Gov. Cuomo and singer Billy Joel led a solemn motorcycle procession of cops and firefighters to Ground Zero for Wednesday’s 12th 9/11 anniversary tribute, where wounds from the terror attacks remained fresh.
The ride began on West 43rd Street outside Fire Rescue Co. 1, which lost 11 firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001.
“Stepping in the shoes of the brothers we lost and taking the route that they took kind of makes the hairs stand up on your arms,” Lt. Tony Tarabocchia of Rescue 1 told CBS.
The motorcade — organized by the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and the FDNY Motorcycle Club — proceeded down the West Side Highway to Barclay and Washington streets, where the bikers stopped for a memorial and prayer service.
“They proved to the world that strength and courage will always conquer weakness and cowardice,” said Cuomo, who rode a black Harley.
Joel — who mounted a blue Kawasaki — said he lost pals in the attacks and that he joined the ride to honor the victims.
“It’s still an open wound, and it hasn’t closed,” Joel said. “I don’t know if it ever will.”
The bikers joined thousands gathered near Ground Zero to mark the 12th anniversary of the attack, now a familiar but still powerful ritual that unites Americans across the nation.
Mourner Carrie Bergonia was so moved by the memory of that awful day that she broke down while reading the name of the man she was planning to marry.
“Joseph J. Ogren,” she said through tears. “I love and miss you so very much. Till we meet again.”
She later traced Ogren’s name on a black granite stone where the names of the dead are etched. Ogren, 30, a firefighter, went missing when the towers collapsed.
Kathy Swift, 54, of Jersey City brushed her fingers against a tree that was planted in memory of her brother, Thomas Swift, who worked for Morgan Stanley and was in the south tower when he died at age 29.
“Everybody from his office got out except for him,” Swift said. “It’s harder to come back for this every year. Where did 12 years go? It’s getting harder, not easier. We have no place else to go.”
Denise Matuza, 46, of Staten Island lost husband Walter, then 39, who worked for Carr Futures.
“I come here every year with my three boys,” Matuza said. “We find comfort coming here. We get support from each other. No one understands what we go through. We hurt every day.”
Additional reporting by Kirstan Conley