Mahopac News 09.16.21

VOL. 12 NO. 32 Visit TapIntoMahopac.net for the latest news. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

‘So that no one ever forgets’
Mahopac volunteer re ghters commemorate 20th anniversary of 9/11

BY MAUREEN DALY
GUEST WRITER

On the morning of Sept. 11,
2021, the Mahopac Volunteer
Fire Department held a solemn
ceremony commemorating the
20th anniversary of the terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Cen-
ter, the Pentagon and the crash in
Shanksville, Pa. George Jones, a

SEE FIREFIGHTERS PAGE 4

Mahopac Volunteer
Fire Department
Chief Jim Stasiak
and retired FDNY
firefighter George

Jones stand at the
shield fashioned

from the wreckage
of the Twin Towers
at the World Trade
Center. The number
343 represents the

343 firefighters
killed in the line of

duty on 9/11.

Members of the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department salute as a wreath is placed and Taps is played. PHOTOS: MAUREEN DALY

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PAGE 2 MAHOPAC NEWS MAHOPAC MUSINGS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

The Staff ‘Back the Blue’ Let’s show all our heroes our the month after that. Drop-O Day for Putnam

EDITORIAL TEAM prayer walk set for support and thanking all for their Dues are $10 for a year. County residents is on Saturday,
BOB DUMAS Sept. 26 service during Covid Come join us. We play Bingo, Oct. 9, from 9 a.m. to noon, at
plan trips, tag sales, guest speakers Fahnestock State Park, Canopus
EDITOR: 845-208-0774 Senior Citizens group and more. Beach Parking Lot, Route 301,
[email protected]
e second annual “Back the to meet Sept. 18 Refreshments are served. in Kent. Pre-Registration is re-
ADVERTISING TEAM Blue” Prayer Walk for all local
PAUL FORHAN Looking forward to seeing old quired.

(914) 806-3951 rst responders, police, nurses, e Senior Citizens Of Ma- friends and meeting new ones. Please visit our website at
[email protected]
Hazardous Wastere ghters and EMS will take hopac Inc will be meeting at e putnamcountyny.com/recycling
BRUCE HELLER to schedule your appointment.
(914) 486-7608 place at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, at William Kohler Center located
[email protected] Drop Off Day is Oct. 9the Veterans Monument on East on Route 6 in Mahopac starting Please bring your con rmation
email with you to the event. For
LISA KAIN Lake Boulevard in Mahopac. Sign Saturday, Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to
(201) 317-1139
[email protected] it time is noon. 2 p.m. and every third Saturday of Household Hazardous Waste more information, call 845-808-
CORINNE STANTON
(914) 760-7009 1390.
[email protected]
Please place all materials to be
JAY GUSSAK
(914) 299-4541 Performance that discarded in rearmost compart-
[email protected] won’t waver. ment or trunk of your vehicle.
SHELLEY KILCOYNE
(914) 924-9122 COVID-19 guidance must be
[email protected] followed including social/physi-
cal distancing and face coverings
PRODUCTION TEAM are required.
TABITHA PEARSON MARSHALL
Book Discussion
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Group
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MAHOPAC NEWS DEADLINE to action” upon which our future
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AND EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS FOR a “trailer,” go to ourmomentof-
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MAHOPAC NEWS IS THE THURSDAY sion group, contact patrish@ nd-
BEFORE THE NEXT PUBLICATION DATE. ingtruejoy.com. All are welcome.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, ‘Picturesque Putnam
CALL BOB DUMAS AT Exhibition’ on display

845-208-0774 OR EMAIL through Sunday
[email protected].
INTERSTATE + LAKELAND LUMBER e Putnam Arts Council
Subscribe and Putnam County Tourism
What Dream Homes are Made of challenged area artists 13 and
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SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE COMPLIMENTARY FOR
RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES IN THE TOWN. e show continues through this
OUT OF TOWN MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE Sunday, Sept. 19, and features
$150 PER YEAR FOR FIRST CLASS MAIL. 50 works, including drawings,
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MAHOPAC, NY 10541 beauty of Putnam County.

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Your NeighborTHURSDAY,SEPTEMBER16,2021 MAHOPAC NEWS PAGE 3

Retired FBI agent led the fight against Al-Qaeda in the 90s

On HVU podcast, local man who was supervisor of the Joint Terrorism Task Force
discusses his investigation of rst World Trace Center bombing in ‘93

