What to Know
- Whitney Moore didn't think she'd get to go to prom after a fire destroyed her family's Brooklyn home
- But word of Moore's story got to the Brooklyn North precinct, where officers stepped into action
- Moore was all set to go to prom on Monday night, and she's getting an NYPD escort to the dance
A Brooklyn teen whose family lost everything in a house fire won’t miss out on prom thanks to the NYPD.
Whitney Moore says she had been dreaming about the high school milestone for four years.
“I’ve been looking forward to prom since freshman year,” she said.
Moore was all smiles hours before her prom on Monday, but that wasn't the case just a few weeks ago. She was walking home one day, when she saw smoke rising into the sky in her neighborhood.
“The sky was all black and that’s when I was like, ‘Why is the sky black?’” Moore said.
A fire had destroyed her home and everything inside. It also smashed her hopes of going to prom.
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Moore said she didn’t think she’d be able to go to the once-in-a-lifetime dance. “I wasn’t going to pressure it,” she said.
But that’s when the story took a Cinderella twist. The NYPD’s Brooklyn North precinct got word of what happened. Officers at the precinct knew Moore from an essay contest she won that made her the NYPD borough commander for a day.
“The wheels started spinning, eyes started opening,” NYPD Dt. Izora Neal said. “It’s like, ‘I think we can do this.’”
Neal asked Moore how she was getting to prom and she said she wasn’t sure, “because my family experienced a fire,” Neal said.
NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said the news tugged at him.
“This is one day. You’ll never get it back, and I wanted to help her,” Maddrey said.
The officers at Brooklyn North hatched a plan to help Moore get to prom.
“We need to invest in our children,” Maddrey said. “They’re our precious resource, our most precious resource. Moore may really be the commander down here soon or later.”
Chief Maddrey gave up his personal SUV so Moore could be driven to prom. And the teen is getting an NYPD escort to the event.
“I was so shocked,” Moore said. “It was unbelievable to know I have a ride to go to prom.”
Moore showed off her prom dress Monday, just hours before the big dance.
“Thank you so much,” Moore said. “It’s just unbelievable.”
