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County Executive Ed Day, Deputy County Executive Guillermo Rosa, and Pablo Ramos of the Office of Fire and Emergency Services were all on hand when the ribbon was cut by New City resident Richard Cunningham, a daily visitor to the park and the first person to walk across the new bridge.
Day said the completion the bridge mean the park is now restored to it's original condition before Sandy hit in 2012. He added the reconstruction came at no cost to the taxpayers.
"It was very painful to have the Sept. 11 Memorial separated from the rest of the park because the bridge was closed. We want people to be able to walk over to the memorial to reflect," Day said.
The Rockland County Sept. 11 Memorial is located in the park and overlooks the Hudson River.
Reconstruction of the bridge cost $700,000, most which was covered by FEMA and the county's insurance policy.
Praise was offered to the many county employees who diligently worked to complete the project, including Allan Beers and Mike Dimola of the Department of Environmental Resources, and Bob Gruffi and Christopher Buteux of the Department of Facilities Management, among many others. Their efforts saw the bridge open two months ahead of schedule.
The public is invited to attend the annual Sept. 11 Memorial Service that takes place in the park and will be held at 8:30 a.m. this Sunday.
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