Â
Dara Onofrio has spent her life along the shores of New York and Connecticut. Now she”™s helping to keep them out of harm”™s way.
From her West Haven, Conn., birthplace to her current home on the Hudson River, Onofrio has a special connection to the water.
“I was born on it, lived on it, saw beauty and horror on it; and it has always provided a source of inner strength for me.” Now, she is able to give something back as a member of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
As a child, with grandpa an engineer on the New Haven train line, going into New York City was not only a regular treat for Onofrio, but gave her a future goal: “There was nothing I didn”™t love about Manhattan: the buildings, the pace, the people, the excitement ”¦ and I wanted to grow up and live there.”
After graduating from her hometown college ”“ sheepskin in one hand and a suitcase in the other ”“ the young graduate got back on the New Haven line into Manhattan with a one-way ticket, determined to make her childhood dream a reality.
She found an apartment and landed a researching job at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where her undergraduate degree in chemistry was put to good use in its molecular genetics department. But after three years in the somber field, the young chemist was ready for a little lightheartedness on the job. “I was proud of the work I did, but something was missing.” No better place to find both commitment, challenge and fun than in Bloomingdale”™s flagship store on East 59th Street, where Onofrio spent the next five years as part of its management team.
“I loved working in various departments, from cosmetics to domestics,” said the scientist now turned manager. Still, the Connecticut Yankee with a rich Italian heritage felt she hadn”™t quite hit her sweet spot. She returned to college, entering Benjamin Cardozo Law School in Greenwich Village, continuing to work part-time at “Bloomie”™s” as she studied law.
“When I started out, I wanted to become a doctor; I never dreamed I would end up taking the bar exam and practicing law,” said Onofrio. “Fortunately, Cardozo has an excellent placement program.”
She was matched with a small law firm where her chemistry degree and work in molecular science, her extensive management skills and law degree were a perfect fit. Onofrio spent a decade with the firm, becoming a patent attorney in the process, finally finding the niche that truly fit: intellectual property and patent law. “All my education and talent seemed to come together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. I had truly found something I wanted to remain in and make it a career.”
By 2000, Onofrio was ready to go into solo practice. She found the perfect location: a small space on the 27th floor of the Woolworth Building “with an amazing view of the World Trade Center.” She had since moved from Manhattan to New Jersey, where she had found “the perfect waterfront apartment with a dazzling view of the city” within walking distance to the ferry that took her to work. Who could ask for more? “A job I loved in the place of my dreams and waking up each morning to see that beautiful skyline.”
One sunny, crystal-clear Tuesday morning, Onofrio woke up late and missed her regular ferry. When she arrived for the next boat out, “Black billows of smoke were coming from downtown Manhattan; at first, I didn”™t think anything extraordinary had happened; there was no parking in the lot, so I ended up going home.” Back at her apartment, she stared from her window transfixed as the Twin Towers”™ collapse played out before her eyes. “Surreal is the only word to describe it. You just can”™t believe it”™s really happening, but it did.”
Since the Woolworth Building was in the “red zone,” no one was allowed into lower Manhattan for weeks. “I will never forget that terrible smell when I was finally allowed to go to my office,” said Onofrio. “I went in, got my computer, and walked out. I couldn”™t go back there.” She moved her office further uptown.
Along life”™s path, Onofrio had discovered Rockland”™s quaint river towns, which reminded her of her childhood home. They soon became a source of comfort after the Trade Center attack. Chancing upon a house for sale ”“ waterfront view ”“Onofrio moved to the Hudson Valley in December 2001. “I also started thinking about buying a boat, so when the Javits Center had its annual show, I went.” Rather than coming away with a handful of pamphlets on pleasure boats, she had a handful of information about the Coast Guard Auxiliary, which had a small recruiting center tucked away on the convention floor.
Onofrio made the total transition to the Hudson Valley in 2006, taking a waterfront office in Piermont.
When she is not busy in her capacity as an intellectual property lawyer, Onofrio is a staff officer for Division 10 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and a founding member of Homeland Security. Some of her flotilla”™s duties include vessel safety checks, harbor patrols, safe boating courses and search and rescue operations. “The Coast Guard Auxiliary is made up of 28,000 members nationwide, and our motto is ”˜Semper Paratus: Always Ready.”™” Onofrio estimates auxiliary members give 2 million volunteer hours to the job each year, patrolling rivers, coastlines and bridges (yes, including the Tappan Zee Bridge) and keeping eyes peeled for suspicious activity.
“I found a way to give back to my country, which has given so much to me,” said Onofrio. And no better place to do it than a place that a part of her life”™s story ”“ on the waterfront.
