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Shell-Shocked Community
Is Still Counting Losses;
Residents Find Ways to Help
by Dick Lutz
A week ago Friday, Jared Iwansky made a friend.
Four days later, his new friend was at work at 1 World Trade
Center.
Visiting Roosevelt Island in considering a move from
Manhattan, he had walked through the park south of Rivercross and
encountered Edward Beyea, enjoying the day with his sister and
her husband.
"We clicked," said Iwansky this week. "I absolutely
connected with him. He is... was... a programmer, and I
use computers as a graphic artist and video editor."
Iwansky asked Beyea about life on Roosevelt Island, and recalls,
"He said, 'I've lived here 22 years. There's no better
place to live.' He said this not only because he was
disabled but because he liked it.
"When we talked, his sister took his cigar out of his
mouth. When he finished a couple of phrases, she would
give it back.
"Because of him, I was convinced I should move here," Iwansky
said.
Beyea, a quadriplegic and resident of 580 Eastwood, worked for
Blue Cross/Blue Shield in an office at 1 World Trade
Center. Last Tuesday, he was one of the thousands who
didn't get out.
Iwansky, persuaded by what he saw on Roosevelt Island and by
what Edward Beyea said to him a week ago Friday, has taken an
apartment in Manhattan Park. "I didn't know anybody else
on this Island except this guy, and now he's gone."
Many other Islanders were affected by Tuesday's tragedy,
directly and indirectly. Marilyn Engstler of Housing
Management compiled much of this list:
- Anthony Fallone, Patty Fallone's husband and the father of
her four children, is among the missing. A memorial
service was held Friday evening at the Chapel of the Good
Shepherd, and a Memorial Mass is scheduled today, Saturday,
September 22, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Ignatius Loyola, at Park
Avenue and 83rd Street.
- Scott Larsen, a former Housing Management employee and shop
steward at Eastwood, is missing.
- Tahira Khan's son is missing. (Story.)
- Rivercross resident Kathy Kross has a brother missing.
- Firefighters are missing and many are believed lost or are
confirmed lost. (Story.)
- Glubys Carrera, a Westview employee, lost a close cousin
– a widow – who was working at
Cantor-Fitzgerald. The death left two daughters
orphaned.
The Chapel of the Good Shepherd was
filled to overflowing Friday night
at a memorial service for
Anthony Fallone.
Many others, not so directly affected but feeling a need to
become involved, made efforts to contribute in some way.
- Guy Midkiff went to the site. (Story.)
- Frank Tsu, a Rivercross resident, is managing a massive
supply depot in a parking lot across the street from the Javits
Convention Center. He has put out a call for industrial
equipment, especially asbestos-grade respirators and torch tips
used in welding.
- Judy Berdy, Isabel Bartley, Janice Taylor, Anula Maiberg, and
Wendy Hirsch collected signatures and words of gratitude from
Roosevelt Island residents. They are posted in many
windows on Main Street.
- Lael Freeman is leading an effort of the Black History
Committee to collect donations to place in gift baskets for the
children who are victims of the tragedy. Suggested items
include toys, stuffed animals, personal hygiene items, gift
certificates, and canned fruit or nuts. Volunteers willing
to help assemble the "Baskets of Love" are asked to call Freeman
at (212) 759-3037.
- Manhattan Park management and staff, along with residents,
took up a collection last week for the Special Operations Command
Center, and brought the firefighters a six-foot hero, salads,
soda and water. The Seniors Association collected socks,
gloves, t-shirts, and food. Other Islanders, in groups or
individually, took food and other items to the Center.
(The Center has announced it is not in need of any further
donations of clothing or food. However, the Uniform
Firefighters Association has set up a Widows and Orphans Fund;
the number to call for information is (212)
683-4832.)
- The Roosevelt Island Residents Association Fundraising
Committee is organizing a Relief Fund for victims'
families. (See advertisement, this issue, page 11.)
For information, call (212) 223-1108.
- Several Island therapists, organized by Ronnye Halpern,
volunteered their services Thursday through Sunday, to help
residents in managing their shock and grief. For
information or counseling,
call (212) 688-3969.
- In Washington, Greg Goodman (son of Fred and Bonnie Goodman)
led his college fraternity in a continuing fundraising effort for
the Red Cross.
- The Residents Association, Coler-Goldwater, the Icla da Silva
Foundation and the New York Blood Center are working together on
a blood drive for early January.
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