A Plainview bridge was named in honor of a Nassau police officer who was killed in the line of duty more than four decades ago.

Officer Daniel Greer, of Smithtown, was struck and killed by a drunk driver nine days before Christmas in 1979.

The 44-year-old police officer was ticketing a driver on the Long Island Expressway in Plainview when the driver of a pickup truck hit Greer and dragged him 150 feet.

Greer's son, Steven Greer, was 14 at the time.

"My dad, he was a cool guy. He was a good man, he was a father, loved his family, loved his job," Greer recounted.

The community Officer Greer served and protected unveiled a tribute in his memory. The crossing of Sunnyside Boulevard near Exit 46 is now officially named Police Officer Daniel J. Greer Memorial Bridge.

The bridge naming was spearheaded back in 2020 by a woman Officer Greer never met -- his granddaughter, Colleen Greer-Zioba.

"I said I really wish we could do something for him. It's been so long. I see other bridges and I see other things. There was never anything done for him," Greer-Zioba.

She took her idea to Nassau police, the Nassau PBA and state lawmakers, who then pledged to help make her wish come true.

"They were looking for something that would be closure and that's what we tried to give them," said Retired Nassau Police 1st Grade Detective Gary Ferrucci

"I thought it was entirely appropriate and entirely reasonable," said state Assembly Member Charles Lavine.

A bill to name a bridge in Officer Greer's memory passed unanimously in the state legislature and signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Officer Greer's family hopes when motorists drive by this sign, they will remember his sacrifice and everything that he stood for.

"I hope when people drive by it, they remember not to drink and drive because he was killed by a drunk driver," Greer-Zioba said.

Officer Greer was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. He had been with the Nassau County Police Department for 13 years.