Thursday, October 1, 2026
“I am truly blessed to say I love Charles with my whole heart and feel such enormous love for him,” Manhasset resident Joann Santella said of her late brother, Charles P. Lucania.
Lucania, an electrician and an East Atlantic Beach resident, was a victim of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center.
“I chose the words ‘love’ and not ‘loved’ and ‘feel’ and not ‘felt’ because my relationship with my brother is very much alive,” Santella said.
On June 4, Santella, her parents, Joseph and Marie Lucania, and other family members and friends were joined by Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray and Councilman James Darcy for a ceremony at the southwest corner of Oswego Avenue and Beech Street in East Atlantic Beach, where Oswego was renamed Charles P. Lucania Avenue.
More than 50 friends and family members gathered for the ceremony, crowding the corner to see the unveiling of a new street sign honoring Lucania in an emotional yet joyous event.
“The wounds of 9/11 can never really be healed,” said Murray, “… but at the same time, our country has united as never before. The loss of Charles Lucania was one that was felt by many, especially here in East Atlantic Beach. It is an honor to be able to remember the life of Charles today.”
Lucania worked for P.E. Stone Inc., an electrical company. On the morning of Sept. 11, he and his fellow electricians were working in Tower 2 of the World Trade Center, and he was one of three P.E. Stone employees to be reported missing after the attacks.
Charles Peter Lucania was born on Sept. 18, 1966, and was raised in White-stone, Queens. Recalling his younger days, family members described him as fun and adventurous, someone who loved to make people laugh.
In 1997, Lucania bought a home in East Atlantic Beach — on the very block that would be renamed in his honor — because he wanted to be close to the beach, his relatives said.
They described losing him as “devastating,” saying they lost “a living angel” on a heartbreaking day they will never forget.
At the ceremony, Lucania’s family was presented with a commemorative sign by town officials, a duplicate of the new Charles P. Lucania Avenue street sign that was unveiled by several children in the family.
