By Alexander Dworkowitz
New Yorkers know the Canyon of Heroes as the corridor in Lower Manhattan that victorious soldiers and sports teams have marched down time and time again.
But Tuesday, a small street in College Point deserved the name.
Hundreds gathered to pay their respects to Firefighter Michael Elferis, a 27-year-old lifelong College Point resident, at his funeral at St. Fidelis Church on 124th Street. Elferis died the morning of Sept. 11 while helping to rescue thousands of people at the World Trade Center, destroyed when two hijacked airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers.
A three-deep line of police and firefighters stretched across one side of the block, facing a crowd of friends, family and members of the community. Students from the school across from the church peered out their windows to watch bagpipe players and drummers lead a truck from Elferis’ Engine Co. 22 down the corridor, carrying his casket on top. Elferis’ coffin was taken into the church for the ceremony, then placed back onto the rig and slowly driven away.
Inside the church, family and colleagues remembered Elferis as an exuberant young man with a passion for his job.
“When Mike first came to 228, within an hour he fit right in,” said Joe Castalano of Engine Co. 228, with which Elferis toured in his first year as a firefighter. “He was as cool as James Bond, as talented as Derek Jeter.”
“He lived his life to the fullest,” said Elferis’s sister, Nancy. “He was an all-around beautiful person. And the greatest thing was, he knew it.”
Gus Ladato, who fought fires with Elferis for more than four years at Engine Co. 22 in Lower Manhattan, described Elferis as a fun-loving sports fan who always put off sleep.
“No day was long enough for him; there was no time for sleep,” said Ladato. “But sleep did catch up with him. Friends who knew him best would go out with him with Magic Markers, wait for him to fall asleep and would write all sorts of indecencies on his face that his mother would have to read in the morning.”
Ladato said he saw Elferis as a very warm person.
“After meeting his family, I realized where his warmth came from,” he said.
Elferis is survived by his parents, two brothers and two sisters.
Both Castalano and Ladato said firefighting was a perfect job for the young College Point resident.
Rev. Donald M. D’Antonio, who performed the Roman Catholic ceremony, told the mourners that sharing their grief would help them deal with the loss.
“God tells us, ‘I cannot take away your pain, but I can and will heal it by sharing it with you,’” he said. “We have come to this holy place, not just to remember a son of College Point, but to celebrate, to celebrate the belief that Michael’s life continues.”
A representative of the mayor’s office, Steven Fishner, reminded the mourners that Elferis worked to save lives in the moments before his death.
“Michael is one of the participants in the most successful rescue operation in history,” he said. “They saved 25,000 lives that day.”
Eferis’ sister, Nancy, needed no convincing. “He is and always will be our hero,” she said.
Reach Reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 141.
