Minds Change and Street Is Co-Named

 by Carl Glassman

"Actually, I'm doing okay," June Colaio said last month as she sat in the living room of her duplex apartment in the American Thread Building at Beach Street and West Broadway. Behind her, placed neatly along a bank of windows, was a large display of snapshots, typical family photos except for the tragic fact that three of the young men appearing in many of the pictures-Colaio's husband, Mark, his brother, Stephen, and her own brother, Thomas Pedicini-were victims of the attack on the World Trade Center.

June Colaio, with Joseph and Delaney, outside their building at 280 West Broadway. Behind them is the street sign on which will be added "Colaio Way."

"But it's very hard at times," she continued. "It's hard with the children. As [Sept. 11] progresses further away my daughter remembers her father a little bit and my son doesn't remember him at all."

In a few months, Delaney, 5, and Joseph, 4, will have a special way to remember their father and their uncle. A new street sign will be added to the one that's on Beach Street, just outside the family's apartment building.

It will say "Colaio Way."

"The request for the street "co-naming" came last October from Mark's and Stephen's father, Victor. Because both brothers lived in Tribeca, (Stephen had resided in Independence Plaza), Victor saw the co-naming as a fitting tribute. But the request was denied by Community Board 1, which worried that a precedent would be set for many more requests.
"I'm not wild about renaming streets. More people died than streets exist. Where do you stop?" one board member said.

The board had just approved the co-naming of a block of North Moore Street for another trade center victim, Lt. Vincent Halloran, whose Ladder 8 is located there. But board members called for a moratorium on co-naming Downtown streets for Sept. 11 victims until the memorial design process was complete.

News about the board's decision, accompanied by a photo of Victor Colaio and his wife, Mary, appeared in the Trib. "Many people stopped me and said they were outraged. They felt there should be some recognition," recalled Victor, who has homes in Battery Park City and Montauk, L.I. "They said, 'You can't give up on that.'"

Victor Colaio didn't give up. He solicited and won the support of Councilman Alan Gerson and, again, wrote a letter to the board, respectfully asking them to reconsider.

Standing before CB1's Tribeca Committee, Victor's daughter, Jean Colaio Steinbach, read the letter, with June Colaio at her side.

If there was to be any opposition in the room this time, it melted away with each word.

"I'm generally opposed to naming streets after people," said committee co-chairman Michael Connolly. "Every rule is made for an exception and this seems like a reasonable exception."

In their Montauk home, Victor and Mary Colaio hold a portrait of their two sons, Mark, left, and Stephen, whom they lost on Sept. 11. Photo: Doug Kuntz
The committee voted unanimously in favor of "Colaio Way," followed by tears, hugs and applause.

Later, June Colaio said she was grateful, particularly for the sake of her children.

"It's going to be great when they see the sign, especially as they get older," she explained. "They'll say, 'That's my daddy's name and that's where he lived.'"