This Memorial Day, New York remembered. We remembered our soldiers, our principles, and the people who carried our struggles on their backs. From Harlem to Hempstead, New Yorkers gathered this Memorial Day not just to BBQ or enjoy a long weekend, but to honor those who paid the ultimate price in military service.
In Long Island, home to one of the largest veteran populations in the state, ceremonies were held in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Gold Star families stood quietly under bright blue skies. The Town of Hempstead held its annual Memorial Day tribute at Point Lookout. Elected officials, veterans, and families lined the shore, tossing ceremonial flowers into the Atlantic in memory of the fallen.
Governor Kathy Hochul attended the solemn wreath-laying ceremony at Calverton National Cemetery, one of the nation’s largest resting places for U.S. military personnel. “Freedom is not free,” she said in her address. “We stand here today not just to remember the dead but to recommit ourselves to the values they died protecting.”
In Manhattan, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum hosted a moving observance. Taps echoed across the Hudson as hundreds stood silently. Veterans of all ages saluted in unison, their eyes wet with memory.
Amid the wreaths, bugles, and remembrance came a second, somber note: the death of Congressman Charles B. Rangel, 94, a decorated Korean War veteran and a towering figure in both Harlem and the halls of Congress.
For many, it felt symbolic. On the very day set aside to honor fallen soldiers, New York lost one of its most enduring warriors, not of the battlefield alone, but of justice, equity, and public service.
Charles Rangel was a living monument of Harlem’s political soul. Born in 1930 and raised in poverty, Rangel served with valor in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star after leading his unit to safety in one of the war’s bloodiest battles.
In 1971, he entered the U.S. House of Representatives, succeeding civil rights icon Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Over 23 consecutive terms, spanning 46 years, he helped shape policy and power in Washington as one of the most influential Black lawmakers in American history.
Rangel was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the first African American to chair the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. He championed affordable housing, inner-city job programs, and education reform with the same grit that once guided him across the frozen hills of Korea.
“He walked with Dr. King. He stood with Mandela. He never turned his back on Harlem,” said Rev. Al Sharpton at an impromptu gathering outside the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building.
Despite a public ethics censure in 2010, Rangel remained beloved in Harlem. Many still speak his name with the reverence of family. “He was a lion. A fighter. And above all, a servant of the people,” said City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams in a statement. “Charles Rangel was Harlem, and Harlem was Charles Rangel.”
His death comes as the city and nation remember those who wore the uniform. It also reminds us that some heroes come home and fight in different wars: against poverty, racism, and inequality.
“Let us not forget that Congressman Rangel didn’t just talk the talk,” said Congressman Hakeem Jeffries in a tribute on X. “He was a war hero. He was a civil rights champion. He was one of the architects of modern Black political power.”
Charles Rangel may be gone, but his name will live in Harlem stoops, congressional records, and the hearts of every New Yorker who ever believed that government could serve the people and that one man could make a difference.
