‘Give me back my city’: Alison Russo-Elling's parents shred Mayor Eric Adams
COMMACK, NEW YORK CITY: As the city mourns the tragic death of 61-year-old FDNY paramedic Lt Alison Russo-Elling, who was stabbed while working at FDNY EMS Station 49 on the afternoon of September 29 in Queens, the parents confronted Mayor Eric Adams at their daughter’s wake on Monday, October 3.
Suffolk County Legislator Leslie Kennedy, who witnessed the parents Frank and Catherine Fuocco speaking to the mayor outside the Commack Abbey Funeral Home, told NY Post, "Her mom and dad just took the mayor on." As per Kennedy, the mother asked Adams, “Weren’t you a police officer for 30 years?” To which, the mayor replied, "Yes," and Catherine added, "You know what to do. Please, give me back my city." Kennedy said, "It was courteous — they were saying what we’re saying: ‘Make my city better, make my city better.’ [Adams] stood there, his face was flat. At the end, he said some brief statements that were comforting and accepting of what was said to him."
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An EMS worker too saw them talking and said the parents didn’t hold back while saying, "There was anger, and there was jokes, but they definitely let him have it."
A wake for Lt Alison Russo-Elling
First responders, friends and family attended the wake for FDNY paramedic, who was stabbed 19 times with a steak knife, on October 3. Acting FDNY Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh paid her tribute by saying, "Even as we celebrate her life, we're still trying to wrap our minds around the senseless act and this brutal act that caused us to lose one of our own, so this is an incredibly hard day, it's an incredible hard day for her family, for her station and for the entire fire department,” as quoted by News 12 Bronx. On the other hand, FDNY Lieutenant Nancy Leger remembered Russo via FDNY's official Instagram page, "It is a tremendous loss that we will feel for a very long time to come. It is very sad that the department has to go through this over again. There are no words that can express the pain that we are all feeling. My heart goes out to her family and her parents, and everyone in the station that is feeling this horrendous loss. She was always looking out for everyone, always someone you could talk to."
Russo was a World Trade Center first responder, who gave 25 years of her life to the FDNY and volunteered with the Huntington Community First Aid Squad. On September 30, police announced that 34-year-old Peter Zisopoulos was being charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the fatal stabbing of Russo. The circumstances surrounding her death and her encounter with Zisopoulos are still unknown, as previously reported. Zisopoulos is expected to be arraigned on October 7, reports Fox News.