Legislator Margaret Cunzio says
her dream to become a firefighter began 41 years ago.
"I'm taking the bulls by the horns,” says Cunzio. “I'm saying
this is something I wanted to do."
During the height of the pandemic, Cunzio, who serves as vice-chair of
the Board of Legislators Public Safety Committee, ensured local fire
departments were covered.
"I said, ‘I feel like I can do more,' and one of them said, 'Why don't you join?'
And I said OK,’” recalls Cunzio.
The lawmaker is now one of a handful of women in the Thornwood fire department.
"She's a spitfire. She's nonstop
when she started, she started right out of the gate full throttle,” says Thornwood Fire Co. 1 President Herbert Doerr.
The 5-foot-3, 100-pound woman also
works as a personal fitness trainer at Armonk’s Equinox Gym. She tells
News 12 her role at this job continues to be an invaluable experience in
becoming a firefighter.
"I tell
people you're never too old to start something new,” she says. "Go for it, because you only have one chance in this lifetime.”
Cunzio is not only
a county legislator and a firefighter in training in Thornwood, it is also her
assigned rig.