Louis “Sonny” 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, he traveled the world, and in Australia lived his dream of acquiring racehorses. The horses won but stayed behind when Sonny returned home, moving only as far north as Bleecker Street in Greenwich 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. He supervised a repair team at the American Express building on Vesey Street for well over a year, from September 2001 through December 2002, working tirelessly through long hours in the dust and debris. Sonny DeLuccy succumbed to lung cancer in 2004.

This just scratched the surface of the study of his life and commitment to contribute to the well-being of his community. The photographs in this collection were taken by workmen with whom Sonny worked to share with workmen, 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, Sonny DeLuccy and other recovery workers worked selflessly through the grim conditions we all witnessed.

The collection is donated by his wife, Village actor, artist, and writer Beverly Wallace, in memory of Sonny and to honor him as a hero for his sacrifice.

Date
September, 2001- December, 2002
Rights

Copyright restrictions may apply. Permission to publish or reproduce must be secured from Beverly Wallace.