Slain NYPD Officers Rafael Ramos, Wenjian Liu honored in Rockville Centre tribute

Officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, both of... — Officers Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, both of Brooklyn, were shot and killed on Dec. 20, 2014, as they sat in their patrol car in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. The gunman, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, fatally shot himself when other officers approached him in a nearby subway station. Credit: NYPD

By SID CASSESEsid.cassese@newsday.comJanuary 15, 2015

To those wondering about blue ribbons seen at various sites in Rockville Centre, they honor the two New York City police officers fatally shot last month in their patrol car in Brooklyn.

"These two lives . . . taken from us too soon . . . shed a light on all the brave officers who put their lives on the line every day," Mayor Francis X. Murray said at the Jan. 5 village board meeting.

The ribbons were donated by Mormile Florist in the village. "Village officials made it known they wanted to honor these officers, and we wanted to help," Kathy Nadel, the florist owner, said Wednesday. "We donated 150 ribbons to the village and hundreds more to individual customers who asked for them. If somebody insisted on paying, we asked them to donate instead to a police charity."

The village put up the ribbons on Dec. 23, three days after the fatal shootings in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant section. Spokeswoman Julie Grilli said there are "no plans to take the ribbons down at the moment."