Gym for cops, named for NYPD's Anastasios Tsakos, opens in Queens

A Queens Kiwanis club has donated a new gym for cops' use, in memory of an NYPD highway patrol officer from East Northport who was struck and killed last year on the Long Island Expressway, by an alleged drunken driver.

The Officer Anastasios Tsakos Wellness Center — whose funding was supplemented by a private foundation backed by wealthy New Yorkers to raise money for the NYPD — is located in converted garage space at his former barracks, Highway District 3, off the Grand Central Parkway in Queens. The gym includes free weights, an elliptical machine, stationary bikes, exercise balls, and exercise space in the middle, said Bob Monahan of the Kiwanis Club of Ridgewood 3-2-1, which helped spearhead the project.

“It’s for the use of the police officers from Highway, and I think Mounted is also at that location,” said Monahan, of nearby Glendale, Queens, speaking hours after Wednesday's dedication ceremony.

Tsakos, 43, was killed on April 27, 2021, when a car driven by an alleged drunken driver struck him on the LIE, near Exit 26 in Queens as he diverted traffic from an earlier crash.

The driver, Jessica Beauvais, then 32, is accused of fleeing and ramming a police vehicle before being arrested. She faces multiple felony charges, including manslaughter. Beauvais remains in custody at the women's jail on Rikers Island in lieu of $500,000 cash bail or $1.25 million bond, according to city Department of Correction records. Her case is scheduled to be back in court April 5, according to court records.

Monahan said that in Tsakos’ memory, the Kiwanis raised $13,000, which was supplemented by $7,000 from the Police Foundation. The New York Times has reported that the foundation is the only nonprofit allowed by law to donate money to the NYPD.

The gym equipment was acquired at cost from manufacturer RFX Strength, and its president, Dennis Remorca, who renovated the space.

“He put up the machinery, he put up the stuff. He installed it. He transported it,” Monahan said.

Remorca and RFX couldn’t be reached for comment, nor could the foundation.

Monahan said he met Tsakos — who was posthumously promoted to detective — a year or two before the pandemic started, when the Kiwanis sponsored a Christmas party for members of the 104th Precinct and their families.

“Officer Tsakos was there with his motorcycle, and he had the kids sitting on it, you know, taking pictures, and doing all of those other things,” Monahan recalled.

In photos tweeted by the NYPD, Tsakos’ widow, Irene, is shown standing in front of the barracks, along with several dozen cops and a police motorcycle bearing his name.

“His wife, Irene, was there today, and was very, very pleased, and very moved,” Monahan said. “It was just a really nice dedication.”

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.