# Twenty-five years on, Essex County still counts its 57

> At a lookout with a clear view of Ground Zero, hundreds gathered to name the neighbors who never came home.
- Title: Twenty-five years on, Essex County still counts its 57
- Summary: At a lookout with a clear view of Ground Zero, hundreds gathered to name the neighbors who never came home. Memory only survives if it is handed down, which…
- Keywords: 9/11, new jersey, memorial, essex county, remembrance, news, local, Twenty-five, years, Essex, County, still
- Source: ABC7 New York — https://abc7ny.com/story/essex-county-marks-25-years-911-attacks-eagle-rock-reservation-west-orange/19820195
- Published: 2026-09-11T17:52:24+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: 9/11, new jersey, memorial, essex county, remembrance, news, local
## Hundreds climb to Lookout Point
On Friday, crowds gathered at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange to mark 25 years since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the nearly 3,000 people killed.
## Fifty-seven went to work
Fifty-seven Essex County residents left home that morning and never came back. One was Antoinette Dugar, whose daughter stood at the service on Friday.
## She was eight years old
Megan Tsitsoulas came for the people who were not yet born when it happened. She wants them to understand what her family lost and what everyone lost.

> I was only 8 years old and I feel for people that were not even around during that time
## A memorial facing the skyline
From Lookout Point you can see Ground Zero itself. It was the first 9/11 memorial finished in New Jersey, a state that lost close to 750 residents.
## Teach it in school
County Executive Joe DiVincenzo told the crowd that the next generation has to learn this history in classrooms, not just at ceremonies once a year.

> We have to get that generation just to make sure that they never forget
## Uniforms, not capes
Law enforcement stood with pilots and flight attendants, who remembered the 33 crew members killed aboard the hijacked planes.

> Heroes don't arrive wearing capes, they arrive wearing uniforms
## Key takeaway

Memory only survives if it is handed down, which is why the people at Lookout Point keep showing up and keep teaching.