Despite the ongoing COVID crisis, the 9/11 Memorial Museum will reopen exclusively for 9/11 family members on the 19th anniversary of 9/11. It will reopen to the public, five days a week, starting on September 12. One of the exhibits on display at Ground Zero is the FDNY Dream Bike Memorial.
According to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s curator Amy Weinstein, Gerard Baptiste, a firefighter with New York City Fire Department, Ladder 9, developed an interest in motorcycles at 27 years old. In the summer of 2001, he purchased his first bike, a fixer-upper, and brought it to his East Village firehouse where he intended to work on its restoration. The bike sat in the firehouse and its beat-up condition became a running joke among Baptiste’s fellow firefighters.
After Baptiste’s death on 9/11, the surviving members of his company took on the project of restoring the bike. With support from enthusiasts across the country, the 1979 Honda was transformed into a memorial motorcycle now known as the "Dream Bike." After touring the country, the Dream Bike is now on view in the 9/11 Memorial Museum as a memorial to Baptiste and others from his firehouse, as well as all of the FDNY responders who gave their lives on 9/11.
On the 19th anniversary of 9/11, watch a livestream of the annual commemoration ceremony, hear stories from survivors and first responders in the Anniversary in the Schools webinar, and help support the re-opening here:
