The city's Department of Correction (DOC) honored three captains who died from illnesses linked to their service following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Captains Jacqueline Payden, Raul Gonzalez, and Thomas Weadock were memorialized Friday at the DOC's annual remembrance ceremony on Rikers Island, their names etched onto the department’s memorial stone.
Their addition brings the total to 42 DOC officers who have died from cancers and other 9/11-related illnesses in the nearly 25 years since the attacks. Families of the honored officers received a plaque and a folded American flag in recognition of their loved ones' sacrifices. The ceremony also included the laying of a wreath at the memorial shrine.
"Many have fallen ill from the toxic air they breathed in working day after day, week after week," said Mayor Zohran Mamdani during the ceremony. "I know that no amount of time will make their loss hurt any little bit less."
Daisy Payden, mother of Captain Jacqueline Payden, spoke through tears about her daughter's death at age 50 from cancer. "She was my life. She was my partner in crime. She was everything to me. And she died so young," Payden said. "We have to stay strong, help out each other, stop being so mean and evil to each other. Just give everybody strength, give everybody love."
DOC Investigator Steven Kapczak, who died in 2013 at age 53 from a respiratory illness linked to his 9/11 recovery efforts, was also honored. His sisters, Annie Caputo and Kathy Penafiel, attended the service. "He was dedicated to his job. He was out on those streets doing what he did best. He loved his family and his job just as much. We truly miss him," Caputo said.
Some attendees expressed frustration that the DOC was not more prominently recognized at broader 9/11 memorial services. Ken Schwartz, a retired DOC officer who developed prostate cancer and sinus issues he attributes to his time volunteering in the morgue after the attacks, voiced his disappointment. "You don’t care about law enforcement is one thing but corrections, as they say, is the bottom of the barrel and he couldn’t care less about corrections," Schwartz said. "Even the 9/11 Memorial, we’re not even on the memorial."
Mamdani's departure from the ceremony before its conclusion to attend a security briefing for an upcoming parade drew criticism from some attendees.
The mayor had signed two executive orders earlier that day. One established September 11 as the official Citywide Day of Remembrance and Service, directing city agencies to observe moments of silence and encouraging volunteer participation. The second order established the city's first Continuity and Mission Assurance Team (CMAT), a modernized version of existing continuity of operations teams, to strengthen preparedness plans.
