March on Brooklyn Bridge Marks 30th Anniversary of Ari Halberstam’s Killing

By COLlive reporter

A crowd of dignitaries, elected officials, and NYPD and FBI officials gathered for a memorial event on Friday, March 1st, marking the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Brooklyn Bridge terror attack.

The ceremony, which began with a walk and memorial candle lighting on the Brooklyn Bridge Ramp where the shooting took place, honored the memory of Ari Halberstam, a 16-year-old Chabad Yeshiva student, who was murdered in the shooting attack by Rashid Baz, an Islamic terrorist who opened fire on the van carrying Chabad students, murdering Ari and injuring others.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and many other elected officials were among those who joined Ari’s mother Devorah Halberstam, and family and friends, as they mourned at the site of the antisemitic terror attack.

“On that day, at that moment, my life was forever changed. We became victims of terrorism,” Devorah Halberstam said, through her tears.

“Today, as I stand here with you, I want to be clear: hate has seeped into our society like a plague. And we need to make changes,” she continued. “We have to turn antisemitism — that has a life of its own — into love.”

“I have not seen Ari for 10,957 days, but I will always remember my firstborn child, 6 feet tall, with eyes crystal blue as the ocean and shining like a diamond. With a basketball in one hand and a prayer book in the other,” his mother said.

“Ari was murdered and his friends were targeted because they were identifiably Jewish. Today, we need to have Jewish pride. We stand here now on holy ground. Every time I cross the bridge, I stop and say a prayer for my son. His blood is entwined in the steel beams of this bridge. His stature was as majestic as this bridge, and this bridge needs to remind us all to accept and respect each other no matter who we are or what faith we follow.

“My message is, we will survive and hate will not win. May Ari’s light shine down from heaven where he is with G-d. Thank you all, and G-d Bless America and Am Yisrael Chai.”

Following the attack, Halberstam campaigned to have the investigation of her son’s murder classified as a terrorist incident, not a road rage incident as initially classified, by the Department of Justice and FBI.

Recognizing that at the time law enforcement did not understand the threat and nature of terrorism, in 2001 Halberstam helped author New York State’s first laws to counter-terrorism. Through her tireless advocacy efforts, Halberstam has played a pivotal role in promoting antiterrorism legislation to prevent future tragedies. She is currently the chair of the NYPD Hate Crime Review Panel.

“What Devorah did, many people don’t really understand,” NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a longtime friend of Devorah Halberstam, said. “A mother turned her pain into purpose. When Ari died on this ramp, there was no understanding or belief that we were having sleeper cells in our city waiting to wreak havoc and violence. She spent 30 years of her life, those 10,000 plus days not only mourning the loss of her son, but recommitting herself every day to prevent the loss of other children.

“This country takes a different view towards terrorism because of what happened on this bridge and on this ramp,” said Mayor Adams.

Years after the attack, the gunman, a Lebanese-born cab driver, confessed behind bars that he attacked the students because they were Jewish.

The bridge’s southbound ramp — the scene of the antisemitic attack — was later renamed the “Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp” in the wake of his slaying.

VIDEO: March on the Brooklyn Bridge

VIDEO: Devorah Halberstam, Mayor Eric Adams and Elected Officials speak