Like most New Yorkers, Carmine Calzonetti stared at his TV on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
“I was in a trance,” he said.
The former St. John’s guard had left his job with Cantor Fitzgerald 18 months before. Calzonetti worked on the 105th floor of One World Trade Center for seven years. Now he watched the horrific events unfold with all of his co-workers in his mind.
“I was silent, silent for days,” Calzonetti said.
Seven years later, Calzonetti has found a way to help the families of the victims of 9/11, including some of those whom he worked with. Last year, Calzonetti became the president of Tuesday’s Children, a non-profit organization that provides support programs to 9/11 victims’ families.
“I saw it and said this is something I really want to do,” the 61-year-old said, sitting in his Seventh Avenue office.
Calzonetti starred for Lou Carnesecca’s early St. John’s teams from 1967-69, leading the Redmen (now Red Storm) to the NCAA tournament in each of his three years. He has been a coach, assistant athletic director and worked on Wall Street. He served as commissioner of the NYCAC before joining Tuesday’s Children.
Richard Lapchick, a longtime friend of Calzonetti and son of legendary St. John’s coach Joe Lapchick, said he was not surprised when he learned of his friend’s new position.
“I knew that he had been deeply moved and saddened like so many other people on Sept. 11,” Lapchick said. “But it was different than sitting here in Orlando watching. He knew [the victims], which made a difference. To actually know the people made it so much more personal and difficult.
“I’m sure in his heart in the days and months after 9/11 he wanted to do something. Now, he was presented with the opportunity to do something.”
Calzonetti has met some of the children of his co-workers and told them about their parents.
“Kids want to know what their dad was like,” Calzonetti said. “It’s refreshing and really heartfelt to be able to talk to the kids about that.”
Tuesday’s Children has a wide variety of programs designed to help the families. In February, a group of nearly 20 children who lost a parent in the 9/11 attacks went to New Orleans to build houses for those who lost theirs in Hurricane Katrina, bringing together victims of two of America’s biggest tragedies.
The trip came about after a conversation between Calzonetti and Lapchick, who is the chair of the sports management department at Central Florida. Lapchick has brought groups to New Orleans for the last two years, and Calzonetti thought it would be a project that would interest the kids he works with.
Through a program called “Helping Heals,” the trip was organized. Cherilyn Curia, a 15-year-old from Garden City, signed up right away. Curia lost her father, Larry, on 9/11. He worked for Cantor Fitzgerald.
“As soon as I heard about the trip, I immediately thought of how many people helped me when I lost my dad,” Cherilyn said. “I have friends in New Orleans. I thought of them. I thought it was a great opportunity to help them get back on their feet.”
Calzonetti said most of the kids in the organization now are teenagers. The organization has evolved as the children’s grief process has evolved. Trips like the ones to New Orleans are popular with the kids, who now want to help others like they were helped.
Caitlyn Leavey, 16, of Pelham was another member of Tuesday’s Children who went to New Orleans. Leavey, whose father Joseph was a FDNY lieutenant, said she gets comfort from aiding others.
“I thought it would be a great chance for me to give back,” Leavey said. “We had so many people come to us and help us.”
Curia said she hopes to return to New Orleans’ lower ninth ward to see the house she helped build and meet the people who live in it. While she was hammering, her thoughts kept going back to her father.
“I thought about him the entire time,” she said. “He loved helping people out. If a neighbor was sick, he’d go to the drug store for them. He loved helping out whenever he could. He wasn’t very handy, but he would have done his best.”
Tuesday’s Children is now working on programs to help the rescue and recovery workers and first responders on 9/11. A program called, “Project Common Bond” is also in the works, which will bring together teenagers from several nations for a week.
“We’re just trying to make the world a better place any way we can,” Calzonetti said. “We’re fortunate, and very proud, that these children, the children of 9/11, want to give back.”
To donate or volunteer, go to http://www.tuesdayschildren.org or call (516) 562-9000.