In East Rockaway, a candlelight vigil honors 2 NYC cops lost to gun violence
East Rockaway Village firefighters were among the attendees Thursday night at a vigil in the village for two NYPD officers shot and killed in Harlem last week. Credit: Jeff Bachner
Miles away from a massive Manhattan memorial service for a slain NYPD cop, an East Rockaway Village park was home Thursday night to a much smaller but equally poignant tribute.
Several dozen attendees gathered at Memorial Park as dozens of lit candles illuminated the scene in honor of NYPD Officer Jason Rivera, 22, who died on the job Friday night in a Harlem shooting, and Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, shot by the same gunman, and who succumbed to his wounds Tuesday.
"We wanted to pay our respects from Long Island, even though they’re not from the area," said village Mayor Bruno Romano. "We still wanted to take the time and remember them. We’re also sorrowful to their families for the terrible, horrific loss of these two young men."
Rivera died Friday night hours after being shot by Lashawn McNeil, who the NYPD said opened fire on the officers as they walked down the Harlem apartment’s narrow hallway. McNeil, 47, was shot by a third officer and died Monday.
The vigil Thursday took place just after 7 p.m. near an outdoor stage at the park, where Romano and other village officials spoke and local clergy led those gathered in prayer.
Rivera's funeral Mass is scheduled for Friday morning at the cathedral.
Chris Balbi, a singer and area businessman, led several of those at the vigil, many tearful, in a version of "Amazing Grace."
"As a community," Balbi told Newsday, "we have to mourn with those who mourn."
Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, a former NYPD detective, praised the community for its support of the police at a time of such heartbreak.
"I can tell you that there is nothing more meaningful than returning here home from your tour of duty and coming home to a community that supports you," he said.
Several former NYPD officers are members of the East Rockaway Fire Department, said Chief David Bilardello.
"It's great that they showed their support to our brothers in blue," Bilardello said of about a dozen uniformed firefighters at the vigil.
Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
