Gold-Plated 9/11 Memorial Rose Stolen from Church of St. Francis of Assisi—Thief Caught, Rose Still Missing

It’s not easy to upset a Franciscan friar but it is possible.

Take the brazen thief who at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday November 20, stole a gold plated rose from the 9/11 memorial at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi at 135 West 31st Street for example.

Who did what?!

Even among the hardened police beat reporters of Midtown South this was a shocking, and repulsive act.

The crime was even more baffling because the alleged perpetrator, who was caught on video camera calmly walking down the street, carrying a large gold-plated rose, did not look—let’s be honest—disturbed, disheveled or otherwise desperate, as so many suspicious characters in this precinct do, be they suffering from homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness or some combination of such ailments.

No, the young, brown-skinned man with a thin black moustache looked neatly dressed, and he wore no mask, no hat nor a hoodie to hide himself. In his right hand, he holds a gold-plated rose. In his left hand, he even appears to be carrying a cup of coffee and some kind of paper bag, perhaps with lunch inside.

Just another New Yorker hustling to get things done in the City of Yes.

Seen outside the context of an NYPD wanted poster, he would likely arouse no suspicion, save to those who recognize the sacred object he is bearing as he walks east on West 31st Street.

“Hey Jimmy! Didja see that?” one can imagine a construction worker on the block saying to a pal.

“See what?”

“That guy was carrying the rose from St. Francis!”

“The gold rose?”

“Yeah, from 9/11.”

“Get the f*** outta here. Are you sure?”

“How many gold roses are there on this block?”

“Maybe he’s an art handler.”

“And the rose is getting restored?”

“We better hope.”

Alas, such optimism would have been misplaced—the golden rose was stolen, and soon it and its pilferer were gone

The gold-plated rose came to St. Francis of Assisi under the worst circumstances possible: the terror and tragedy of 9/11, during which St. Francis’ then pastor and FDNY Chaplain Father Mychal Judge, who was ministering in the lobby of the North Tower when shortly after 9:59 a.m., he was killed by debris from the just collapsed South Tower. A photograph of Judge being carried away from by dust covered firemen and others is among the most iconic images of that horrific morning.

One of Father Judge’s legacies is the St. Francis of Assisi 9/11 memorial, which was donated to the church twenty-ones ago via the efforts of a local ironworkers union. The sculpture comprises three pieces of damaged steel from the WTC site with the gold plated rose rising from it to, according to a church press release, “transcend the senseless brutality with an enduring promise of hope.”

This type of resolve is evident in Father Brian Jordan’s reaction to the rose’s theft.

While the perpetrator of the heist was unidentified, he wasn’t unfamiliar and had in fact previously been removed from St. Francis of Assisi for what Father Jordan called “bizarre behavior.”

“We’re grieved and saddened by the act of desecration,” Father Jordan told reporters afterwards. “We’ve seen him a number of times— he’s like a lone ranger, lone wolf,” the cleric explained. “Had he asked for help, I would help him...He just shied away from any type of contact.”

“We hope this troubled man turns himself into the police, and they, in turn, will send him to the nearest psychiatric facility so the healing process can begin.”

“It’s a wake up call for the city,” Jordan added. “You know the term, ‘There’s nothing sacred anymore?’ It should be. It’s a wake-up call that we have to put more resources into helping people with mental health problems.”

The afternoon following the theft, the Church held a Ritual Sanctification, blessing the remaining parts of the 9/11 memorial with holy water “as a sign of purification.”

But who was the thief? And where was the golden rose?

The answer came that very next day, Friday November 22, when, according to the New York Post, the father of 21-year-old Bronx-resident Deikel Alcantara turned his son over to police.

Alcantara was charged with grand larceny, a 4th degree felony, for stealing the $3,000 rose—the sculptural element was itself missing.

Whether Alcantara hid it or more likely sold it in one of Manhattan’s numerous open air stolen goods bazaars is unclear.

Appearing in court the next day, Alcantara did not appear chastened. To the contrary, despite having an outstanding second-degree assault case against him—he attacked a senior citizen with a pipe on October 24—Alcantara appeared to have found his predicament amusing.

“Let the record reflect that this defendant has been laughing for the whole time,” said Judge Simiyon Haniff. “This is a big joke to him, that’s what this is. This is a big joke for you, right?”

Alcantara was ordered held on $75,000 bail.

He is presently being held at the Eric M. Taylor Center in East Elmhurst, Queens. According to the Department of corrections, Alcantara is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 140 lbs and was born in the Dominican Republic.

Alcantara was expected back in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday Dec 3.