ALWAYS A HERO
Slain officer was ‘definition of a cop’s cop’
There’s no funeral home big enough to hold the fortunate folks whose lives were touched by Detective Brian Simonsen.
His NYPD co-workers. His mother, his wife. His Long Island neighbors. The people who lived in his precinct. New friends, old friends. And kids of all ages.
“Brian Simonsen was the greatest person that ever lived,” said his old partner Terrence LeGrady, surrounded Wednesday by a teary group of his friend’s myriad admirers. “We would need a football stadium to (hold) the actual number of friends he had.”
The 19-year NYPD veteran, killed Tuesday in a friendly fire disaster while responding to a robbery call, created a legacy of hard work and success during his career in the 102nd Precinct in Queens.
“The definition of a cop’s cop,” said NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan. “Everyone in that precinct knew Brian, knew him well. It wasn’t just the cops. It was the community — the store owners, the building owners, the superintendents.”
Childhood friend Brian Minnick, 41, recalled how Simonsen earned the nickname “Smiles” by staying positive through a series of youthful tragedies: his 13-year-old sister killed by a car, his dad committing suicide.
His 1995 Riverhead High School yearbook even cites the one-time varsity baseball and football player for “Best Smile.”
“He was always smiling even though he had such a rough time,” recalled Minnick. “I think that’s why he did what he did as a career, to try to help fight through the things that happened to him.“
Richmond Hill resident Polo Savinon, born seven years before Simonsen’s 2000 arrival in the 102nd, praised the slain officer’s ability to balance police work with people skills.
“This wasn’t just a person who lived by the badge,” said Savinon, 26. “This was a person who lived with human instinct. His job was who he was. He was a real hero. “He’ll always be a hero.” Simonsen, 42, spent his entire career in the same precinct, working his way up through the ranks while becoming a familiar figure on local streets. The cop became just as well known on the streets of his suburban Suffolk County town.
Dave Mosciatti, 43, who lived near Simonsen in Calverton, L.I., recalled his friend as a revered neighborhood figure. The local hero hosted a Super Bowl party just nine days before his death, and his door was always open.
“Great guy, great friend to so many people,” said Mosciatti. “Always smiling, loved sports. The life of the party, the center of the block. It’s a lot of shock going around right now.”
LeGrady, speaking outside his slain friend’s home, recalled how Simonsen his friend grew up on Long Island and left behind a widow and his mom. Though the couple had no children, there was a legion of kids who knew the late cop as “Uncle Brian.”
“He had a lot of nieces and nephews and a lot of friends’ children that called him (that),” said LeGrady. “He was the person who showed up at your house if your kid was missing a baseball mitt — and he would buy a brand new mitt for the kid.
“He was the most genuine person that I’ve ever known.”
Mosciatti, the father of two boys ages 9 and 12, said the death left his kids in tears. The slain officer found time to chat with the boys, no matter the subject — even the Power Rangers.
“He left an impression on me and my kids, and I respect that,” said Mosciatti.