Post by coots on Dec 20, 2011 14:06:30 GMT -5
Force of 20,000 in Final Salute to Hero Cop Figoski
e young daughters wept, hugged each other — and, in one particularly touching moment, paused to rest their hands on their father’s casket one last time — as they joined a throng of some 20,000 red-eyed cops, relatives and friends in and around their family’s Babylon, LI, church to honor their devoted dad
An emotional Mayor Bloomberg posthumously bestowed the title of detective first grade on the beloved Figoski, who was gunned down during a drug robbery-gone-awry last week.
“Knowing your father was a hero doesn’t make these days any easier for you,’’ a grim-faced Bloomberg acknowledged to Figoski’s daughters, Christine, 19; Caitlyn, 18; Caroline, 16; and Corinne, 14.
“As the father of two daughters, I understand the bonds you shared with your dad — and how much you miss him now.”
The black Cadillac hearse carrying Figoski’s body had arrived at the church to a mournful drumbeat as the huge sea of blue — thousands of cops in their dress blues and white gloves, alternately fighting back tears and openly weeping — flooded the streets to honor him.
As his casket was removed and brought inside, the officers stood solemnly at attention and saluted. Some immediately broke down in tears.
The Finest included hundreds of uniformed cops standing on a nearby LIRR platform because that was the only place they could get a glimpse of the scene.
Figorski’s funeral also drew cops from as far away as Chicago, Baltimore and Boston.
About 1,000 people packed inside St. Joseph’s Church — but more than 19,000 others, some who had parked and walked from a mile away, listened silently standing outside, as the touching eulogies given by Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were broadcast on speakers in the cold, crisp nearly winter air.
e young daughters wept, hugged each other — and, in one particularly touching moment, paused to rest their hands on their father’s casket one last time — as they joined a throng of some 20,000 red-eyed cops, relatives and friends in and around their family’s Babylon, LI, church to honor their devoted dad
An emotional Mayor Bloomberg posthumously bestowed the title of detective first grade on the beloved Figoski, who was gunned down during a drug robbery-gone-awry last week.
“Knowing your father was a hero doesn’t make these days any easier for you,’’ a grim-faced Bloomberg acknowledged to Figoski’s daughters, Christine, 19; Caitlyn, 18; Caroline, 16; and Corinne, 14.
“As the father of two daughters, I understand the bonds you shared with your dad — and how much you miss him now.”
The black Cadillac hearse carrying Figoski’s body had arrived at the church to a mournful drumbeat as the huge sea of blue — thousands of cops in their dress blues and white gloves, alternately fighting back tears and openly weeping — flooded the streets to honor him.
As his casket was removed and brought inside, the officers stood solemnly at attention and saluted. Some immediately broke down in tears.
The Finest included hundreds of uniformed cops standing on a nearby LIRR platform because that was the only place they could get a glimpse of the scene.
Figorski’s funeral also drew cops from as far away as Chicago, Baltimore and Boston.
About 1,000 people packed inside St. Joseph’s Church — but more than 19,000 others, some who had parked and walked from a mile away, listened silently standing outside, as the touching eulogies given by Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were broadcast on speakers in the cold, crisp nearly winter air.
