Coll, 45, of Seaford, a registered Republican, is a retired NYPD detective who now works as an adjunct professor of constitutional history at Hofstra University. Coll grew up in Massapequa and graduated from Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Hofstra and a master’s in history from Hunter College in Manhattan. Coll is an assistant coach for Massapequa Little League, a member of the Knights of Columbus Memorare Council 3476 in Seaford and the Massapequa B.P.O. Elks Lodge 2162. He was named the New York City Police Foundation Cop of the Year in 2009 for his first-responder efforts during the US Airways Flight 1549’s emergency Hudson River landing. He traveled with a Federal Emergency Management Agency team to assist victims of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake and last year’s Hurricane Harvey in Houston. In 2013, Coll started a nonprofit organization, changeNYS.org, to promote civic education in New York State. Coll, who is divorced, has two children.
