Community rallies in support after the death of NYPD officer Anastasios Tsakos

Funeral services for NYPD Officer Anastasios Tsakos were held at St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church in Greenlawn this morning. A procession from the church to the Tsakos home in East Northport, then to the Northport Rural Cemetery, followed the service.

Tsakos, 43, was struck and killed by an alleged drunken driver as he directed traffic on the Long Island Expressway in the early AM hours of April 27. The Northport and East Northport communities immediately rallied to honor his life and service, and to provide support to Tsakos’ wife, Irene, and their six-year-old daughter and three-year-old son.

Blue ribbons, bows and American flags have been displayed throughout Northport and East Northport since the announcement of Tsakos’ death. The ribbons, purchased for $10, with proceeds going directly to the Tsakos family, were wrapped around trees in the family’s Harley Avenue neighborhood, and across the East Northport area. Flags were hung throughout Northport and East Northport on the day of the service and burial, and a GoFundMe campaign has raised over $224,000 for the family. Local restaurants, bakeries, cafes and delis donated trays of food and other fare to feed the FDNY/NYPD presence throughout the day.

At the church, NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea spoke of Tsakos’ commitment to the force, and how he handled a work-life balance. “While his tenacity and strength made him a leader among his contemporaries, he would shy away from and even downplay the accolades that naturally came as a result of his actions. He knew what was important, and I’m looking at what was important,” Commissioner Shea said, directing his gaze to Tsakos’ wife and children. “He would stay late to finish the job, and then race home, Irene, to you,” he said.

“It’s impossible to summarize in a few words who my husband was and what he meant to us,” said Irene in a eulogy following the commissioner’s.

“Taso was an amazing person, he was the nicest guy you could ever meet. A good man, he truly was. He was kind to everyone and helpful to anyone,” she said “He was a doer. If there was a need for help, and my husband was around, he would do the job. Whether at work or anywhere else. Whether for a friend, a family member, a neighbor, a stranger, you knew Taso would be the first to help. He cared about people, truly cared. If he could make a life a little easier, a little better, he would do it.”

Irene described her husband as an eternal optimist who could alway see the bright side of things, and whose family was his biggest pride and joy. She described the time he would spend with their children, how he was always hands-on, whether making houses out of cardboard boxes, playing in the yard, or letting his daughter style his hair.

“Anytime our kids heard keys at the door, they knew it was Daddy coming home from work and they would scream from excitement," she said. “Everything he did, he did it for them.”

In closing her eulogy, Irene reflected on the life she shared with Taso, and what life would now look like without him. “All I wanted was what I had, nothing else. I had my other half, my best friend, the father of my children. I had him and he had me… I wish we had more time, to watch our kids grow, see them off to college, and get married. I wish we could grow old together, that was the plan. But he was taken from us too soon and now our kids will grow up without their dad. I will make sure they know who he is. Every day they will see his face and learn about all the wonderful things he did and what a hero he was.”