Mourners, firefighters, pols gather in Commack funeral home for paramedic Alison Russo

FDNY Lt. Alison Russo never slowed down in her commitment to the job in New York City and protecting members of her Huntington community, friends and colleagues recalled as hundreds gathered to pay their respects to the first responder killed Thursday in Queens.

"She never stopped," said Tom Hogan of Cold Spring Harbor, who along with his wife, Judy, rode in ambulances with Russo in the Huntington Community First Aid Squad, where she was a volunteer, for 25 years. "She got off a shift in Manhattan and came to Long Island. She never stopped wanting to help people."

On Monday, her friends, family, fellow firefighters and first responders lined up in the rain outside Commack Abbey funeral home  for Russo's wake. Gov. Kathy Hochul attended the evening session of the wake along with other regional officials, meeting briefly with the family.

Acting FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, who met briefly with Mayor Eric Adams at the funeral home, said Russo's family is struggling for answers about the violent and unprovoked attack.

“As you can imagine they are extraordinarily heartbroken, as are we," she said. "Even as we celebrate her life, we’re still trying to wrap our minds around this senseless act that causes us to lose one of our own. So this is an incredibly hard day for the neighborhood, her family and the entire fire department."

Russo's family arrived in FDNY family transport vans while the paramedic's parents were walked into the funeral home, followed by Russo's daughter, Danielle. FDNY personnel saluted the family as they entered. 

Russo, 61, who had worked as an FDNY paramedic for 24 years, was stabbed multiple times Thursday afternoon in the Astoria section of Queens — around the corner from Station 49, where she was assigned — as she went to get lunch, according to the NYPD.

Peter Zisopoulos, 34, of 41st Street in Astoria, has been charged with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with her death.

FDNY Chief of the Department John Hodgens said members of Russo’s station house looked up to the woman known as “mother hen. By all accounts, she made a lasting impression on everybody that she worked with. She responded to medical emergencies in the streets of New York, and always gave it her all. She always led by example.”

Kavanagh said the department was conducting an investigation into Russo's death and would make recommendations on how to improve paramedic safety.

"I think there's nothing you can say to take away the pain,” Kavanagh said. “You certainly want to. I think part of what the department does is coming together and supporting...  trying to take the weight off even just a little bit. They know that we're here and will stand with them as long as they need us.”

Tom Hogan, who attended the wake, said Russo's loss was felt by the entire volunteer rescue community.

"It's a lesson for everybody," he said. "I think our community has got to understand the commitment of the volunteer. The fact that they sacrifice their life every single day.... You never know what you can run into. So we never know what you're going to see."

Hogan's wife, Judy, called Russo "a spitfire with a great personality. We'll miss her."

The wake, which will continue Tuesday afternoon and early evening, is the beginning of a three-day "celebration of life” planned to honor Russo's life. Monday's service was also attended by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney.

Her funeral will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Brookville.

Zisopoulos, who is being held at Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward, has yet to be arraigned and is being held pending psychiatric exams, according to court officials.

There has been no motive disclosed for the murder.

Hours after the stabbing, eyewitnesses chased Zisopoulos from the crime scene to his apartment, where he barricaded himself before being coaxed out by police hostage negotiators, authorities said.

Russo, who started with the FDNY in 1998, had been a World Trade Center first responder. Friends and colleagues said she planned to retire in the coming months — as she was just short of 25 years on the job after which she would have been eligible to receive her pension.

She is the 1,158th member of the FDNY — and the second from EMS in the past five years — to die in the line of duty, officials said.

Ann Schwartz worked with Russo on the First Aid Squad, where Russo had transitioned to an administrator.

"There are givers and takers and she was a giver. Anyone who does this as a profession and also volunteers says a lot about her," Schwartz said. "There's a high burnout rate in this field and she never burned out. She kept going. It's a tragedy for her family and everyone who knew her."