American flags stolen from memorial site

Herb Eysser didn’t want a vandalized 9/11 memorial site to stay empty over the Fourth of July holiday, so he draped an American flag on the vacant stand at Endor Community Garden near West 253rd Street and Fieldston Road.

But just like the plaque that was taken last month, vandals hit the site and stole Eysser’s flag — not once, but twice.

“I walked by the area where the World Trade Center memorial was stolen, and it looked terrible,“ Eysser said. “So I put up a flag on that spot.”

That was June 30. The next week, just after Independence Day, Eysser headed to the firefighters union office where he works. He walked past the garden only to find his flag was gone.

Eysser quickly ruled out an extreme weather act or intoxicated teenagers pulling a prank. He secured the flag with large tacks, meaning if someone was going to take the flag, they’d really have to work for it. And as far as Eysser can see, it must be malicious.

While Eysser wanted to honor the very men and women he represents with the union, there’s also a personal connection to the 9/11 memorial.

”My brother was (a) chief in the fire department, and he died as a result of the World Trade Center,” Eysser said. “He had lung cancer from working in the recovery efforts, so I have a special interest in this, and this is very upsetting.”

Eysser visited the 50th Precinct, but just like when the memorial plaque itself was stolen earlier in the summer, there was little if anything police could do. Even worse, Eysser feels like no one is listening to him.

Eysser sent a story about the stolen plaque The Riverdale Press published June 22 to local politicians like state Sen. Jeffrey Klein, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Andrew Cohen, and even U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel. But all he got in return was silence.

“I have not heard a word from any of them,” Eysser said. “I am very surprised that I did not hear from them.”

But Eysser wouldn’t accept defeat. On July 8, he placed another flag on the same site. The next day, that flag was gone.

“First we had the vandalism, and now we have this, and it is just very distressing,” said Laura Spalter, a member of Community Board 8 who has pledged to restore the vandalized 9/11 memorial. “It is very upsetting, and it is a very anti-American sentiment.”

Spalter acknowledges the memorial is in a very vulnerable spot for thieves.

“It is the entrance to this little pocket park, and it has shrubs all around it,” Spalter said.  

“It’s not like there is constantly a lot of people there, so I do think that it is easy to steal something from there.”

No one really knows who erected the memorial in the first place, not long after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The wooden board featured a small plaque with the names of local residents who died as a result of the World Trade Center collapse.

Spalter says she and her husband Robert are working with Riverdale Country School to replace the memorial, but in the meantime, Eysser will ensure there is an American flag at the site. 

And if the thieves take it again? He said he’d gladly walk down to Riverdale Avenue to pick up another one.