Nassau PBA President Tommy Shevlin named 2025 Wantagh parade grand marshal

Tommy Shevlin, president of Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, has been named the grand marshal for the 2025 Wantagh St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Community members who attended the Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day event, held at the Wantagh Inn on Railroad Avenue on Sept. 19, applauded when Shevlin’s name was announced. The Wantagh Chamber of Commerce hosted the event.

Also in attendance were local elected officials, including State Sen. Steve Rhoads, Town of Hempstead Councilman Chris Schneider, Town Clerk Kate Murray and County Legislator Michael Giangregorio.

According to Chamber President Cathy McGrory Powell, Shevlin has dedicated his career to helping fellow officers, and his passion to make positive change in the world is what made him the right choice to lead next year’s parade.

“I’m so immensely proud of him and everything he’s accomplished and everything he’s become,” McGrory Powell said of Shevlin.

With a family background in law enforcement, Shevlin has worked for 26 years between the New York and Nassau County police departments, and accepted the role as the county’s PBA president in 2022. Prior to that, he was a counselor at the Nassau County Police Department’s Employee Assistance Office, where he provided mental health services to officers.

As a counselor, he aimed to combat the stigma surrounding mental health within law enforcement. Shevlin saw how trauma, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder affected his colleagues and sought to help officers address these challenges.

“His passion for mental health, helping first responders and families, has made a great difference in the lives of our law enforcement,” McGrory Powell said. “He believes a healthy officer is a more effective officer and an even bigger asset to all.”

Also as PBA president, Shevlin has focused on improving mental health resources for police officers. During an announcement at Kings Park High School in January, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced an allocation of $13 million for mental health support for officers. Hochul said she spoke with Shevlin and thanked him “for shining a spotlight and being a champion” on bringing awareness to the issues officers face with mental health.

Shevlin described it as “unbelievable” for the Wantagh community to pick him as the 2025 parade’s grand marshal. Though he currently resides in Smithtown, Shevlin was a Wantagh resident six years ago, saying that it was one of his favorite communities.

“For (McGrory Powell) to recognize me and for all of you to recognize me, it really is an honor,” Shevlin said at the Sept. 19 event. “I’m actually speechless.”

Shevlin was actually a student in McGrory Powell’s social studies class at Valley Stream Central High School District in the 1990s.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him march,” McGrory Powell said, “and to bring attention to the importance of mental health. There is a high rate of suicides in law enforcement, which Shevlin has brought attention to during his career.”

This will mark the fifth year that Wantagh has held its St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which, according to McGrory Powell, is the biggest on Long Island. According to Parade Chairman Christopher Brown, the parade has been successful, thanks to help from the community, which includes sponsors and groups that march, as well as fire, sanitation and public works departments, the Town of Hempstead and Nassau County.

Aside from celebrating Irish heritage, the parade also recognizes its grand marshals’ contributions to the community. Past grand marshals included John Murray Jr., owner of Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall; Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder; Michael Dunphy, owner of the Wantagh Inn; and John Theissen, founder and executive director of the John Theissen Children’s Foundation.

“These guys have set the path,” Shevlin said of past grand marshals. “How much they have given back to the community is priceless.”

Shevlin has marched in St. Patrick’s Day parades in Savannah, Georgia, New Orleans, Chicago, Boston and several times in New York City as an NYPD cop.

“I used to work it in uniform, but now it’s going to be a totally different feeling,” Shevlin said.

He said it’s an honor being named grand marshal for the Wantagh St. Patrick’s Day Parade, adding that he cannot wait to walk out there and see everybody as he leads the ceremony.

“This will, by far, be my favorite parade of all time, that I will never forget,” Shevlin said, “and I can finally bring my family — my two little boys and my wife — to show them why St. Paddy’s Day is my favorite holiday of all time.”

The parade is set to take place in Wantagh on March 16 at 2 p.m.