WATCH: In Wake of Tragedy, Greenfield Leads Rally to Support NYPD

(VIDEO & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Like many New Yorkers, Councilman David G. Greenfield woke-up Wednesday to tragic news: the assassination of NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia in the Bronx.

“That morning, I tweeted that there was a pall over New York City,” Greenfield said. “That’s because an attack on an NPYD officer is an attack on the entire city, which also means that all New Yorkers are mourning with Officer Familia’s family.”

Greenfield has long used his position in the City Council to advocate for the NYPD, supporting Council proposals to increase officer pensions, install bulletproof windows, and put over 1,000 new officers on the streets. Still, on this particular morning, Greenfield wanted to do more and show Officer Familia’s family how all New Yorkers, even those in Southern Brooklyn, cared about this tragedy.

Soon Greenfield was reaching out to his fellow Brooklyn elected officials. Assemblyman Dov Hikind, Assemblyman Felix Ortiz and Community Board 12 District Manager Barry Spitzer all answered the call, and a rally was scheduled for the following morning at Greenfield’s local 66th Precinct, located at 5822 16th Avenue in Boro Park.

Approximately 100 Brooklynites arrived, including Avi Greenstein of the Boro Park Jewish Community Council and Yeruchim Silber of Agudath Israel of America. They were joined by Jack Meyer from Misaskim, Yanky Daskal from Shomrim, and members of the Asian Civilian Patrol, all groups that work with the NYPD to keep the community safe.

“It is so important for us to come together to support the police department,” Greenfield said. “There are 35,000 men and women from different backgrounds and different races and different creeds and different colors, all of whom signed up to join the police department because they want to make a difference in people’s lives.”

While addressing the crowd, Assemblyman Ortiz revealed that he has close relatives who are police officers, and he said that everyone in his family prays for them at night.

“The only reasons we enjoy all of our freedoms is because the police protect us and defend our right to practice our religion, free speech and free expression. There would literally be chaos without the police,” Greenfield said.

Part of the motivation for the event was to change the conversation about law enforcement in New York City, where Greenfield said it’s become fashionable to yell and scream at the NYPD.

“It’s too easy to beat up on the police and forget that these folks put their lives at risk for the greater good of this city,” Greenfield said. “No organization is perfect, but, by and large, the hardworking men and women of the NYPD are made up of New Yorkers just like me and you who kiss their kids before they leave for work in the morning. The only difference is that they don’t know if they’re going to make it home.”

On Tuesday, Greenfield trekked up to the Bronx to pay his final respects to NYPD Officer Miosotis Familia at her funeral. He joined thousands of police officers and public officials who came to honor Officer Familia for her sacrifice.

View footage from Councilman Greenfield’s Thursday speech here: