Cover photo: Family and elected officials with a copy of the sign at the Exit 65 overpass (Credit – Matt Meduri)
Last year, the Medford community mourned the loss of a significant community figure.
Deemed “Mr. Medford” by community members, friends, and family, Niel Marturiello was not only a decorated war hero, but also a fifty-year member of the Medford Fire Department, where he served as commissioner, as well as a search-and-rescue operator at Ground Zero in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Marturiello was also Post Commander for the local VFW and American Legion, and was active in the Medford Chamber of Commerce and Medford Taxpayers and Civic Association.
Mr. Marturiello passed away on September 15, 2023, at the age of 75.
Family, friends, firehouse brothers and sisters, and elected officials gathered at the Medford Fire Department on Tuesday afternoon to commemorate an upstanding community member and recognize his selflessness, generosity, and humanity.
Additionally, Mr. Marturiello will be posthumously honored with an overpass renaming in his memory. The overpass of the Long Island Expressway – Horseblock Road, or County Route 16 – at Exit 65 will now be known as the Medford FD Commissioner Niel Marturiello Memorial Bridge.
“Whenever someone asked Neil for anything, as his wife would attest, he never said no. And, you know, I think that that’s what kept him alive for as long as it did. Because he always felt that he had a purpose,” said Assemblyman Joe DeStefano (R-Medford) (pictured below), who carried the Assembly bill to have the overpass at Exit 65 renamed in his colleague’s honor. DeStefano had served alongside Marturiello for forty-five years at the Medford Fire Department.
“He was always recognized as ‘Mr. Medford,’ and if there was a mayor of Medford, he would have been one. That is, by far, his biggest accolade,” said DeStefano, who described the bill’s navigation through Albany as tracking at “mega speed,” and he thanked Governor Kathy Hochul (D) for signing it.
“Some have said, ‘with all of these problems and all of these big issues, why are you concentrating on something like this?’ Why? Because in this time when there’s so much infighting and animosity, and all the negativity that we hear, you need some good news,” remarked Senator Dean Murray (R-East Patchogue) (pictured below), the sponsor of the upper chamber’s version of the bill.
“But the most important thing is because I want to see the day when a family in their minivan drives down the LIE, they see the bridge, and they Google him,” said Murray. “We don’t do this [renaming streets] for just anybody; we do it for those who give back so much and those who don’t ask for anything in return. That’s what made Niel so special. He didn’t want the recognition, he just wanted to help and serve his community.”
Suffolk County Legislator Dominick Thorne (R-Patchogue) (pictured below), Chair of the Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services and Preparedness Committee, remarked that he got to know Marturiello during his first year in office, but he quickly began to learn why ‘Mr. Medford’ was so revered.
“He would never say no. He was at every public event, our firehouses, and our concerts in the park,” said Thorne. “It is right to continue to build people like this up, because if we had more Niels in the world, we would be in a much better place than we are today.”
“His legacy will live on,” said Suffolk County Legislator Nick Caracappa (C-Selden) (pictured below), Chair of the Veterans Committee. “What he did in this community, as most of us do, is for our families, because if we [public officials] don’t do right by our families, then we’re not doing right by anyone else’s families. We made it a point to give all we possibly can, and Niel was certainly one of those men.”
Councilman Michael Loguercio (R-Ridge) said that Medford is unique in that it is “divided” by the Expressway, affording the hamlet two congressional districts, two councilmanic districts, two senatorial districts, and two police precincts.
“It brings a lot more people together because we see what the other side is like, and Niel recognized that,” said Loguercio. “He made friends with all the people that represent this community. The one legacy we will always remember about him is that he never said no.”
Deputy Supervisor and Councilman Neil Foley (R-Blue Point) (pictured below) echoed Councilman Loguercio’s remarks.
“And without his knowledge and passion, I could not have addressed some of the issues in this community,” said Foley. “He was a dear friend, and I will always remember him.”
Linda Davis, former President of the Medford Chamber of Commerce, eulogized Marturiello not only for his commitment to his community, but his passionate fight for awareness after her diagnosis with dystonia.
“He was one of my biggest supporters when it came to my fight for raising awareness and funds for research for a cure,” said Davis. “Whatever anybody, anybody in this community needed, he was the first one there. That man was unstoppable.”
“Dad was the man who we all strive to be in this world,” remarked Marturiello’s son, Michael. “That mentality, that leadership quality, the way that he spoke, the way that he carried himself, and the way that he just bonded with anybody was beyond touching, it was beyond moving. It was genuine, it wasn’t contrived, it wasn’t business-like, it was what he wanted to do. We miss him every day.”
A copy of the overpass marker was unveiled at the firehouse, just as the sign was being formally installed at the Exit 65 overpass, now named the “Medford FD Commissioner Niel Marturiello Memorial Bridge.”
