The NYPD on Tuesday named a patrol boat in honor of a city police officer killed more than 40 years ago.
The department's Harbor Unit christened the boat in Sunset Park for Officer Phillip Cardillo, who was shot to death at Nation of Islam mosque in Harlem in 1972.
Cardillo and his partner were on a 911 call when they were overpowered by a group of men.
During the attack, someone took Cardillo’s gun and shot him in the chest.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says the department had a duty to pay homage to Cardillo when he died, but failed to do so.
"We did not keep our promise. Because of the controversy surrounding the incident, because of the tensions of the time, neither the police commissioner of that time nor the mayor attended Phil's funeral, a police officer murdered in the line of duty. That's a shame then, it's a shame now," Bratton said.
"I feel ecstatic. This is the first time that there's any recognition that Phil Cardillo did the right thing on that day," said Cardillo's NYPD partner, Vito Navarra.
Cardillo's family has tried but failed to rename a street in the neighborhood where he served.
Despite two trials, no one has ever been convicted with Cardillo's murder.