Elected officials gathered in Bensonhurst's Seth Low Park on Wednesday to host the community's first-ever Sept. 11 memorial service.

"It may have happened in Manhattan, but it effects us here in Bensonhurst, in Gravesend, in Bath Beach," said state Assembly Member Wiiliam Colton.

Standing less than 10 miles from the World Trade Center, another state Assembly Member, Lester Chang reflected that "several thousand of our neighbors have died. Tragically. Violently."

But the area has seen a lot of change in the last 23 years, between young people who were not born or immigrants who were not in the country yet. Because of that, Colton and City Council Member Susan Zhuang say they thought the area needed a reminder of just what was lost.

"You have make sure their memory is preserved year after year right here in this neighborhood where they worked, where they grew up, where they made this community great," says Colton.

The two decided to invite neighbors who lived through it to share their memories. That includes Chang, who was living down in Chinatown that day, and says now "this is our job, to teach the lessons that we have learned."

Both he and the other speakers said they hope people who leave understanding the sense of unity the country and city felt after the attacks.

"The terrorists tried to take us down," said Zhuang. "When we are united, no one will ever take us down."

This is why she and Colton say they plan to turn the memorial into an annual event.