Courtesy of NYPD
The Wall, located at Liberty Street and South End Avenue, was dedicated on Oct. 20, 1997. It now features 828 engraved names.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Among the 18 new names added to the Police Memorial Wall in a ceremony last Thursday in Battery Park City was that of hero Queens Det. Brian Moore.
The son of a retired NYPD sergeant, Moore was shot in the face in Springfield Gardens in May 2015 after asking a suspect what he was fidgeting with in his waistband. His family decided to take him off life support two days later.
During his five-year career, Moore, who worked out of the 105th Precinct in Queens Village, was awarded two Excellent Police Duty Medals and two Meritorious Police Duty Medals for exceptional work. He made 160 arrests. In June, at the NYPD Medal Day ceremony, Moore was posthumously awarded the department’s Medal of Honor.
Detective Randolph Holder, a Far Rockaway resident assigned to Police Service Area 5, also had his name engraved at the solemn site. The Medal of Honor recipient was gunned down last October while responding to a call of shots fired in East Harlem. Tyrone “Peanut” Howard, 30, a recidivist criminal with suspected gang ties, has been charged in the slaying. Holder, 33, a Guyanese immigrant with five years on the force, was mourned days after his murder at a candlelight vigil on Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill.
The Wall now features 828 Finest names engraved in it.
Created in honor of those who lost their lives in the line of duty, the Police Memorial is located at Liberty Street and South End Avenue, and was dedicated on Oct. 20, 1997.
According to the NYPD, architect Stuart Crawford won a juried competition by using water as the primary integrating element. The wall along the edge of the memorial holds the names of the officers and the dates on which they were killed.
The small fountain outside the formal memorial represents the rookie’s First Day. The water flows down the flume past the granite wall, representing death, and then falls into the open pool. The remaining area around the pool is referred to as the “Sacred Precinct,” where contemplation is encouraged, the department noted.
These Members of the Service died in the line of duty as a result of Sept. 11-related illnesses, and received the Distinguished Service Medal. Their names were also engraved last week:
DEP. CHIEF STEVEN BONANO – PATROL BUREAU BROOKLYN SOUTH
INSP. JAMES GUIDA – NARCOTICS DIVISION
CAPT. SCOTT STELMOK – 103 PCT
SGT. PATRICK MURPHY – EMERGENCY SERVICE UNIT 5
SGT. STEPHEN SCALZA – ASSET FORFITURE
DET. JAMES ALBANESE – NARCOTICS DIVISION
DET. LUIS FERNANDEZ – EMERGENCY SERVICE UNIT 6
DET. STUART FISHKIN – FLEET SERVICES DIVISION
DET. JOHN RUSSO – TARU
DET. RICHARD WENTZ – GANG DIVISION
PO JAMES BURKE – FLEET SERVICES
PO PETER CIACCIO – MEDICAL DIVISION
PO CHERYL JOHNSON -115 PCT
PO ROBERT KAMINSKI – FLEET SERVICES
PO SHAUN MAHONEY – 109 PCT
PO PETER RODRIGUEZ – BRONX AUTO CRIME
“This one of our most important ceremonies in the NYPD,” said Police Commissioner Jim O’Neill. “As the police commissioner, I get to participate in many ceremonies, but this is my first at the Memorial Wall and it’s so meaningful to me.”
