Contributed photo Carl Molinaro

A life cut short

COCHECTON CENTER — Carl Molinaro, a New York City firefighter for only two and a half years, sped off to his last call on September 11, 2001.

The 32-year-old Staten Islander had just bought property in Cochecton Center for retirement, but Molinaro was one of the hundreds of firefighters who lost their lives at the World Trade Center that day, and now that property is left as a sad reminder of a retirement that he will never experience.

He called his wife Donna from his cellular phone as he headed for Ground Zero with Ladder Company 2 of Manhattan’s Battalion Number 8. Mrs. Molinaro is herself the daughter of a rescue firefighter, and familiar with the risks that go along with the profession. “He was a friendly, outgoing man who loved football and hunting,” she said of her husband.

Molinaro had friends and relatives in the area, including a nephew, Lorenzo Molinaro of Cochecton Center, uncles Raymond and Anthony Molinaro and a cousin, also named Lorenzo. He leaves behind a newborn son, Carl, and a two-year-old daughter Sabrina.