NYPD Det. Brian Simonsen among trio honored with bridge renamings

A Manorville overpass not far from the Calverton home of an NYPD detective who was killed while responding to a 2019 robbery will be named in his honor, state officials announced Friday.

The Halsey Manor Road Bridge over the Long Island Expressway will be named for Det. Brian P. Simonsen, a South Jamesport native who served 19 years in the New York Police Department.

Simonsen, 42, was killed on Feb. 12, 2019, by a fellow officer when he and his supervisor responded to an attempted armed robbery at a T-Mobile store in Richmond Hill, Queens.

The bridge renaming “is really just a testament to our gratitude and our condolences to his family for the extraordinary deeds that he and our law enforcement do every day,” State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) said Friday. “We put our heads on the pillow at night because of the work that they do.”

The bridge is one of three Long Island overpasses that will be renamed to honor public servants, state officials said.

An overpass at the intersection of Horseblock Road and the Long Island Expressway in Medford will be named for Niel Marturiello, a former Medford fire commissioner and Vietnam War veteran who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center. Marturiello, 75, known as “Mr. Medford,” died last  September after a long illness, said State Sen. Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue).

“He was a very dear friend, truly one of the nicest, most giving persons you’ll ever meet,” Murray said Friday. “Everybody would just turn to Niel. You needed help for anything, he never asked questions except, ‘How can I help?’ ”

In Brentwood, the Crooked Hill Road overpass over Sagtikos State Parkway will be named for state police Senior Investigator Thomas M. O’Neill, state officials said. O’Neill, 56, an Islip resident, suffered a fatal heart attack in July 2005 while making an arrest, according to an online obituary. 

In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the renamed bridges “forever pay tribute to their lives and to the spirit which defines the best of our state.”

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.