affected by 9/11. As the 10th anniversary of the attacks approaches, Patch is inviting all readers to share their stories of that day and its aftermath. Salvatore Velez watches every 9/11 special and documentary he can find. When police and fire communications from the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center are released, the retired New York City firefighter listens to all the recordings. He's not trying to torture himself. He said he’s just trying, from the distance of a decade, to catch a glimpse of the friends he …

In the days surrounding Sept. 11 this year, many will find personal ways to reckon with the tragic events of a decade earlier. Some will travel to New York City, Washington D.C. or to a field in rural Pennsylvania to visit memorials established to honor those lives lost or changed forever on that day. But residents of Brick Township have a very special monument in their own backyard.  In Windward Beach Park, just off Princeton Avenue, they will find a statue titled, Angel in Anguish. Kneeling in a circular garden near the edge of the Metedconk River, this sorrowful bronze figure wraps her …

Laraine Sgroi will be speing the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in Brick. That's just where she was when they occured, claiming the life of her ex-husband, Thomas, who worked on the 95th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when it was hit. "We avoid the city altogether," she said, when asked if she would be attending the memorial event in New York City scheduled for the anniversary next month. "I don't put the TV on. I don't watch the ceremony, because for us it's not just that day. It's every day." But Sgroi still wants her hometown to remember what happened. …

OCEAN COUNTY BARNEGAT 9-11 ceremonyBarnegat American Legion and Township CommitteeSunday, 11 a.m.Location: Municipal Dock 411 East Bay AvenueMemorial ceremonyPresentation of a 9/11 flagSunday, 11 a.m.Location: Four Seasons at Mirage clubhouse1 Esplande Drive 9/11 memorial dedicationFriday, 6 p.m.Location: Township memorialNear Barnegat High School football field BERKELEY September 11 memorial service and dedication of Twin Towers SteelSaturday, 6:30 p.m.Location: Veterans Park Annual Sept. 11 memorial serviceSunday, noonLocation: Holiday City at BerkeleyClubhouse II on Port Royal Drive BRICK …

As a poet from a working-class New Jersey background who teaches at a small community college tucked into the Northwest corner of his home state, BJ Ward is accustomed to being ignored. Which makes the public’s awareness — and gratitude — for one of his poems, For the Children of the World Trade Center Victims, all the more remarkable to him. Ten years after the Sept. 11 attacks, Ward still hears from the children and wives of Sept. 11 (but no husbands so far) emailing or calling to thank him for expressing what they are still trying to absorb. “They are the living victims. They still have an…

I've long wondered how I should lend my voice to the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. As the Jersey Shore regional editor for Patch.com, I often get called on to write the obituary of record, or to find the right prose for the event of the month—Hurricane Irene, for example—that commands the attention of my hometown area.This time, I was expecting to step into the background, and let others shine. Little did I know, however, that the words were already written.The book of my family, "A Legacy of Madness: Recovering My Family From Generations of Mental Illness," will be released on …

"This is the hour of lead Remembered if outlived, As freezing persons recollect the snow — First chill, then stupor, then the letting go." —Emily Dickinson   Colleen Meehan Barkow and her mother JoAnn Meehan spent the weekend before Sept. 11, 2001 happily shopping for towels and linens for the 26-year-old's new home in the Poconos. Colleen and her husband Daniel, married less than a year, were planning to move into the house at the end of October. It meant a long commute into New York, where Colleen worked as a facilities director for Cantor Fitzgerald, on the 103rd floor of the North Tower …

The name of U.S. Marine Cpl. Nicholas S. Ott, 23, of Manchester Township, was added to Ocean County’s Fallen Soldier Monument as part of the 9/11 remembrance on Sept. 9, as part of the 10th anniversary of the attacks on America. Ott is the 11th soldier from Ocean County to die since the attacks by Al Qaida militants on the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and failed attempt to crash a plane into the White House. Ott died Aug. 10, fighting in Afghanistan. “We grieve their loss and reflect on our freedom, the cornerstone that makes American great,’’ said Freeholder Gerry Little, an ex-Marine.

