Salvatore Papasso, 34, worked as state tax investigator

By David Andreatta
Advance staff write
Friday, 09/28/2001

View full sizeSalvatore T. Papasso

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — As a tax fraud investigator, he dealt with the dark underworld of crime every day. But to Salvatore T. (Sal) Papasso, who never lost his faith in humanity, the world would always be a sunny place.

It was that optimism that kept him smiling.

"He wanted to make a difference. He wanted to make the world a better place," said his wife, the former Christine Cofresi. "If he could have made a difference to one person, life was worth it to him."

In the end, Mr. Papasso's selflessness may have cost him his own life. His family believes he was helping other people evacuate Tower 2 of the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, after a hijacked airplane slammed into the building and it collapsed.

Mr. Papasso, 34, was confirmed dead Wednesday.

Born in Brooklyn, he was brought to New Springfield as an infant and lived there until he moved to Annadale last year.

A graduate of Tottenville High School, Mr. Papasso earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, with a concentration in philosophy, from St. John's University in 1989.

During his years at the Grymes Hill campus, he was active in Alpha Upsilon fraternity and a variety of extracurricular undertakings. He was so involved with his college community, the idea that his future wife was on the same campus never occurred to him.

They would find each other seven years later and fall in love. Mr. and Mrs. Papasso were married in May 2000, then bought their home in Annadale. "The love and bond we shared can never be broken even with the distance of Heaven and Earth," Mrs. Papasso said.

After graduating from St. John's, Mr. Papasso worked in security at the Plaza Hotel, where his clientele included notables such as Donald Trump.

>From there he joined the New York State Department of Taxation as an investigator. He started his career with the agency in the Petroleum, Alcohol and Tobacco bureau and moved to the Revenue Crimes bureau last year. His office was on the 86th floor of Tower 2.

Moments after the first of two hijacked airliners crashed into the north tower, Mr. Papasso called his wife, who was watching the calamity unfold from her office in Hanover Square. Despite his proximity to the disaster, he was collected and actually allayed his wife's fears during the conversation.

That doesn't surprise Andrew Agostinacchio, a lifelong friend, who said Mr. Papasso was always a voice of reason.

"If you needed something and you wanted someone to talk to, you could always speak to him," Mr. Agostinacchio said.

But the confidant and moderator hats weren't the only ones Mr. Papasso wore. He was a fun-loving family man, a jokester, a performer, and usually the center of attention.

As a boy, Mr. Papasso and his friends used to dress up like members of the rock band Kiss, makeup and all, and lip-sync to the delight of neighborhood children. As an adult, he never had a problem holding the floor.

"He was fun to be around, always joking and laughing," Mr. Agostinacchio said. "He never had a bad side to him."

Mr. Papasso was an avid golfer and enjoyed following ice hockey. He also loved his dog, a Dalmatian named Spot.

At the time of his death, he was attending the College of Staten Island, taking prerequisite courses to enroll in a master's of business administration program. He and his wife were also planning to start a family in the near future.

In addition to his wife, Christine, surviving are his parents, Salvatore and Theresa Papasso, and his brothers, Vincent and Thomas Papasso.
