The name of a hero cop shot to death in the line of duty was added to the NYPD’s memorial wall in Battery Park on Wednesday, along with cops who perished from 9/11 related illnesses.
Photo by Jonathan Portee
The name of a hero cop shot to death in the line of duty in Queens last year was added to the NYPD’s memorial wall in Battery Park on Wednesday, along with a number of officers who died from 9/11-related illnesses.
Jonathan Diller suffered a fatal gunshot wound just below his bulletproof vest in Far Rockaway on March 25, 2024. Police believe the alleged cop killer, 34-year-old Guy Rivera, had been planning to rob a nearby T-Mobile store when Diller interrupted him.
While the killing put a spotlight on criminal recidivism in New York, Diller himself was hailed as a hero, and on Oct. 15, his name was etched in stone.
Top brass, along with Mayor Eric Adams, attended the ceremony to honor Diller as well as the 49 other officers whose names were added to the 28-year-old memorial. Those officers had participated in the recovery effort at the World Trade Center site following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and died of illnesses related to their work there.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said all 50 officers honored on Wednesday had “fulfilled their oaths of service without hesitation, their quiet courage came with no conditions, and their commitment to this noble cause was uncompromising.”
“They represent the very best of us, and they remind us what it truly means to put the safety of others above your own,” Tisch said. “Every time they came to work, they understood the risk, they accepted it, but no cop ever takes it lightly, and no cops family does either, because watching your loved ones leave home without ever really knowing is an unspeakable burden to bear and for the families here today is yet another reminder of everything that you have lost.”
The memorial itself was dedicated in 1997 and stands just in the shadow of the rebuilt World Trade Center.
“When it was dedicated in 1997 we could never have anticipated what would happen two blocks from here, or how that day would still be reverberating from this granite wall, a wall once buried in the dust and debris of the darkest day our city has ever known it, then bore witness to our recovery and to our rebirth, and through it all, this memorial stood in silent tribute, and each year, the tribute grows,” Tisch added.
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