Editor’s Note: We are recognizing some of the exceptional individuals who have demonstrated the best of Staten Island this year and naming them as Staten Island’s Brightest Lights of 2024 in recognition of the many Staten Islanders who have done so.
They deserve congratulations, as do all the residents of the borough who have discovered ways to support, advocate for, inspire, alter the world, and/or care about their neighborhood in 2024.
Brian Moffett, a longtime resident of Staten Island, passed away on July 19 following a fight with Lou Gehrig’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often known as ALS. He was sixty-six. (Thanks to Jake Moffett.) (Thanks to Jake Moffett.)(Thanks to Jake Moffett.)
The Best of Staten Island in 2024: Brian Moffett
In the spring of this year, Brian Moffett, who has lived on Staten Island for almost his entire life, received a diagnosis of Lou Gehrig’s disease, often known as ALS, a degenerative condition.
Moffett’s illness progressed quickly, and he endured excruciating pain. However, in the last weeks of his life, he mustered the courage to address the media, government leaders, and other supporters in order to push New York to legalize life-ending drugs, a cause he firmly believed in.
Lauren Lovallo wrote the following in the Advance/SILive.com story that was the first to be published regarding Moffett:
Brian Moffett was the person that everyone turned to for years.
The almost lifelong Staten Islander established a reputation as a reliable man, whether he was assisting a friend, family member, or complete stranger. Among his many other charitable endeavors, Moffett, a now-retired 25-year MTA employee, helped clean up Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; fed Staten Islanders in need during Hurricane Sandy’s devastation of the borough in 2012; and repeatedly provided free food from his enormous grills at numerous large community events, such as the Westerleigh Folk Festival.
Having given everything and received nothing in return, Moffett now has two pressing demands of New York state lawmakers: Enact the Medical Aid in Dying Act and allow him to be the first to use it.
He was a founding member of the Westerleigh Folk Festival, a devoted friend and parent, and a champion for medical help in dying. He passed away in July.
Read more about Lauren Lovallo’s account of Brian Moffett’s story:
May 30: A longtime resident of Staten Island wishes to be the first person in New York to die with medical assistance: You have no idea how much I endure.
July 9: A lively ALS patient expresses his agony and asks New York to grant him access to life-ending drugs: A gradual death
Brian Moffett, a founding member of the Westerleigh Folk Festival, a devoted friend and parent, and a champion for medical help in dying, passes away on July 31 at the age of 66.
August 18: My father passed away in terror. (Opinion) It didn’t have to be that way.
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