Twenty Fifth Anniversary of September 11 Memorial In Harrison NJ

Twenty-five years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a piece of the World Trade Center in Harrison’s Library Park connects a national tragedy to a deeply personal loss: Fabian Soto, a window cleaner at the World Trade Center, husband and father, identified as the town’s only resident killed that day.

Located at the northeast corner of Library Park along Harrison Avenue, the memorial features a recovered World Trade Center beam, a waterfall, and an engraved marker. It is among the early 9/11 memorials to incorporate material from the Twin Towers. The exposed metal also offers a fitting connection to Harrison’s industrial heritage and the generations of workers who created iron beams and other iron materials in companies like Crucible Steel.

The marker dedicates the memorial to those who died in the attacks and pays particular tribute to the men and women who sacrificed their lives while trying to save others. Its message gives visitors a place to reflect on both the lives lost and the courage shown that morning. The full text of the engraved marker is available through this link. 

Over the years, the Harrison–East Newark Elks Lodge 2326 and the Town of Harrison have organized remembrance services at the site. For Harrison, that remembrance includes the story of Fabian Soto, a 31-year-old Harrison resident who worked as a window cleaner for ABM Industries.

Originally from Macará, Ecuador, Soto came to the United States seeking opportunities for his family. His wife, Elda, followed a few years later, while their young son remained in Ecuador with his grandparents. His funeral memorial obituary describes a man who enjoyed dancing, playing soccer, dressing well, and making jokes.

Fabian Soto

In August 2001, Soto obtained a union job with ABM Industries at the World Trade Center. The position offered greater stability and the chance to reunite his family. Paperwork to bring his son to the United States was underway when the attacks occurred. His wife remembered his advice: “Live for the moment and don’t dwell on the future.”

In a 2013 account of New York’s window-cleaning industry, The New Yorker reported that Soto and veteran window-cleaning rig operator Roko Camaj became trapped near the roof of the South Tower and died when the building collapsed. The New Yorker, “Life at the Top”

Soto was interred at Glendale Cemetery in Bloomfield, NJ.  In lieu of flowers, the family requested contributions to a scholarship fund for Soto’s son.

Soto’s name is permanently inscribed at the National September 11 Memorial in Manhattan on panel N-63. There is, however, no inscription of Fabian Soto’s name on the Town of Harrison 9/11 Memorial. Do you think the Town of Harrison should correct this oversight?  Let us know in the online Community Discussion Board.

As Harrison marks a quarter century since the attacks, Soto’s story gives the memorial an enduring local meaning. Behind the recovered beam and engraved dedication is the memory of a neighbor who went to work, hoped to reunite his family, and never came home. The Harrison 9/11 Memorial is a solemn place to visit and reflect on what occurred 25 years ago.

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