‘One of those special people’

Hundreds of mourners packed a Manhattan synagogue Wednesday to pay their last respects to Cornell grad Julia Hyman, one of the four victims of the Midtown mass shooting — remembering her as a “special” person who went above and beyond for her community.

Friends and relatives gathered to honor the 27-year-old Rudin Management employee at Central Synagogue — less than three blocks from the Park Avenue office building where she was killed — eulogizing her as a hard-worker, mentor for younger staffers and a “highly positive” presence for all around her.

“No words — that has been the overarching theme of so many messages I have received over the past 24 hours,” Hyman’s uncle, Rob Pittman, said during the somber service.

“With seemingly innate emotional intelligence, Julia knew how to connect in a deep and meaningful way with those around her. Julia was truly wise beyond her age,” he said. “Julia knew this and lived life with wide open eyes and courage and conviction. She didn’t just go to the party. She planned it all, made the playlist and served as the DJ.”

Hyman touched so many lives that the synagogue was forced to set up a remote viewing room across the street for funeral attendees, some of whom were too emotional to speak after the service.

“The world doesn’t have a lot of people like that,” said Marva Mitchell, an Upper West Side resident whose daughter played soccer with Hyman at Riverdale High School. “She was one of those special people.”

Hyman was killed by madman Shane Tamura when he stormed into 345 Park Avenue lugging an AR-15-style assault rifle and opened fire, also gunning down Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner, security guard Aland Etienne and NYPD officer Didarul Silam, a 36-year-old married father of two.

She had been an associate at Rudin for less than a year, according to her Linkedin profile, and appeared to have been working late at the management company’s office on the 33rd floor when she was shot.

“Such a waste, such a waste,” retired attorney Siva Subramaniam, whose daughter roomed with Hyman at Cornell, said outside the synagogue. “She loved life, loved food, great cook.

“I don’t know how the parents deal with something like this,” Subramaniam said through tears.

Hyman, a 2020 Ivy League Dean’s list graduate, was a standout on her high school lacrosse team, serving as the squad’s captain.

One mourner, a summer intern at Rudin who left the building just 40 minutes before Tamura opened fire, recalled Hyman as a hard worker and role model.

“She was my friend’s mentor,” he said. “That definitely says something about her, the fact that she was there working late. It meant her work meant a lot to her and her efforts.”

Hyman’s uncle, who recalled her as a flower girl at his wedding, said his niece’s devotion to her family was one of her strongest traits.

“Absorb how many lives your little girl managed to impact and the remarkable person she turned out to be,” Pittman told Hyman’s heartbroken parents during the service.

“Julia got exactly what she needed from you and she really did come out perfect.”