By Mike Schnitzel
His oldest son, Yevgeniy, wouldn't speak to him for a month.
"He told me I was polluting the environment," the elder Marshalik recounted. "He said that I should either buy a small car or ride a bicycle."
Yevgeniy rode his bike wherever he could, his father said, and was always thinking of ways that he could help save the world around him. That search led Yevgeniy, known to friends as Eugene, to New York City's auxiliary police force, where he felt that he was helping the people around him.
It also led him to Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village on March 14, where he was gunned down by an ex-Marine who had just murdered a pizzeria worker. Yevgeniy was 19.
He came to the United States in 1993 to avoid the internecine conflict in his native Chechnya, hoping to find a life where the sound of gunfire was not commonplace. Eventually settling in a house on the Valley Stream/North Woodmere border, Yevgeniy indulged his numerous interests, which included skiing and bike riding, in addition to his concern for humanity.
Attending Stuyvesant High School, he relished his role on the debate team, discussing topics ranging from protecting the environment to the ever-increasing gap between the country's rich and poor. "If someone else was hurting, it hurt him also," said his father. "He was a very idealistic boy. He wanted to save the world."
After graduating from Stuyvesant in 2005, Yevgeniy began attending New York University, where he majored in political science. He had taken an interest in being a prosecutor soon after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to Boris.
Yevgeniy's younger brother, Max, 18, a senior at G.W. Hewlett High School, spoke about his brother's character at his funeral last Sunday, where Yevgeniy was accorded full police honors. "His strength ... character was tremendous and his heart ... always with his family and friends, as it will always be. I love you so much, Eugene. We all love you and will miss you."
Despite his love of debating, Yevgeniy wasn't one to expound on an issue at the drop of a hat. In general, he preferred to take in his surroundings, and life itself. "If he said a few words, everyone listened, because it was something you should hear," Boris said. "You couldn't just ignore it."
Boris said he hopes to start a charity in his son's name that would collect money to buy bulletproof vests for auxiliary police officers. Yevgeniy was not wearing a vest when he was shot because the police department does not provide them to auxiliary police.
"He had this Marine armed to the teeth coming for him ... what could he do with a nightstick?" Boris said, his voice cracking. "I never, ever, ever want this to happen to someone else. Something needs to be changed in the system."
Auxiliary police could not be allowed to "be walking targets for criminals," he added.
Comments?Contact MSchnitzl@liherald.com or call (516) 569-4000, ext. 208.
