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City academy named for Steven McDonald Tisch also announced a permanent exhibit in the academy that will preserve items from The New York City Police McDonald's career, including Department renamed its acade- his wheelchair and ventilator, my the Detective Steven D. replicas of his officer’s and McDonald Police Academy at a detective’s shields, photos docuceremony on July 16, honoring menting his service, and the the late detective who spent his powder-blue uniform shirt he final years in Malverne and wore in the early years of his whose message of forgiveness career. The exhibit is intended became known around the to ensure that future generations of officers understand world. b o t h M c D o n a l d ’s McDonald, who sacrifice and his g rew up on Long continued commitIsland in Rockville ment to policing. Centre before later Tisch announced settling in Malthe renaming in her verne, remained an State of the NYPD active member of address in February, the NYPD for more describing McDonthan three decades CoNoR ald as "the embodiafter a shooting in MCDoNALD m e n t o f wh o we Central Park left Steven McDonald's want our officers to him paralyzed from son and NYPD be." t h e n e c k d o w n . Captain Last week’s cereAlthough he relied m o n y m a rke d 4 2 on a ventilator to breathe, he continued mentor- years since McDonald entered ing recruits, supporting wound- the Police Academy as a recruit ed officers and speaking about in 1984 and came just days after forgiveness, peace and nonvio- the 40th anniversary of the lence until his death in 2017, at July 12, 1986, shooting that forever changed his life. age 59. Born in Queens Village in N e w Yo rk C i t y M ayo r Zohran Mamdani, Police Com- 1957, McDonald moved with his missioner Jessica Tisch, mem- family to Rockville Centre as a bers of the McDonald family, child. One of eight children, he other elected officials and hun- was a third-generation NYPD dreds of NYPD recruits gath- officer whose grandfather died ered for the dedication ceremo- in the line of duty. He served ny at the academy, in College for four years as a U.S. Navy Point, Queens, which first hospital corpsman before joining the Police Department in opened in 2014. Speakers described McDon- 1984. He and his wife, Patti ald as the embodiment of the Ann, married in 1985, and less ideals the department hopes than a year later, while investiofficers will carry throughout gating a bicycle theft in Central Park, he was shot three times their careers. “Steven McDonald gave the by a 15-year-old. Instead of retreating from city more than most people could give in a lifetime,” Tisch public life, McDonald dedicated said, “and after giving nearly the next three decades to shareverything in the line of duty, ing a message of reconciliahe spent more than three tion. He publicly forgave the decades finding new ways to teenager who shot him and spoke in schools, churches, serve.”
By ALYSSA R. GRIFFIN
agriffin@liherald.com
M
y father was my
hero.
Sue Grieco/Herald
The McDonald family was joined by NYPD officials, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and other elected representatives to celebrate the dedication. community organizations and conflict zones around the world, encouraging forgiveness and nonviolent solutions to conflict. Mamdani described McDonald as an of ficer whose response to unimaginable tragedy reshaped how New Yorkers view policing. “He was a man of deep faith, and he had the wisdom to know that living consumed by rage would all but guarantee the death he had just narrowly escaped,” Mamdani said. “I can think of no better name to adorn our police academy than his.” McDonald's son, NYPD Capt. Conor McDonald, reflected on his father's lifelong dedication to the department, and said his greatest mission became honoring officers who never made it home from their tours of duty.
“My father was my hero,” Conor told the Herald. “Growing up watching him travel New York City, the world, preaching about nonviolence, forgiveness, and that love transcends all, he was an incredible human being, and he's the definition of what police officers around the world should be.” Patti Ann McDonald, a former mayor of Malverne, said the honor reflects her husband's lifelong commitment to caring for others. “It's not just about Steven, it's about all the men and
women who gave their lives to the city of New York,” she told the Herald. “To me it's an example of what Stephen meant to all the people that were here today, and it warms my heart that they were here.” Following his death in January 2017, numerous tributes were established in McDonald’s honor, including the naming of a portion of the Southern State Parkway the Detective Steven McDonald Memorial Highway, and the Steven McDonald Garden of Forgiveness in Malverne's Westwood Park.