Fox on the Beach – NYPD Chief Steve Bonano, a Person of Service
Back in 1979, at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, a student was robbed. NYPD Cops in plain clothes were chasing the guy who did it. Another student, Steve Bonano, actually jumped in and helped them grab him. That was all Steve needed to set his sights on joining the NYPD, and living a…
Read MoreFox on the Beach – It Will Happen When It’s Supposed To – October 14th, 2022
A year ago this week, I was walking in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. I noticed the ground was covered with brown leaves and only a couple of days before they were not there. I took a quick photo. I love taking photos and I pay a lot of attention to the craft of my…
Read MoreFox On The Beach – If not for the pain that day…September 01, 2022
Days after September 11th, 2001, I opened a hand written letter delivered to my office. At the time I was a two star Chief in the NYPD, Chief of Brooklyn South. The writer expressed his gratitude for what police officers did that day, and remembered those who died. I was a younger man, jumping to…
Read MoreFox on the Beach – Serving Us – August 5th, 2022
Two years ago today, a man died, serving all of us. Did you ever look out from our Rockaway Beach and notice that cluster of cargo ships off in the distance, about 10 nautical miles out? A little more than half of all the imported goods come to the United States from cargo ships. Many…
Read MoreFox on the Beach – What Truly Makes America Great – July 1st, 2022
During a recent trip to Washington DC, I took an Uber to my visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I expected it to be an emotionally draining and impactful visit, so as soon as I got in the car I put my head down in my phone to clear as many emails and texts as…
Read MoreFox on the Beach – Of Our Darkest Moments – June 3, 2022
Several years ago I visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC for the first time. It impacted me in a way that nothing else has in my life. Recently, I extended a business trip to DC for one full day, just so I could see the museum again, with no place else to go,…
Read MoreMy Last Hours with my Father
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…
Read MoreFox on the Beach – We Just Move the Rocks – May 4, 2022
As most of our Rockaway residents probably know, they have been doing significant work on the beach, building rock jetties to try to stop the erosion. A few months ago, during an early morning walk on the boardwalk, I stopped to talk to a few of the construction workers. They were standing together chatting, just…
Read MoreFox On The Beach – The Commander – April 1, 2022
A wonderful thing about life is that people touch us along the way and bring us the gifts that last long after they leave us. I was in a classroom on the second floor of the 61st Precinct, Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, the day after I graduated from the Police Academy, in December 1981. Speakers…
Read MoreWords Matter
I have learned that after we experience something in life and we look back, we have a clearer understanding of what actually happened. During the last two years police officers have been vilified, assaulted and murdered at levels we have not seen in decades. Today, our hearts are broken as our city and nation mourns…
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