Raising Money For Moore Statue

On Saturday, Sept. 19, the Massapequa community gathered once again to show their support for the late police detective Brian Moore. This time, the community rallied to raise money for a statue in Moore’s honor.

Laurie Logan, owner of Flowers By Edwards at 1079 N. Broadway in Massapequa, gave up her shop to host supporters and helpers. Massapequa resident Liz Franks, was one of the instrumental organizers of the day

“My husband is a Suffolk County police officer and he knew Brian and his family—we’re all kind of like one big family,” said Franks, who, a few weeks ago was driving down Hicksville Road and saw that all of the blue bows were faded and worn. “I contacted Laurie and that night, she had 200 bows ready at her house to start refurbishing everything. It took about a week to get all of Hicksville Road done and as we were hanging up the bows, we had cars honking and giving us thumbs up and saying thank you.”

Franks said that people pulled over on the side of the street to try and give her money, but she didn’t want to take anything as Laurie and Flowers By Edwards donated everything. After seeing this, Franks suggested doing another event in the community.

“Laurie said ‘whatever you want to do, the store is yours,’ so we looked at a couple of dates and the 19th wound up being National Thank A Police Officer Day, so it was perfect,” said Franks. “Within about two weeks, we put the whole event together. Up on the Wall Designs next door from the flower shop got involved, Nicolette’s garden center got involved and a ton of local businesses contacted us and donated everything that they could.”

The event sold everything from car decals, T-shirts, cups, bracelets and plants. The cost of the statue, which will go in Plainedge Park, is estimated to be about $35,000, according to the Town of Oyster Bay. There is also an active petition to name one of the building’s after Moore as well.

Cigdem Leyla, creator/designer of Up on the Wall Designs, also participated by giving away decals.

“I had given away 1,300 ‘Blue Lives Matter’ decals in May,” said Leyla, adding that people came to her house. “We opened the business in July and this is our first event. Business has been good and the community is very supportive.”

As for Franks, Logan and the rest of the Massapequa community, they will do whatever they can until the statue is in place.

“It’s hard saying goodbye to my husband every night,” said Franks. “There are so many people who want to get involved and just don’t know what to do. I would like to thank the entire community: to Laurie and her family who opened their doors; to Al at Bon Anno Realty who dropped off a $500 check, to Broadway Garden and Nursery Center, A & M Seasonal corner, Fairway Market, Balloons by Laurie , sweets from Alyssa Guidice at A Pound & A Half, Athena Harris from Face & Body for face painting and a special thank you to the Moore family supporting us and recognizing that we’re here to help. We will never forget Brian.”