By COLlive staff
Photos by Menush Amit, Video: Itzik Roytman
The top brass of the New York Police Department, elected officials and community leaders of Crown Heights gathered in Crown Heights on Tuesday for a Farewell Salute event for Detective Vinny Martinos, the retiring community affairs officer of the 71st Precinct.
Martinos, a known fixture in the neighborhood, served his 28-year career at the precinct in central Brooklyn which covers the southern portion of Crown Heights, Wingate, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
The event was hosted by Devorah Halberstam, Honorary NYPD Commissioner for Community Safety, and 71st Precinct Clergy Liaison and co-founder of the Jewish Children’s Museum where the event was held, and Mica Soffer, CEO and Publisher of community news service COLlive.com.
The event also served as a welcome for Officer Mike Baratta and Officer Charles Davis, who will be stepping into Martinos’s role leading community affairs for the Crown Heights community in the 71st Precinct.
Martinos took an active role in shaping happenings and occurrences in the community. In addition to crime prevention and responding to the local waves of anti-Semitic attacks, he worked been working hand-in-hand with community organizations and institutions to plan and hold major public events and communal affairs.
Thanking him were officials from the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council (CHJCC), Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch, NCFJE, Associated Beth Rivkah Schools, Oholei Torah, Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), Mitzvah Tank Office, Chabad on Air, and the patrol groups Shmira and Shomrim.
The invocation was delivered by Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, Director of Merkos 302.
A special guest at the event was NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, who spoke warmly of Detective Martinos and his dedication to the NYPD and the Crown Heights community.
“There’s a lot of talk about neighborhood policing, but this is it in action,” Commissioner Shea said. “Developing bonds, having people come out to say thank you for your service… there really is no greater gift than that. That’s what neighborhood policing is all about.”
In attendance were Chief of Community Affairs Jeffrey Maddrey, Assistant Chief Brian Conroy, Deputy Chief Chuck Scholl, Inspector Tito Romero of the 71 Pct., Inspector Frank Giordano, Commanding Officer of Community Affairs Outreach Captain Richie Taylor, Lt. Ira Jablonsky and other members of the NYPD.
Speakers during the evening spoke warmly – and many emotionally – about the devoted work of Detective Martinos and how he navigated an extremely diverse neighborhood with complex issues, from the heavy influx of Jewish visitors every holiday season to the hosting of the annual Caribbean Day Parade for millions of people.
“None of us in this room can measure the impact that Vinny had on this community,” said Chief Maddrey in his remarks. “In the interactions, the direction, the kind words…so many things you have done in the past 28 years in this community,” he said.
“Vinny personifies what we are looking for in the NYPD,” said Chief Scholl, praising his work in Crown Heights to “bring all the different religions and ethnicities together.”
“You’ve done so much for this community, and it shows…” said Inspector Romero. “A lot of the success of the 71st is because of Vinny’s work,” he said and added with emotion, “I love you man, and I miss you already.”
Speakers noted that Martinos was devoted to the community’s needs, always available and dependable, and is a caring friend to all, regardless of who they are.
“Vinny spent more than half his life in the service of the NYPD, and all of it in the 71st Precinct under the leadership of many Commanding Officers,” said Halberstam, who worked together with the detective for the benefit of the community and praised his years of dedication.
“Vinny, you were more than a phone call away,” she said. “You were present. you were there through the good times and bad times. You understood the diverse communities that you served. You were charged with the mission to protect and serve, and you did that honorably and with distinction. You made fair and right decisions always concerned about the communities, collectively and individually.
“You were reliable, dependable, day and night. You are a trusted friend to many, and although you are moving on with your life, you will always be interwoven with the Crown Heights community,” she said.
Also at the event were Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Deputy Borough President Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Eli Slavin representing Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, and representatives of Kings County District Attorney, New York City Council Majority Leader Laurie Cumbo and Community Board 9.
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