Emmanuel Mensah Way Dedicated


By Robert Press

Photo: Robert Press

It was a beautiful Friday morning, the sun was bright, and time seemed to stop before the street renaming for Private First Class Emmanuel Mensah. Family, clergy, members of Emmanuel’s National Guard unit, and others spread out in front of a still-closed 2363 Prospect Avenue where Mensah gave his life running into a burning building to save others.

Photo: Robert Press

The date of the fire where Emmanuel Mensah perished was December 28, 2017, three days after Christmas. The fire claimed thirteen lives including Private Mensah’s life, but he had rescued families, and saved the lives of at least four people.

Photo: Robert Press

Councilman Ritchie Torres spoke of the hero Emmanuel Mensah was rushing into a burning building. Torres added that Mensah had immigrated from Ghana two years earlier, and joined the armed forces. Local clergy leaders praised Emmanuel Mensah, and the crowd moved up the block to the corner of East 187th Street to remove the covering of Private First Class Emmanuel Mensah Way. The family was given a second street sign.

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