Vincent Piccolino

Vincent "Vinny" Piccolino was a retired New York City firefighter whose career with the Fire Department of New York included fifteen years at Ladder 166 in Coney Island and service in the response to the World Trade Center after the attacks of 11 September 2001. Born on 15 January 1963 in the Bronx, he grew up in Long Beach, New York, and attended Long Beach High School. Before joining the FDNY he worked at Newsweek. Colleagues and family knew him simply as Vinny: a firefighter who made time for others and kept close ties to the Long Beach community where he raised his family.

On the job he served with Ladder 166, a Brooklyn company covering Coney Island. Ladder work meant truck duties, forcible entry, search and ventilation on structure fires, and the daily rhythm of company life that binds a firehouse together. He responded to the World Trade Center after 11 September 2001. Like many firefighters who worked that site, he later faced serious health consequences linked to that service. The FDNY said he died on 27 September 2026 from a World Trade Center-related illness. He was 63. His family said he had battled cancer four times, facing each illness with the same resolve that defined his working life.

Away from the firehouse he built a long marriage and a close family life in Long Beach. He and Claudia Roessner were married for 26 years. They had three children: a daughter, Angelina, and twin sons, Anthony and Johncarlo. He is also survived by his brother, John; his sister-in-law, Patti; and their children, Jessica and Michele. His parents, John and Rosemarie Piccolino-Scoma, predeceased him. Those who knew him described a compassionate, approachable man who valued ordinary time with family and friends on the barrier island he never really left.

His family said his legacy of love, courage and community service would continue to inspire people who knew him. A wake was held at Christopher T. Funeral Home on Long Beach Road in Island Park. A funeral Mass was celebrated on 2 October 2026 at St. Ignatius Martyr Roman Catholic Church on West Broadway in Long Beach. In lieu of flowers, the family asked for donations to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, an organisation based on Staten Island and closely associated with the memory of FDNY members lost on and after 9/11. SILive.com reported his death with confirmation from the department, preserving the outline of a career cut short by illness tied to that service.