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Note: Not all images are thumbnails of larger versions For Celebrities on Patrol, Unexpected Police Drama By JAMES BARRON -- The New York Times Published: May 22, 2004 It was only a coincidence that the two best-known names taking part in the Commanding Officer for a Day program on Thursday ended up at the scene of a shooting in Midtown Manhattan, police officials said yesterday. After the execution-style murder of a diamond merchant who was walking along the Avenue of the Americas between 47th and 48th Streets, Candice Bergen, who starred in the sitcom "Murphy Brown" in the 1980's and 90's, and Lorraine Bracco, who plays the psychiatrist to an anxiety-attack-prone mobster on "The Sopranos," arrived at the scene. During Commanding Officer for a Day, they happened to be accompanying police officials who answered the call. The annual program is sponsored by the Police Department and the nonprofit New York City Police Foundation. The foundation invited about 100 people - most of them connected to community organizations, or to foundation supporters - to participate. They attended a briefing with Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly at Police Headquarters before fanning out in twos and threes across more than 40 precincts, spending several hours with the commanders. "Depending on what happens, you could have an active night," said Gregg Roberts, the executive vice president of the police foundation. "There are no guarantees. People could go out there and have a quiet night." A police spokesman, Inspector Michael Coan, said that Ms. Bracco had been assigned to the Manhattan detective bureau, and Ms. Bergen was with the commanding officer of the Midtown South Precinct, Deputy Inspector Peter Tuffey. "The incident was in the next precinct over, but he responded," a police spokesman said. A spokeswoman for HBO, which produces "The Sopranos," said Ms. Bracco would not talk about the event. Ms. Bergen's spokesman said he could not reach her yesterday. The Commanding Officer for a Day program began in 1995, when, Mr. Roberts said, "tensions were higher." "We wanted to bring people in to understand management, to understand how things are done," he said. "The more people understand how difficult the job of policing is, the more willing they are to have an enlightened view of it when things happen in this city, which inevitably they do." But not at every precinct or bureau in the three or four hours that people from Commanding Officer for a Day are on hand. Maureen Clancy, a senior vice president of the Bank of New York, said she was assigned to the 28th Precinct station house, at Eighth Avenue and 123rd Street. "There was a lot of activity,
a lot of people being brought in, and that's very real and very palpable,"
she said, "but in terms of seeing any crime while we were there, no." SCENE A 'HIT' WITH TV STARS ON PATROL By HASANI GITTENS -- New York Post Online May 21, 2004 -- Tony Soprano's shrink came tantalizingly close to his world yesterday, and Murphy Brown was there to catch all the action. Lorraine Bracco and Candice Bergen may not have been prepared for their roles as two of the city's top cops yesterday as they partook in the NYPD's annual Commander for a Day program. They both wound up at the wild scene in Midtown, where a Diamond District jewelry storeowner, Eduard Nektalov, was executed on a bustling street last night. Nektalov was shot once in the head and twice in the back by an unknown assassin who then disappeared into the crowded streets. "I definitely took up the wrong profession," an excited Bracco told The Post after she saw the dead body sprawled on the Sixth Avenue sidewalk. "I'm not in my right job. "I know it's not PC [politically correct], but s--- happens like this in New York." Bracco had been spending the day with NYPD Assistant Chief Thomas Fahey when the call came in about the shooting. "This [should be] my real profession," said Bracco, who is better known as Dr. Jennifer Melfi on "The Sopranos." "I love this." Bergen, who once played hard-nosed television reporter Murphy Brown, was with Deputy Inspector Peter Tuffey, the commanding officer of Midtown South, when she was whisked to the scene of the crime. "Suddenly, we're with Inspector Tuffey going 60 miles an hour," said Bergen, who, unlike Bracco, seemed taken aback by the gruesome scene. "We actually saw brains," she said from behind police lines. She said it was "certainly the first time I've seen brain matter." Neither actress witnessed the shooting — but both temporary "commanders" got to chat with the real deal when Police Commissioner Ray Kelly showed up to survey the scene.
