Mikey Flowers
Michael Collarone, known as "Mikey Flowers," is a Tribeca florist who honors victims of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center by donating hand-selected white roses that are placed on their memorial names for their birthdays. I met Mikey in June 2026.
As an EMT, Mikey was a 9/11 first responder and he subsequently volunteered to help remove the 1.8 million tons of debris at the World Trade Center. He keeps a number of relics in his flower shop such as the original rake he was given during his 100 days of recovery work on Ground Zero as well as a bag of dust and ash that he scraped from his clothes each evening when returning home.
I talked to Mikey for about 30 minutes and took the photos below. Before leaving, I apologized to him for bringing so many difficult memories back up to the surface. He looked at me and said:
“It’s okay. This is not an open wound.”
On my way home, I kept thinking about this “open wound” metaphor. I wanted to believe that Mikey had somehow moved beyond the trauma he experienced on 9/11. Yet the relics scattered throughout his shop seemed to tell another story. They are not simply remnants of the past; they are a physical presence that he has chosen to keep close. Maybe it is not an open wound. But perhaps it is a wound that never fully healed.
Mikey is an incredibly kind and generous person. During my visit, he offered me a slice of pizza from the pizza place next door that a friend of his runs. He offered me a bottle of water and even insisted that I take some flowers home for my wife. I respectfully declined all of his generous offers, but when he mentioned that he had published a book containing his first-person account and photographs of 9/11 and the recovery effort, I was honored to get a copy. In return, I gifted him an urn for the dust and ashes. Before handing the book to me, Mikey wrote this personal note inside:
“My dearest Manuel,
Stand Tall Always.”
Mikey poses for a portrait.
A rake can be seen sitting casually on top of a radiator behind him.
Mikey shows the rake he was given to rake through the 1.8 million tons of debris at the World Trade Center site.
He did this work for almost 100 days.
Mikey shows the ashes and dust that he scraped from his clothes each day when returning home from Ground Zero.
He put those in a resealable plastic bag that he keeps in the floral coolers seen behind him on this photo.
A flower shop employee watches as Mikey places the ashes and dust he collected in the urn that I gifted to him.
This was an emotional moment for everyone.
One of Mikey’s hand-selected white roses at the National September 11 Memorial.
Michael Collarone
FloraTech
51 Beach St, New York, NY 10013, United States
+1 212-941-0021