KEARNY —
On Wednesday, Sept. 14, 10 members of Kearny Police Department PBA Local 21 were among approximately 270 cyclists who arrived at the Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan following a four-day marathon bike ride from Washington, D.C.
The annual event, called the Tour de Force, attracts law enforcement officers from across the U.S. who ride in remembrance of 9/11 and to honor all police killed in the line of duty. The 2016 Tour began in the nation’s capital on Sept. 11 and followed a 280-mile route to New York City.
The Kearny riders were: Capt. Scott Macfie, Capt. Timothy Wagner, Lt. Paul Bershefski, Lt. Michael Ryan, Sgt. Michael Gonzalez, Det. John Fabula and Officers Richard Pawlowski, Jonathan Dowie, Jason Rodriguez and Mina Ekladious.
Funds for PBA #21’s 2016 participation came from its hugely successful — and first-ever — Food Truck Festival, held in May. The local is currently finalizing plans for a follow-up, the Kearny Trucktoberfest, scheduled for Oct. 22. For info and updates, visit www.kearnypba.com/foodtrucks.
The Tour de Force began in 2002 when NYPD Det. Robert De Paolis “decided to ride his bike to honor the fallen police officers that gave their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.”
On that inaugural ride, he was joined by seven other members of the NYPD and one member of the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, who cycled from the Pentagon to Ground Zero. Monies raised by the Tour benefit the families of police officers who died in the line of duty.
