NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton called out former city leaders Monday in an emotional speech at the street-renaming ceremony for slain Patrolman Phillip Cardillo in Queens.
Standing before hundreds of police cadets and Cardillo’s son, Bratton apologized for then-Mayor John Lindsay’s and Police Commissioner Patrick Murphy’s botched handling of the investigation into Cardillo’s murder by Nation of Islam radicals at a Harlem mosque in 1972.
Neither Lindsay nor Murphy attended Cardillo’s funeral. They also asked for forgiveness from Nation of Islam leaders for allowing cops to enter the mosque to check out an emergency call for help.
“It was wrong that the mayor and the police commissioner did not attend the funeral,” Bratton said as he renamed 28th Avenue in front of the Police Academy in Flushing “Patrolman Phillip Cardillo Way.”
“It was wrong that the political process affected the investigation.
“Today, we say that was unforgivable,” Bratton said. “Today, we say, ‘Never forget.’ ”
The top cop added, “It is incredible to me that it took 43 years to do this,” referring to the street-renaming honoring Cardillo.
Sobbing, Cardillo’s son, Todd, told the crowd, “This has been a long time. It’s not the end of it. It’s a just a new chapter.”
Some of Cardillo’s fellow officers traveled from as far as Florida to be at the renaming.
“It took 43 years for this journey. I am so damn happy. I never thought we’d be standing here,” said Rudy Andre, 66, who broke through glass to get into the mosque as he tried to rescue comrades.
Many of New York’s Finest consider the city’s actions after the patrolman’s murder an historic injustice. No one has ever been convicted in the slaying. Louis 17X Dupree, a dean of a school at the mosque, was tried in the 1970s but acquitted.
Cardillo’s friends and family had waged a years-long campaign to get a Harlem street outside the 28th Precinct station house where Cardillo worked renamed for him. But they were told by Harlem’s Community Board 10 that they needed to win approval from local Muslim imams, who stayed neutral.
So backers found a new spot — outside the new $750 million Police Academy — which they said is still fitting.
On April 14, 1972, Cardillo and other officers rushed to a fake emergency call from Nation of Islam Mosque No. 7. Cardillo was beaten and shot in the mosque with his own gun. Police descended, but an angry mob formed outside. As racial tensions boiled, police brass allowed suspects and witnesses to leave the crime scene.