The “Flames of Honor” war memorial will be developed at a waterfront site in Queens, the borough with the largest number of post-9/11 service members killed in action. (New York City mayor’s office)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has unveiled plans and the design for a new national war memorial called “Flames of Honor” to commemorate post-9/11 service members who died in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 40-foot-tall memorial will have three silver arches with an eternal flame as the centerpiece, Adams and other city officials said Tuesday at a City Hall news conference streamed live on social media.
A large sculpture of a folded American flag, 13-feet long, will be part of the memorial. Each of the armed service branches will be represented with statues of service members, city officials said.
The “Flames of Honor” war memorial will be developed at a waterfront site in Queens, the borough with the largest number of post-9/11 service members killed in action. (New York City mayor’s office)
The future war memorial will be developed at a waterfront site in Queens, the borough with the largest number of post-9/11 service members killed in action, Adams said. Queens also has the largest number of veterans who live in New York City.
Groundbreaking for the war memorial is scheduled to begin in early fiscal 2026, which starts Oct. 1. The war memorial is expected to take two years to complete.
The memorial will provide “a sacred space to grieve, to reflect and to remember those we’ve lost since 9/11 — not just as service members but as sons, daughters, neighbors and friends,” said James W. Hendon, the city’s commissioner for the Department of Veterans’ Services.
More than 7,000 American troops were killed in combat while targeting ISIS and Al-Qaida terrorist organizations following the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide attacks at the World Trade Center in Manhattan and the Pentagon in Arlington, Va.
Terrorists hijacked and commandeered U.S. commercial flights that were crashed into the Twin Towers, the headquarters for the Department of Defense and a field in Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 people.
The U.S. responded by waging a global “war on terror.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams unveiled plans and the design for a new national war memorial called “Flames of Honor” to commemorate post-9/11 service members who died in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. (New York City mayor’s office)
Adams on Tuesday stood against a backdrop of American flags as he described the development of the “Flames of Honor” as vital for the city and nation.
“Our fallen soldiers gave their lives defending the American dream. This memorial will serve as a symbol of our gratitude,” he said.
Adams also announced new local property tax exemptions for veterans purchasing homes, saying the city is strengthening its safety net for veterans.
The memorial will be paid for with privately raised funds as well as public capital project dollars, according to the mayor’s office. A total cost estimate for the project was not provided.
The monument design is by artist Douwe Blumberg, who was chosen from among numerous candidates who submitted ideas, Adams said. The new war memorial was first announced in 2024, along with a design competition.
Blumberg’s work is well-known to New Yorkers. A previous sculpture was installed in 2012 at Liberty Park called “America’s Response Monument,” depicting a special forces soldier riding a horse into combat in Afghanistan. The statue was erected on a 1-acre site overlooking the World Trade Center campus.
“With this new memorial, we will honor a new generation of souls who gave their lives far too early in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while simultaneously paying tribute to the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who have served our country in these wars,” Adams said when he announced the city’s intention in May 2024 for the new memorial.
“Flames of Honor” is part of a municipal project to revitalize the waterfront area known as the Whitestone neighborhood with bike paths, a pedestrian walkway and rebuilt bulkheads to mitigate storm risks, according to the mayor’s office.
“Our nation must never forget the service and sacrifice of those who stepped up to serve in our nation’s wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere as part of the global war on terror,” said Allison Jaslow, chief executive officer of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
“This memorial will stand as a permanent reminder that the cost of war is not measured in years or deployments but in lives forever changed, birthdays missed, memories unshared and time with loved ones that can never be reclaimed,” Hendon said.
