Inspirational

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.6″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”] A couple of years ago I spent a few solemn hours visiting the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites in Hawaii. It’s a visit I will never forget, and its profound impact stays with me. This week, we will again remember and…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″] 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…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”] 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…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″] 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…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”] 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,…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|auto|-67px|auto||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.3″ _module_preset=”default”] Sunday, March 14, is the first anniversary of when I got sick with COVID-19. It has been a little more than a year that all of humanity has faced the unprecedented challenges of this pandemic. I considered writing about what I believe many…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”] We remember Chief Steve Bonano, who died six years ago today, from 9/11 cancer. Steve was my Executive Officer in Brooklyn South. A great man, with a strong background in policing, including assignments in Aviation (Steve…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ min_height=”1605px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.3″ z_index_tablet=”500″] On January 8, 2018 – a day I call my “other” birthday – I retired from the NYPD after 37 years of service. My career was amazing, a true journey, emotionally and spiritually. I experienced the greatest honors, and inspirations and…

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”] In 2016 and 2017 I would listen to the audiobook by Wayne Dyer, “Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life”, over and over again, when I walked on the boardwalk in Rockaway. The book is a…

Moments like this remind me that I am not a tall man! 😂🦊🤷🏻‍♂️. Meet Ed Fernandez, Tom Binstock and Travis Warfield, Kings Transit Task Force. After a nice chat in downtown Brooklyn I checked my email history because I knew I had spoken to each of them a few times to thank them for their…