TOP BRASS CHANGES AT NYPD:
New chief from Bronx – and family of cops
THERE’S A NEW chief in town and he’s straight out of the Boogie Down Bronx.
Terrance Monahan was sworn in Thursday as chief of department, the NYPD’s highestranking uniformed officer — as new blood was infused into 10 top positions on the force.
“I’m very proud to be able to wear this uniform,” Monahan, 57, said in his signature deep, booming voice as he smiled from ear to ear at Police Headquarters. “I know Police Commissioner (James) O’Neill can no longer wear it. I know how much he said he hated to take it off.”
“Matter of fact, half my uniforms were his,” Monahan joked.
The Parkchester native, who comes from a family of cops, took over the gig from outgoing Chief of Department Carlos Gomez, who retired on Dec. 21.
“Listen, this is an amazing day for me to be here,” he said. “I’m a Bronx kid. It’s a great accomplishment.”
The married father of three joined the department 37 years ago — a year before O’Neill became a cop.
The notoriously frank Monahan admitted that he often confuses Mayor de Blasio when he explains police strategy and the NYPD’s neighborhood policing program, but chalked it up to his “Bronx way of speaking.”
He recalled working in the 46th Precinct in the Bronx, which covers Fordham and University Heights, back in 1986. Time magazine called it “the most dangerous square mile in America,” Monahan said.
The Bronx has come a long way, he said.
One of Monahan’s priorities will be to ensure the department’s new neighborhood coordination officer, or NCO program is expanded to every part of the city.
The program, which he called a “fundamental change of the entire agency” that will “reduce crime and build trust with the community” is active in 55 of the city’s 77 police precincts as well as the city’s nine housing bureaus.
NCO cops are given specific sectors in their precincts and are instructed to reach out to residents in the area.
Monahan was one of nearly a dozen officers promoted on Thursday. Chief Rodney Harrison, one of the architects of the NCO program was also made the NYPD’s new chief of patrol — and was ecstatic his former partner, retired Detective Michael Stoney, came up from Virginia Beach to attend the ceremony.
In 1995, the two cops were running an undercover buyand-bust operation in BedfordStuyvesant, Brooklyn, when Leondre Hart opened fire on them. Stoney was shot and wounded, but still managed to return fire, protecting Harrison until the gunman was arrested.
“That was one of the darkest days of my career,” Harrison said. “I’d like to thank Mike for saving my life and showing me what it means to be a cop.”
Deputy Chief Nilda Irizarry Hofmann was promoted to chief of community affairs — making her the first Hispanic woman in the NYPD to be promoted to three-star chief.
The promotions come as the NYPD asked a handful of chiefs, including former Transit Chief Joseph Fox and Community Affairs Chief Joanne Jaffe, to retire. Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre, the former head of the three Staten Island commands, replaced Fox.