Man Is Fatally Shot on Crowded Street by Diamond District New York Times Published: May 21, 2004 n a brazen attack, a man who a police official said was indicted in an international money laundering case was shot in the back of the head and killed last night as he walked along a crowded Midtown street near the diamond district. The man was walking north on the Avenue of the Americas between 47th and 48th Streets about 7:20 p.m., when another man approached him from behind and fired three shots with a large caliber pistol at close range, hitting him in the head and in the back, the police said. The victim was identified by a law enforcement official as Eduard Nektalov, 46, a jeweler who worked in the area. He was taken to St. Vincent's Midtown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The attacker was described as a man with olive skin and long black hair in a page boy style. He was said to be wearing a long black T-shirt and black pants, the police said. He tucked his gun into his pants, and fled into the crowd, according to witnesses and the police. "It took a second — pop, pop, pop, and then he runs," said Jim Koci, who works at 1212 Avenue of the Americas and was nearby at the time of the shooting. The attacker did not exchange words with the victim,the police said. The attacker was pursued by a retired police officer, John Doherty, who was working as a security consultant for Fox News at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, the officer said. Detectives were investigating a range of possible motives, including that Mr. Nektalov may have been thinking of cooperating with the authorities in the federal case, called Operation Meltdown, which involved drug-money laundering for Colombian drug dealers. Eduard Nektalov was indicted last summer in the case, in which diamond district businesses bought gold from Colombian drug dealers and reworked it, turning it into everyday objects. Mr. Nektalov, who was charged with fraud and money laundering, was to go to trial on July 12. A law enforcement official said it was too early to tell if that was the link. "It may carry us that way down the road, but we're also looking at some squabbling with acquaintances," the official said. There was also speculation among investigators that the hit-style shooting might have been ordered by Russian organized criminals. Mr. Nektalov was from a family of prominent Bukharan Jews, who had emigrated from Central Asia in the former Soviet Union, a family friend said. He said that Mr. Nektalov's father, Roman Nektalov, hade been in the United States for 30 years. Still, the official said of the killing, "It may not be as exotic as Russian organized crime." Friends outside Mr. Nektalov's sprawling brick home in Forest Hills, Queens, said last night that the family donated generously for the construction of synagogues in New York. "If we had any problems, we'll go straight to him," said Arkady Kataev, a friend who said he worked with Mr. Nektalov at Roman Jewelry, the family's store in Midtown. "This family helped everybody. That's why it shocked everybody here." Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said at a news conference last night, "It's certainly possible that it could be related to the diamond district." But Mr. Kelly added: "I would wait and see what the motive is. It could have been a personal relationship between the individual and the victim." Shortly after the shooting, the victim's father arrived at the scene in a black Mercedes sedan. He left with homicide detectives, the law enforcement official said. In a strange twist, celebrities were among those at the scene last night. Both Candice Bergen and Lorraine Bracco, who were participating in the Precinct Commander for a Day program, arrived with police officials after the shooting. They were accompanying the commander of the Midtown South Precinct and the chief of Manhattan detectives. A stunned Ms. Bergen said, "This is the first time I've seen brain matter." The shooting was the second attack in Midtown this week. On Tuesday, a man stabbed three people in an unprovoked rampage near Herald Square. People were on edge after the shooting last night but said they still felt safe in the area. Robbers rarely escape the area, which is heavily patrolled by undercover police officers, said Allan Silverstein, who works in the district. "Do I think it's safe?" said Mr. Silverstein. "I think it's fairly safe. If this was a robbery, I would say it was an isolated case. But if this was a hate crime, I would have my doubts." Mr. Kelly acknowledged that hit-style shootings had become a rarity in New York City. "It is unusual. It did take place on Sixth Avenue," he said. "New York is still the safest city in America."
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