BY JACK DELANEY | jdelaney@queensledger.com
COLLEGE POINT — NYPD brass and city officials convened at the Queens Police Academy last week to rechristen the training center in honor of Steven McDonald, a beloved detective who spent decades as a global ambassador for peace after being paralyzed in action.
Born in Queens Village in 1957, McDonald worked his way up the ranks of the NYPD until July 12, 1986, when he approached three teenagers suspected of stealing bicycles in Central Park. One of them shot McDonald in the neck, hand, and face, leaving him permanently disabled and reliant on a breathing apparatus.
But McDonald defied doctors’ expectations, publicly forgiving the 15-year- old shooter and continuing to serve in the NYPD for the next 31 years. He embarked on a continent-hopping campaign to spread the gospel of nonviolence, a calling that made him, per the Detective Endowments Association, “the most world-renowned member of the New York City Police Department since its founding in 1845.”
“Today we do more than dedicate a building — we preserve a legacy,” said Rev. Dr. A. R. Bernard, delivering the event’s invocation. “Anchored by his faith, [McDonald] became not only a symbol of resilience for the New York City Police Department, but a witness to the transformative power of the human spirit.”
McDonald’s wife, Patti Ann, was pregnant at the time of the shooting and later became the mayor of Malverne, Long Island; the couple’s son, Colin, who followed his father’s lead and joined the NYPD, was present at last Thursday’s naming ceremony.
McDonald maintained contact with his shooter while the teen, Shavod Jones, served a nine-year prison term. Tragically, however, Jones was killed in a motorcycle accident only three days after being released.
McDonald himself passed away due to complications from his wounds on January 13, 2017, and an enormous funeral — filled with countless people whose lives had been touched by McDonald and his work — took place soon after at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
In a brief speech, Mayor Mamdani praised McDonald for his lifetime of advocacy, recognizing him as “a public figure who embodied the best of New York City.”
The mayor also referenced a letter McDonald had written to his wife in the wake of the shooting, in which he explained that while he occasionally felt anger towards his attacker, he more often felt sorry for him and hoped he could find “peace and purpose.”
“[McDonald] was a man of deep faith,” noted Mamdani. “And he had the wisdom to know that living consumed by rage would all but guarantee the death he had just narrowly escaped.”
NYPD Chief Jessica Tisch echoed Mamdani’s remarks.“When he spoke about forgiveness, peace, and the value of a single human life, people listened,” said Tisch,” because they knew he had earned the right to say it.”
This isn’t the first nod to McDonald’s towering legacy, though it is perhaps the largest. The list of places, awards, and objects bearing his name is lengthy: A portion of the Southern State Parkway, the 86th St Transverse in Central Park, several scholarships, a garden in Malverne, and even a registered Scottish tartan inspired by his life story.
New Yorkers unable to attend the ceremony in person gathered online to give their respects. “A special event for an extra special person,” reflected John Frasse. “Detective Steven Mcdonald lived a life of love and forgiveness… all those who walk through the halls of the academy of the finest will now know the story of a true hero.”
