Poetry

What was standard, was not anymore. No two memorial services were the same. Few bodies had been recovered. Families had memorial services only, wake services in funeral homes, but without a body. My sister and brother-in-law decided to do that for Michael. My nephew Michael’s “wake” snuck up on me. Days before, just when I…

I was living in Marine Park, Brooklyn, when Hurricane Sandy struck, but I was drawn to the affected areas, especially Rockaway. My typical day began at 7 am and ended after midnight. There were Police Commissioner briefings in the morning, but after I would spend my time up and down the blocks of Rockaway, looking…

Recently I was walking on the grounds of the World Trade Center. Close to this 20th anniversary of September 11th, I thought about the months after. I remembered the fear and uncertainty, the shock and the sadness, but the memory that struck me most was how our world seemed to pause then. The manifestations of…

A couple of months after September 11th, 2001 I paid a Shiva visit to pay my respects for the passing of the mom of a friend. In my dress uniform, about to walk up the few steps of the front porch of their home in Brooklyn, I stopped and thought to myself, I have nothing…

When I was a boy my Uncle Eddie would ask me at family gatherings, “Where does your daddy work?” I’d answer proudly, “My daddy doesn’t work; he’s a cop.” Everyone would laugh, but I didn’t know why. Many years later I realized why I answered the way I did. Neighbors regularly came to my father…

I am so honored to have been invited to be a contributor to The Wave. I referenced sharing purposeful moments in the title of this column. I thought a discussion of what that means to me would be a great start. As many know, I enjoy an active presence on social media. Anyone who sees…

He struggled to lift his arm and place his hand over my badge.  At about three o’clock in the morning, I decided to visit him in the hospital.  He was seventy-nine years old and he would die in three hours. I was on my way home from a late night at work, still in my…

Meet Mike Mannino, and the VIP in this photo, his son Robbie. Mike came over to me and said, “Chief, I am the mystery cop, the one in the photo by the Wonder Wheel.” In the early 2000s in Brooklyn South we came up with a postcard, a collage of photos of iconic locations in…

We remember Detective Louie Miller, especially this time of the year. He sacrificed his life for us on March 11, 1987. In December, 1981, my first day on the job after graduating the Police Academy, I met a man who I would remember and look up to for the rest of my life. Louie Miller…