  Two Toms River residents – Patricia M. Fagan and Robert C. Kennedy -- died in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. We checked in with their families to find out how they are doing and how they will mark the 10th anniversary of the day that changed their lives – and the nation's course – forever. PATRICIA M. FAGAN Eileen Fagan holds on to her sister's memory – and her favorite worn brown rosary beads. But Patricia Fagan's Passion Pink lipstick is part of a new memorial honoring her and thousands of other people who died in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. A …

Like hospitals nationwide, Ocean County hospitals responded to lessons learned from Sept. 11 and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina by boosting security and drafting and practicing emergency response plans. “9/11 was a game-changer for most people. We all in America had this false sense of security – it only happens in Europe or overseas, but never on our own turf,” said Patrick Gildner, manager of emergency preparedness and security at Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin for 32 years. “Hospitals went from being open and welcoming to patients and visitors to taking a hard look …

It has been 10 years since the tragic events of September 11, 2001. This year, the Ocean County Board of Chosen Freeholders had a new memorial to display during the annual ceremony. A piece of the steel from the World Trade Center was donated to Ocean County and unveiled at this morning's ceremony.  Fire departments from Toms River, as well as police, EMS, the Ocean County Clerks office, public works, and Dr. Jon Larsen from Ocean County College were in attendance for today's ceremony as were many members of the public coming to observe the anniversary. The event began with the singing of the…

Since 9/11, Exelon Nuclear has put more than $400 million toward physical security upgrades to its 10 power plants, including Oyster Creek Generating Station in Forked River, spokesperson April Schilpp said. “Each plant was required to make substantial physical modifications, including additional barriers, more security observation posts and fortified and improved checkpoints,” said Neil Sheehan, spokesperson for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Exelon used that money to change the physical look of the plant by adding structures and different defenses to strengthen Oyster Creek’s …

Toms River September 11 Memorial Ceremony will be held on Sunday, September 11 at 9 a.m. on the corner of Robbins and Washington streets.  Ron Weingroff, who oversees the ceremony, spoke about its history and plans for this year’s memorial. Weingroff said Toms River’s September 11 service is expected to be one of the largest in Ocean County.  Toms River Fire Department hosts the memorial service.  “We don’t just honor the firemen,” Weingroff said. “We honor all that passed away.” Participants in previous years included the National Guard, marching bands, clergy members, local and state …

The guessing game had already been played: reporters dispatched to places most likely to produce the news for the next day’s paper. Seldom have the guesses been more wrong than those made on Sept. 10 about what needed covering on Sept. 11, 2001. My assignment was to cover a stop by a Democrat running for governor at the Ramada Inn on Route 9 in Toms River, early that morning. It was early in the race, and solidly red Ocean County was hardly the place a Democrat would pick for a major campaign announcement, but I was there anyway. Jim McGreevey seemed in a hurry when he burst through the door…

Students at the Ocean County College Library now walk past a piece of rusty, twisted steel salvaged from the ruins of the World Trade Center after the terrorists attacks nearly a decade ago. It will not be the only reminder of those Sept. 11 attacks. On Sept. 12 the college is planning a 9-11 commemoration and a homeland security conference. OCC President Dr. Jon H. Larson said Charles Amoroso, whose son was a Port Authority Police Officer killed at the World Trade Center, will be the guest speaker at the commemoration held from 9 to 10 a.m. in the Arts and Community Center Theater at the …

It was time for a change. After terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and slammed two into the World Trade Center buildings, one into the Pentagon, and another into a field in Pennsylvania, the way professionals approach security for mass transportation needed an overhaul. For NJ Transit, which operates 2,027 buses, 771 trains and 45 light rail vehicles over a service area of 5,325 square miles that meant a change in mindset. “In the past we only focused on crime and great service to customers, but now, here at NJ Transit, what we try to drive home to all our officers is that their main …