9/11 In Memoriam — Sonny DeLuccy

To mark the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, Village Preservation has assembled about 900 donated images documenting the World Trade Center, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and the days and weeks following September 11, 2001. See all the images here.

Village actor, artist, and writer Beverly Wallace donated over 500 9/11-related images to the archive. These photos were provided by her husband Louis “Sonny” DeLuccy, who supervised a repair team at the American Express building at 200 Vesey Street, aka Brookfield Place, aka American Express Tower, and formerly known as Three World Financial Center.

DeLuccy worked through long hours in the dust and debris on the site well over a year, from September 2001 through December 2002. DeLuccy succumbed to lung cancer in 2004.

The photographs in this collection were taken by DeLuccy and by construction workers with whom he worked to share with one another, distributed among themselves to follow their progress. From the first 100 days of the burning fires, through the sifting of the monumental rubble and clearing of twisted steel, DeLuccy and other recovery workers worked selflessly through grim conditions.

DeLuccy was born and raised behind the courthouses on Baxter Street in Little Italy.  According to his wife, as a downtown kid, Sonny attended school at the local church and knew every corner of the streets where he hung out with his friends. After working many years in demolition and construction, Sonny traveled the world, and in Australia lived his dream of acquiring racehorses. The horses won but stayed behind when Sonny returned home, moving north as far as Bleecker Street in the Village. Just days after the attack on The World Trade Center on 9/11, Sonny put aside his routine, as did so many, and quietly joined forces to restore order to his city. 

This collection was donated by Sonny’s wife, Beverly Wallace, in memory of Sonny and to honor him as a hero for his sacrifice.