HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
Daily News readers’ generosity ensures kids of slain cop will be ...
THEY’LL BE home for Christmas.
Generous New Yorkers gave the family of slain Officer Miosotis Familia a new home for the holidays — and they couldn’t believe their eyes.
“Oh, my God. No way!” shrieked Familia’s 12-year-old son Peter Vega as he walked into the spacious new abode, a threebedroom co-op in the Skyview Towers in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.
The early Christmas present for Familia’s three children came courtesy of residents from all five boroughs who donated to funds established by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which raised $429,318, and the Daily News, which collected $263,682. Managers of the Skyview Towers, which overlooks the Hudson River, contributed $125,000.
A total of $818,000 was raised for the new home.
Contributors were moved by the death of Familia, 48, a dedicated police officer who was shot at point-blank range on July 5 when a man with a history of mental problems ambushed her on a Bronx street.
She was sitting inside an NYPD mobile command unit when the killer opened fire without a word or a warning.
Familia’s murder struck an emotional chord with New Yorkers, who identified with the single mother of three. She was also caring for her own elderly mother.
“We would know what it’s like to lose someone significant in our lives, and then to lose your mom, a single parent, so their life is certainly upside down,” said Tunnel to Towers Chairman Frank Siller. “To bring something to them that’s going to give them some comfort and stability in their lives, it’s a joy to be able to do it.”
The foundation helps first responders and members of the military. And it honors Firefighter Stephen Siller, a 9/11 hero who strapped 60 pounds of gear on his back and ran through the Battery Tunnel to the World Trade Center, where he died trying to save others.
On Wednesday, Familia’s oldest daughter, Genesis Villella, was nearly speechless as she walked through the cavernous living room past a Christmas tree illuminated in white and gold.
The family was joined by more than 20 members of the NYPD’s 46th Precinct and the foundation.
“We’re like living in a catalogue,” said 20-year-old Villella, as she eyed her walk-in closet, and sat on a new gray sofa.”
Her thoughts quickly turned to her mother.
“She would love it,” Villella said. “She wouldn’t want us to sit anywhere, it’s too perfect. This is totally her style. It’s very classy and it’s very sophisticated and very modern.”
Villella will share the new place with twin 12-year-old siblings Peter and Delilah Vega.
“It is fantastic that the Familia family is delighted with the new home provided by readers of New York’s Hometown Newspaper and so many other generous New Yorkers,” said Daily News Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Arthur Browne.
“May the children of Officer Miosotis Familia be blessed there, and may memories of their wonderful mother warm their lives.”
Villella said they plan to display their mom’s dress uniform, badge number 7370 and other belongings on their new wooden shelves by the door. “I really love it,” Delilah said of her new room, the first she won’t have to share with her big sister. She was especially impressed with the customized built-in shelves, and the new pink, blue and green quilted cover that was spread across her bed. “I really like the layout of the room, the pop of color, I really like it,” she said. “I didn’t know it was going to be fantastic,” Peter said of his room. “It’s out of like a TV show or something.”
Villella said last year her mom dressed as an elf, complete with bells, before they opened their presents.
She plans to continue that tradition this year in their new apartment with their mother in their hearts.
“There’s a lot of little things like that I’ll definitely be carrying with me this holiday season and the next ones to come,” Villella said. She began to cry. “But I know that this is exactly how she wanted us to spend the holidays, the rest our lives, like this. It’s a privilege to be able to actually have that dream of hers come true.
“I’m really thankful to the Daily News, to Tunnels to Towers and everyone else who helped contribute to make this possible.”