ROCKAWAY PARK — Katie King was 7 years old when the corner of Beach 124th Street and the boardwalk was renamed to honor her mom, Lisa King Johnson, who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
Her memories of that day in 2004, when more than 100 friends, family and neighbors gathered on the old wooden boardwalk, are short but vivid, she said.
Her grandfather flew up from Puerto Rico. She and her sister, Jessica, both held the rope that pulled the paper off her mom's new street sign. And after the sign was up, family and friends released monarch butterflies that flew towards the ocean.
"I remember pulling the rope," with family, she said. "I did that unveiling, too."
Katie King, now 19, was back on the newer, higher boardwalk on Thursday to re-dedicate the street corner with a new sign after the original was destroyed during Hurricane Sandy.
Neighbors had pushed for the sign, one of handful of 9/11 dedications destroyed or displaced after the storm, to return after the boardwalk opened earlier this month.
King Johnson was a 12-year resident of Rockaway Park and worked as an investment banker at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods at the World Trade Center.
Like many of her neighbors who died on Sept. 11 — including firefighters Stephen Belson and Richie Allen — her memorial was dedicated on the boardwalk, the peninsula's spine.
A day after the hurricane, Katie King and her family walked to Beach 124th Street to see the damage. The boardwalk was ripped up and pushed up into the street.
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In addition to her mom's street sign, there was a plaque installed near the block's flagpole, with flowers painted around it.
In 2010, they added another stone to remember Theresa Fox, a close friend of King Johnson's who died in 2010 while vacationing in the Dominican Republic.
"The entire memorial was completely destroyed," she said.
State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, who dedicated the street the first time in 2004 as a city councilman, was pushed by neighbors to get the sign back up after the boardwalk reopened, he said.
"It's the right thing to do," he said after "Lisa King Johnson Promenade" — this time on a larger street sign — went back up on Beach 124th Street. "It was my honor to do it again."
Danny Ruscillo, a local community activist who lives on the block, said he was "glad the memory of Lisa will be back on the boardwalk."
The new memorial will also eventually include a stone to remember Nancy Sorensen, another close friend of King Johnson who died during the hurricane.
It was an added heartache for the block, but Katie King said it's important to honor everyone.
"It's something that is important to this block," she said. "I'm glad that it's up for everybody, but the memorial isn't finished yet. It's a nice first step."
