BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Thousands of mourners attended a funeral Wednesday to honor veteran FDNY EMS Capt. Alison Russo, who was stabbed in an unprovoked attack while on duty in Queens last week.
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Russo, 61, was posthumously promoted from lieutenant to captain during the funeral at the Tilles Center on the LIU Post campus in Brookville.
Friends, family and first responders from the New York City area and beyond filled the 2,500-person performance space for the “celebration of life.”
Among those who spoke was Mayor Eric Adams and acting FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, as well as Russo’s father, daughter and brother.
Attendees gave a standing ovation as Kavanagh explained how Russo embodied the spirit and mission of the FDNY EMS.
“It is my distinct privilege to honor Lt. Russo for her service, her sacrifice and her leadership by posthumously promoting her to the rank of captain that she so rightly deservers.”
Kavanaugh said the department is still angry at her brutal murder and senseless loss. “But because she would have found a way through this dark moment, we owe it to Capt. Russo to take her horrible loss and turn it into a mission,” she said, urging the department and city to come together.
Russo was among the first responders at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, a fact Adams pointed to in his eulogy as he grieved another “dark moment” for the city while standing in front of a ring of wreaths and a flag-draped casket.
“Your daughter gave 25 years to this city,” Adams said, addressing her parents, Catherine and Frank Fuoco. “She was aware of the danger when she signed up. She was aware of the danger when she was promoted. She was aware of the danger through 9/11, when we saw foreign enemies attack our soil. She was a hero, she was a hero then, she is a hero now.”
Frank Fuoco spoke of his daughter's kindness and said she wouldn’t have thought twice about helping anyone in need, including her killer. He bravely confronted the horror of her death, which was captured by a surveillance camera, saying he was “shocked to see the assailant lunge at her, knocking her to the ground.”
“That man murdered my daughter—and she would be the first one to come to his aid if he ever needed help,” Fuoco said. “He left her lying there on the street like a ragdoll that was just discarded.”
“She was such a beautiful person,” Fuoco continued. “He killed her and tore a hole in our hearts and in all of her colleagues. We only hope to fill the void with the memories of her service and kindness.”
Craig Fuoco said his sister “loved helping people” and that her impact was felt all over the city.
“It’s estimated that she answered over 25,000 911 calls,” her grieving sibling said. “There are countless people still walking this Earth thanks to Alison and her dedication to her job.”
“If still feels unreal that we lost our Alison in this random, senseless act of violence,” he said.
Russo's daughter, Danielle Fuoco, said it's important that her mother’s tragic death doesn't overshadow her heroic life.
“Do not let your thoughts be clouded by this act of sudden trauma,” she said. “You need to replace it with honoring my mother with the hero that she was—hero that she is.”
Earlier in the week, hundreds waited in the rain to pay their respects at a two-day wake for Russo at Commack Abbey funeral home in Suffolk County.
First Deputy Chief Kathryn Donegan, of the Huntington Community First Aid Squad, was a longtime friend and colleague of Russo. She told 1010 WINS Tuesday that “it’s just important that we remember her forever for the legacy and the life that she left behind, because it truly was inspiring.”
Donegan said Russo continued to volunteer for the ambulance squad even after she became an FDNY lieutenant.
“She really just continued to serve,” Donegan said. “She took more of an administrative role in previous years, as her work has become very intense being a lieutenant in FDNY. But she has continued to give up her service wherever it was needed at Huntington Community. It really was truly wonderful.”
Russo was stabbed in an unprovoked attack last Thursday afternoon near FDNY EMS Station 49 in Astoria, Queens, police said. She was transported to Mt. Sinai Queens Hospital, where she later died.
Peter Zisopoulos was arrested and charged in the fatal attack after barricading himself inside of his apartment near the scene of the killing, according to police. The 34-year-old was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue to await his arraignment, which is scheduled for Thursday.
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