You are reading

Donovan Richards Hosting Vigil at Queens Borough Hall Wednesday for Slain NYPD Cops

A vigil is being held Sunday for slain NYPD Police Officers Jason Rivera, 22, and Wilbert Mora, 27. (Photos: NYPD)

A vigil is being held Wednesday for slain NYPD Police Officers Jason Rivera, 22, and Wilbert Mora, 27. (Photos: NYPD)

Feb. 1, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards is hosting a candlelight vigil Wednesday for the two young police officers who were killed in Manhattan last month while responding to a domestic disturbance.

The vigil will take place at 5:30 p.m. on the steps of the Queens Borough Hall, located at 120-55 Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens.

Elected officials, community leaders, as well as leadership from the NYPD and its fraternal organizations are expected to attend the event, Richards said.

The vigil will remember Police Officers Jason Rivera, 22, and Wilbert Mora, 27, who were gunned down inside a Harlem apartment on Jan. 21. They were shot by Lashawn McNeil, 47 — a career criminal whose mother had called police for help after arguing with her son.

“The senseless slayings of Detective Rivera and Officer Mora — two public servants who dedicated their careers to inclusive, community-first policing — was a gut-punch felt across New York City, including right here in Queens,” Richards said in a statement Tuesday.

Police Officer Sumit Sulan, pictured, fatally shot Lashawn McNeil during the Jan. 21 incident. (Sulan is pictured in a Jan. 2 tweet by the 32nd Precinct after officers recovered a gun from a domestic dispute call

Richards said the event will also show support for Police Officer Sumit Sulan, a Queens resident who fatally shot McNeil at the scene, according to published reports.

Sulan survived the incident.

Sulan joined the force in April and had been assigned to observe Rivera and Mora during the domestic disturbance call, according to reports.

“We will also show our support for our fellow Queens resident, Officer Sulan, as he copes with this unimaginable tragedy, as well as all our NYPD first responders who bravely put their lives on the line to protect us every single day.”

Richards said that attendees will call for an end to gun violence.

The vigil will be held on the same day that Officer Mora’s funeral takes place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. He will then be buried at Calvary Cemetery.

Last week, thousands of police officers lined 5th Avenue for Officer Rivera’s funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Rivera has been posthumously promoted to Detective First-Grade.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Advocates pen letter blasting Mayor Adams’ legal motion to suspend right-to-shelter

Homeless advocates penned a letter to a Manhattan Supreme Court judge opposing Mayor Eric Adams’ recent legal motion calling for the suspension of the city’s decades-old right-to-shelter law amid the ongoing migrant influx.

The letter, sent last Thursday and released Tuesday, comes in response to Adams last week filing a court motion to exempt the city from its legal mandate — established by the 1984 Callahan v. Carey consent decree — to provide shelter to single adults and adult couples when it “lacks the resources and capacity” to do so. The mayor and top administration officials say they’re not seeking to abolish the right-to-shelter, but rather “clarity” from the court that would give them more “flexibility” in finding suitable housing for tens of thousands of migrants.

Rockaway’s piping plovers among endangered species commemorated on U.S. Postal Service stamps

A day before the city reopened nearly 70 blocks of public beaches along the Rockaway peninsula for the Memorial Day weekend, the U.S. Postal Service and National Park Service hosted a special event at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel to honor the piping plover, an endangered shorebird featured on new stamps.

In attendance were members of the NYC Plover Project, a nonprofit with more than 250 volunteers, who have been on the beaches since March preparing for the summer swim season, who celebrated the newly released stamp sheet commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act.

Bayside High School hosts annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair

Bayside High School hosted its annual Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair Friday. Students from the Career and Technical Education Humanities and Nonprofit Management program each pitched their socially responsible products to students, staff and others in attendance.

Each of the 11th grade students in the program have been taking a college credit course from Farmingdale State College called Social Entrepreneur. The students were divided into 17 groups of five and tasked with coming up with innovative ideas to create businesses while also being socially responsible. The Social Entrepreneur Trade Fair grants them with the opportunity to work on pitching their products to potential customers.

Annual Memorial Day ceremony held at Korean War memorial in Kissena Park

On Friday, May 26, the second annual Memorial Day Ceremony in Kissena Park brought live music, local dignitaries, veterans groups, a presentation of the Colors by members of the Francis Lewis High School JROTC, a flower-laying ceremony and more to the Flushing community.

Those in attendance included Councilwoman Sandra Ung, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, state Senator John Liu, veterans groups, local students, Boy Scout Troop 253 and others.

Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade honors fallen heroes

Rain or shine, the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, touted as the largest Memorial Day parade in the United States, has been a staple of the quaint Queens neighborhoods since 1927. Thousands lined the parade route under clear blue sky along Northern Boulevard from Jayson Avenue in Great Neck to 245th Street in Douglaston on May 29 to honor the brave men and women who answered their call to service and made the ultimate sacrifice while defending their country.

Many onlookers sporting patriotic attire waved Old Glory and cheered on the parade of military vehicles, veteran and military groups and marching bands led by Grand Marshal Vice Admiral Joanna M Nunan, the first female commander of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. This year’s parade marshals were retired Master Sergeant Lawrence Badia and Vietnam veteran Richard Weinberg.