BY BRETT FREEMAN tragedy unfold over a long num- duct extensive crime scenes, with Supervisory Special Agent Neil Herman worked on countless
PUBLISHER ber of years and many incidents multiple agencies over many counterterrorism cases during his 27 years at the FBI.
leading up to that event,” Her- days. And there has to be a great
When the rst plane struck man said, while o ering a de- partnership between the local, PHOTOS: TOM WALOGORSKY
Tower 1 at the World Trade tailed timeline of terrorism cases state and federal law enforce-
Center on Sept. 11, 2001, retired he worked in New York City ment community, as well as deal- The plaque presented to Neil Herman upon his retirement from the
FBI agent and Somers resident from the 1970s to the 1990s, in- ing with these foreign govern- FBI in 1998.
Neil Herman immediately knew cluding the Unabomber investi- ments in all corners of the world,
the culprit. gation, the bombing of Pan Am regardless of their allies.”
Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scot-
Indeed, inside his townhome land in 1988, and the murder of Not all of his investigations in-
in Somers, which has all sorts of Meir Kahane in 1990. He then volved terrorism.
artifacts, awards and autographed recounted the rst World Trade
photos of U.S. presidents hang- Center bombing in 1993, and ex- “ e [TWA Flight 800] trag-
ing from his walls, Herman be- plained how this ultimately led to edy occurred over Long Island in
gan elding many phone calls the tragedy of 9/11. the early morning hours of July
from his former colleagues, who 17 [1996],” Herman said. “Two
knew his expertise and that he “Again, these were all events hundred and forty people lost
had spent much of his career that led up to 9/11,” Herman their lives, many of them young
hunting down Al-Qaeda and its said. “It wasn’t as if 9/11 just hap- students, teenagers. ey were
mastermind founder, Osama bin pened in a vacuum by itself on on their way from New York to
Laden. that day. And there were warn- Paris. e plane had come in that
ing signals... e real beginning afternoon from Athens, Greece.
In fact, one of the reasons Her- of what led up to become the It was probably the most massive
man was so familiar with the 9/11 tragedy was the rst World investigation at that time in FBI
World Trade Center is because he Trade Center bombing on Feb. history...the Bureau concluded
was one of the lead investigators 26, 1993. It was an act of interna- that it was a tragedy involving an
involved with U.S. counterter- tional terrorism in America… It electrical eld probe that caused
rorism operations after the rst really set the tone for the future the explosion.”
World Trade Center bombing in of what became international ter-
1993, serving as supervisor of the rorism around the world.” I asked Herman what mis-
Joint Terrorism Task Force. He takes our federal government
worked in counterterrorism for Herman shared his own per- made leading up to 9/11, how
the FBI from 1974 until his re- sonal experience of watching the he felt about current events in
tirement in July of 1998. His re- events of Sept. 11, 2001 unfold on Afghanistan and having unvet-
tirement party was held at Win- television, and his initial hunch ted refugees in our country, and
dows on the World, which was at that Al-Qaeda was responsible. how he became one of the rst in
the top of the North Tower. He spoke about the toll that ter- America to learn who Osama bin
rorism investigations can take on Laden was. Herman o ered his
A few days before the 20th an- both victims and agents, and ex- perspective on whether the Pa-
niversary of the worst terrorist plained why cooperation between triot Act had been used in excess,
attack in U.S. history, Herman local, federal, and international our position in Guantanamo Bay,
sat with me in his living room to law enforcement is so essential and what lies ahead for the future
discuss his career for a taping of when working these cases. of terrorism in America.
this week’s episode of the Hud-
son Valley Uncensored podcast. “ ese cases have to be very He re ected on the cyclical
specialized,” he said. “And you nature of international and
“It’s a sobering day, on the 20th have to have the ability to con-
anniversary [of 9/11], to see the SEE HERMAN PAGE 26

Listen to Hudson Valley Uncensored podcast

• Visit hudson-valley-uncensored.captivate.fm
• Search for the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or Audible
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PAGE 4 MAHOPAC NEWS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

FIREFIGHTERS bell was rung and all stood
respectfully in solemn re-
FROM PAGE 1 membrance.

retired FDNY re ghter “As we re ect on the
and former Chairman of 20th anniversary of the
the Board of the Mahopac 9/11 attacks, it is our job
Volunteer Fire Depart- as senior members and of-
ment, served as master of
ceremonies. A memorial cers to pass down to the
wreath was placed by Past junior members the his-
Mahopac Fire Commis- tory of what took place,
sioner Ronald Smith. so that no one ever for-
gets the men and women
A moment of silence who gave their lives on
was observed, coincid- that horrible day,” said
ing with the times of Jim Stasiak, chief of the
the plane attacks on the Mahopac Volunteer Fire
World Trade Center, as a Department.

Members of the Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department at the 9/11 memorial at the firehouse PHOTOS: MAUREEN DALY

Mahopac firefighter Charles Paroubek ringing the bell during the fire
department’s 9/11 service on Saturday.

Elect April Daly
Carmel Town Council

now open! The County took away the Lake Mahopac
Sherriff’s Patrol and our Board said nothing.
www.mycousinsmahopac.com
call 845 648 2600 for reservations What did the Town Board’s silence cost us?
- a new boat
954 Route 6 Mahopac 10541 - major repairs to the existing boat
- increased operation & maintenance costs
- increased storage costs
- increased overtime

I will fight for the people of Carmel

to bring back more sales tax dollars

from the County - 25% is not enough!

Leadership for Change

Paid for by Friends of April Daly www.AprilforCarmel.com

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 MAHOPAC NEWS PAGE 5

Students welcomed back to Mahopac schools
Stay tuned next week for more back-to-school photos

Students returned to the Ma- Austin Road Principal Bryan Gilligan welcoming students
hopac schools on Friday, Sept. 10, back to school.
kicking o a new school year full
of hope for full-time, in-person
learning.

“It’s great to have everybody
back,” Superintendent Anthony
DiCarlo said. “Socialization is
such an important part of educa-
tion. We’ll not only have in-per-
son learning, but the full return of
all athletic seasons, extracurricu-
lars and co-curricular programs
that add so much to student de-
velopment.”

e joy students felt at seeing
their friends and teachers was
easy to see as they stepped o
buses to schools that some had
not seen in 18 months.

e transition grades – kin-
dergarten, rst, sixth and ninth
– started on ursday to give the
youngest students time to adjust
to a new building.

At Mahopac High School, the
educators designed a schoolwide
scavenger hunt to give the fresh-
men a fun way to explore the
building on ursday. ere was

SEE SCHOOLS PAGE 24 PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MAHOPAC CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Mahopac Middle School Principal Tom Cozzocrea welcoming students back. Mahopac Middle Schoolers and Superintendent Anthony
DiCarlo

Marianne Chaluisan

Creator of
Mahopac Moms