A memorial on Staten Island was supposed to honor first responders who died as a result of working at the World Trade Center site, but many families are upset by how it turned out. NY1's Amanda Fariancci explains why in the following exclusive report.

It is the city's memorial to first responders from Staten Island who have died from September 11th-related illnesses. 

It was created at taxpayer expense and erected without ceremony, overlooking the harbor and Lower Manhattan.

But two years after it was built, something is still missing: the names of the people it is supposed to honor.

"There should be some individual recognition given to all first responders from Staten Island who did this very great, honorable thing, and you got sick for it," said Bryan Ellicott, whose father, a paramedic, died of a September 11th-related cancer. "And the least we can do is scratch your name somewhere." 

The mother of first responder Ned Thompson, Deborah Thompson, was a driving force behind the memorial. She met with Assemblyman Michael Cusick and then-Borough President James Molinaro to discuss honoring heroes like her son, a police sergeant who died of a September 11th-related cancer in 2008.

In 2009, Molinaro announced plans for the memorial.  

"Those brave men and women from Staten Island that led the fight to find survivors and injured people," Molinaro said in 2009.

Deborah Thompson worked with city officials, designers and Cusick to hammer out a plan. 

Using $200,000 appropriated by Molinaro before he left office in 2013, the city Economic Development Corporation created the tribute but never etched the names into the marble slabs. 

"We never heard from anyone," Deborah Thompson said. "I just would like to have seen the names of those who have died since."

The EDC claims it could not compile an accurate list of names, even though city agencies like the Fire Department keep such records.

The agency also says that once two families declined to have their loved ones memorialized, it decided not to etch any names in the marble, a move that has other families fuming. 

"He's on the wall in Albany. He's on the wall in Washington. But he has four little girls," Deborah Thompson said. "I would just like something close to home for them."

The former borough president declined an on-camera interview, but off-camera, Molinaro said he's deeply disappointed the memorial didn't turn out the way he envisioned it.