Wife tells of Ocasek’s final ‘sleep’

The estranged wife of The Cars frontman Ric Ocasek described on Monday how she discovered his body while bringing him coffee at his Gramercy Park townhouse, as officials announced that the rock star died naturally from heart disease.

Supermodel Paulina Porizkova said that Ocasek, 75, had been recovering “very well” from an unspecified surgery and that she and their sons, Jonathan and Oliver, had been looking after him at his home. “I found him still asleep when bringing him his Sunday morning coffee,” Porizkova, 54, wrote in a statement on Instagram.

“I touched his cheek to rouse him. It was then I realized during the night he had peacefully passed on.” The Medical Examiner’s Office, meanwhile, determined the cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

It was unclear how long Ocasek (above) had suffered from heart disease. Pulmonary emphysema, a type of lung disease, also contributed to his death, the ME’s office said.

The “My Best Friend’s Girl” singer and Porizkova announced their split in May 2018 after 28 years together.

Porizkova also thanked fans for setting up a floral shrine outside Ocasek’s building, where one person left a picture of The Cars’ eponymous 1978 debut album and another left a vintage toy car.

“We appreciate the great outpouring of love. We, his family and friends, are completely and utterly devastated,” she wrote in her statement.

Locals who stopped by to pay their respects described the new-wave rocker as a friendly and unassuming fixture who was happy to chat.

“I grew up with his music . . . I used to see him around the neighborhood all the time,” said neighbor Rebecca Spath. “Very hard to miss.”