Fallen NYPD cop Jason Rivera given hero’s farewell at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Slain NYPD cop Jason Rivera was given a solemn final farewell on Friday as his grieving brother told the thousands of officers gathered for his funeral that the rookie’s “first love was policing.”
Rivera, 22, was posthumously promoted to detective first grade during the service at Manhattan’s historic St. Patrick’s Cathedral — one week after he was murdered in the line of duty.
“He was obsessed with his career in law enforcement,” his emotional older brother, Jeffrey Rivera, said during his eulogy.
When he was a child, Rivera would listen to police radio transmissions for local alerts and avidly watch police dramas on TV, his brother recalled.
As top New York officials joined Rivera’s family inside the church, a staggering “sea of blue” stretched several blocks along Fifth Avenue as cops huddled outside in the snow to pay their respects.
Dominique Luzuriaga, his childhood sweetheart whom he married in October, tragically revealed the couple had been fighting the day he died.
When they left the apartment together as Rivera headed to work, Dominique told mourners she called an Uber — instead of having him drive her — because she didn’t want to keep arguing.
“You said it might be the last ride I give you,” Dominique recalled. “I said no … and that was probably the biggest mistake I ever made.”
Rivera and his partner, Wilbert Mora, were fatally wounded in Harlem just hours later.
Dominique broke down as she recalled the horror of seeing a cellphone alert about two officers being shot – and how she frantically tried to reach Rivera to see if he was okay.
“I’m still in this nightmare that I wish I never had, full of rage and anger, hurt and sad, torn,” she said.
“The system continues to fail us. We are not safe anymore. Not even the members of the service,” Dominique said as she blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“I know you were tired of these laws, especially the ones from the new DA. I hope he’s watching you speak through me right now. I’m sure all of our blue family is tired too. But I promise, we promise, that your death won’t be in vain.”
Mayor Eric Adams, himself a retired NYPD captain, said Rivera “gave his life defending his fellow New Yorkers.”
Hizzoner said he saw a reflection of himself in Rivera because the rookie joined the department with the hopes of improving it.
“He did it for the right reasons — he wanted to make a difference,” the mayor said.
“The hearts of 8.8 million people are reaching out in mourning today,” Adams added. “We know he’s always with us and this city will become a better place because of his sacrifice.”
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said Rivera “was everything the NYPD and the city needed him to be.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Chuck Schumer were among the other dignitaries present to pay their respects.
Also among the mourners were the widow and parents of Wenjian Liu, the NYPD cop executed alongside his partner in Brooklyn in 2014. Liu’s family were hugged by several officers before making their way into the church.
Mayor Adams and Gov. Hochul stood beside cops, some silently weeping, as Rivera’s casket was carried out of the church after the service.
The hearse carrying his coffin was then escorted to the Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester County for a private cremation ceremony. Members of the public were invited to gather on several overpasses that overlook the thruway in Yonkers as the officer’s body was taken to the cemetery.
Rivera’s funeral service was only open to invited guests, but everyday New Yorkers still gathered as snow fell outside the church to honor the slain officer.
“I just have to be here for him and his family,” Isaac Krinsky, 61, of the Lower East Side, told The Post. “He gave his life not just for me but for all New Yorkers. They put their lives on the line for all residents of the city and pay the ultimate price.”
Miguel Melendez, 60, and his son Mason, 10, traveled from their home in Baldwin Harbor in Nassau County to claim a spot outside the cathedral.
“It’s a tragedy what happened,” Melendez said. “If it didn’t touch your heart, you’re not human.
“I woke my son up at 5:30 a.m., pulled him out of school and said, ‘You’re coming with me to see how someone paid the ultimate sacrifice for trying to unite our community.’ This hatred towards cops has to end. It is unspeakable what has happened.”
Jim O’Neill, a retired NYPD detective, said: “I think he’s definitely a New York hero. He gave it his all. I admire the man that he was and I’m feeling great sorry for his family.
“Things like this just break my heart to see what is happening. It’s just a very challenging time right now. I’m here to support the job that I love so much and the people that I admire and respect.”
Sam Pirozzolo, a 58-year-old Staten Island optician, said bail reform and defund the police had turned “the people who protect us into villains.”
“How many more people have to die? Police officers killed, people pushed in front of trains, little girls shot in the head — the city is burning,” he said. “Hopefully today will be a turning point.”
The cops who attended the service trekked in from other US cities — and even as far away as France and Germany, the NYPD said.
“Every police officer — from superintendent to a rookie new on the job — we’ve all responded to a domestic and know how dangerous it is,” said Chicago Police Department Detective John Sullivan.
Newark Police Captain Hector Arocho added: “We have the back of our brothers in blue in the NYPD. Different badges, same job. Today was somber but it’s uplifting to see officers from all over the country here.”
Rivera was killed when deranged career criminal Lashawn McNeil ambushed him and his partner, Officer Wilbert Mora, during a domestic violence call in Harlem on Jan. 21.
Mora, who died Tuesday from his injuries, is due to be mourned at a funeral at St. Patrick’s next week.
The suspect was shot by a third officer, rookie Sumit Sulan, during the attack on Rivera and Mora and died from his wounds earlier this week.
