About 300 residents, joined by Liczbinski's brothers and sisters, sang "Happy Birthday" and cheered as dozens of blue and white balloons were released in his honor.
The festive memorial came three days after Liczbinski was gunned down on that street corner while pursuing three heavily armed bank robbers.
The Saturday morning shooting - which police described as an "execution" by a robber with an assault rifle - has brought the close-knit neighborhood even closer.
Its residents have embraced Liczbinski as one of their own.
And, in fact, he was.
"We just want the neighbors to know how much we appreciate what they've done," Jim Liczbinski, one of the officer's older brothers, told the crowd as he and his brothers and sisters stood on the steps of a neatly appointed rowhouse across from the memorial.
"Our hearts . . . we don't know what to say. Unbelievable," he added, his voice cracking.
But then, with a smile, he said, "We all were born not 10 blocks from here."
Jim, John and Marty Liczbinski each took a turn describing their brother for the crowd in front of them. Their other siblings - Carol, Floyd, Flora, Gloria and Bill - stood behind them with nieces and nephews.
He was a good cop, they said. A loving husband and father. A fanatical Flyers fan.
Carol Gianni, as she left the impromptu memorial, said, "Stephen was the baby of the family." Then she smiled and said how, under different circumstances, she would have spent yesterday kidding her youngest brother about joining her and the others "in old age."
Stephen Liczbinski wouldn't have wanted anything special, she said, just some time with his family, maybe a beer, and, if the Flyers were playing, a chance to watch the game on TV.
Instead there were flowers and balloons and more than 300 people, most of whom he had never met, singing "Happy Birthday" on the street corner where he died.
Contact staff writer George Anastasia at 856-779-3846 or ganastasia@phillynews.com.
