Chance Meeting

Chance Meeting

 
 Inside Out

Monday, September 30, 2002

Steven Scalici's job as a traffic engineer took him to Cleveland on Sept. 8 to observe just how the Cleveland Browns football team manages their crowds. The idea was that by observing their strategies, he could help figure out how the New York Jets can better handle their fans.

Walking with a co-worker, Scalici overheard someone mention "5555," numbers he knew represented the call numbers for the city Fire Department's Staten Island Scuba Squad. He paused, but shrugged off his puzzlement and continued walking.

However, when he heard someone refer to "Staten Island," he came to a halt and struck up a conversation with two men who were interested in the shirt he was sporting -- a tee commemorating the same branch of the FDNY that had lost men in the Sept. 11 disaster, among them CHARLIE “CHUCK” MARGIOTTA.

The name, familiar to all three men, immediately prompted questions as to where Scalici had gone to high school. His reply was Monsignor Farrell, Class of 1974. The two strangers looked at each other quizzically and chimed in -- "So did we."

Since 28 years had come and gone it was understandable that the fellows might have difficulty recognizing one another.

But it turns out that Scalici had bumped into Nick Puglisi and Kevin Coyle. After some chit-chat about just where they were in life, as well as some pleasant recollections of their high school days at Farrell, they revealed exactly what they were doing so far from Staten Island.

Seems that Puglisi works for a Cleveland steel company and Coyle is an assistant coach with the Cincinnati Bengals football organization.

Staten Island Advance