By Alexander Dworkowitz
For years the residents of Kalmia Avenue in Flushing watched Michael J. Cawley play sports, hang out with his friends and blast a boom box on their street.
Cawley caught the attention of his neighbors one more time last Thursday.
Friends, family, firefighters, politicians, students at St. Mary's Nativity School and neighbors gathered at the corner of Kalmia Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in a street-renaming ceremony in honor of Cawley, one of the 343 firefighters killed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
A sign reading “Firefighter Michael J. Cawley Place” was unveiled on a pole at the Parsons Boulevard intersection.
“He was a beam of life,” said the firefighter's mother, Margaret Cawley.
Michael Cawley, 32, served with Ladder Co. 136 in Elmhurst. On Sept. 11, he caught a ride to the World Trade Center with Rescue 4 at the end of his shift to participate in the effort to save people in the two buildings.
“In the end, he made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of countless other people,” said Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing).
Firefighter John Kearns, who served with Cawley in Ladder Co. 136, remembered his companion as a fun-loving and “neighborly kind of guy.”
“I think Mike knew a bartender in every town from here to the Hamptons,” he said.
Fire Capt. Eugene Kelty, who chairs Community Board 7, recalled dropping by Cawley's firehouse and chatting with him.
“No matter where he was, he always had a smile on his face,” Kelty said.
Margaret Cawley recalled how her son would walk through their neighborhood with a boom box when he was a teenager.
“He and a group of friends became a rat pack,” she said.
The firefighter was committed to wearing Fire Department of New York clothing, his mother said.
“He only wore T-shirts, turtlenecks, sweatshirts and caps with the FDNY logo,” she said. “We are sure if there were boxer trunks available with the FDNY logo, Michael would wear them.”
Holding back tears, Margaret Cawley spoke of her son's legacy.
“It is my hope that when people see this sign, they will not only remember Michael, but all of the courageous heroes of 9/11,” she said.
Michael Cawley's career in the Fire Department inspired his younger brother, Brendan Cawley, to try out for the force.
“He was just someone who, from a very young age, just wanted to be a fireman,” said Brendan Cawley, who is working as a bartender until an opening in the FDNY comes up. “He lived and died doing something that he loved.”
Brendan Cawley runs a foundation in his brother's name. The organization pays for the scholarship of a student at Archbishop Molloy High School, which the firefighter attended. The foundation also donates to Mid-Hudson Valley Camp in Esopus, N.Y., a camp for disabled children and adults where Michael Cawley worked.
“He just liked to help people,” Brendan Cawley said. “That's who he was.”
To donate to Cawley's foundation, call 718-359-8430 or log on to www.ffmichaeljcawley.org.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 141.
