First Town Spray Park To Be Named For Slain NYPD Cop
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By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com
The town’s first spray park, planned to open in Elwood Park next summer, will be dedicated to the memory of a slain NYPD cop from Greenlawn, town officials announced Monday.
Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo, a 19-year NYPD veteran killed in the line of duty Nov. 4, 2016, used to visit the Cuba Hill Road park with his family, wife Lisa and sons Austin, 5, and Joseph, 4.
After discussions between Lisa, the NYPD and Town of Huntington officials, Supervisor Frank Petrone announced that Sgt. Paul Tuozzolo Memorial Spray Park is planned to open in time for next summer.
“We hope this spray park will be a place where Austin and Joseph can relive fond memories of their dad,” Petrone said. “This spray park will be a testament to the exemplary way Paul Tuozzolo led his life, as a police officer, as a husband and as a dad.”
Spray parks typically feature water attractions like sprinklers and pools. The town’s first spray park is planned to span 2,500 square feet and consist of a 1,600-square-foot active play area, shade structure, six park benches, 4-foot vinyl-coated chain link fence and a memorial trellis bearing the park’s name.
Lisa Tuozzolo, during the announcement Monday, said the “dedication is a fitting tribute to the devotion he [Paul] had toward his children.
“I know that he is smiling down with great pride, knowing that his boys will have laughter and smiles at this spray park,” she added. “His passion for children did not end and the end of the work day. The two most important children in his life were his sons and the moment he walked through the doorway upon returning from work, our home lit up as bright as the sun from the smiles on everyone’s face.”
NYPD Patrol Bronx Borough North Assistant Chief Larry Nikunen, who worked with Paul Tuozzolo in the Bronx at the 43rd Precinct, said, “We never forget the members of our department who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. It is something that is very sacred to us as members of the NYPD.
“It is also important that people outside the NYPD understand what kind of man, what kind of officer Sgt. Tuozzolo was. That’s why the NYPD is extremely grateful to Supervisor Petrone and the Town of Huntington that they are creating a lasting monument.”
Canada-based Waterplay Solutions Corp. has been tapped to build the planned spray park, which will cost an estimated $450,000. Town officials said “a good portion” of the funding will come by the developer of the Seasons at Elwood as part of its community benefits agreement. Other funding will come from the Park Improvement Fund.
Officials will finalize the design over the next few months and plan to begin construction in March, with an estimated opening window of the beginning of next summer.
Also in attendance Monday were local officials, community members, representatives of both the NYPD and Suffolk Police Department, and Austin Tuozzolo’s kindergarten class at Harley Avenue Primary School.
Looking ahead, Lisa said she hopes the spray park will be “something families can talk about for years to come with their children. She said, “They’ll be able to say it was named after a police officer who was a hero. It’s not about how he died, it’s about how he lived, and he lived being a hero.”
