NEW YORK — The funeral for slain NYPD Detective Wilbert Mora was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Wednesday with thousands of officers gathering inside and outside to pay their respects.

It was the second time in five days that the city gathered to say its final farewell at the cathedral to a member of the NYPD. 

"Now I only ask myself, how many more Wilberts, how many more Jasons, how many more officers have to lose their lives for this system to change?" Mora's sister, Karina Mora, asked in Spanish while delivering a eulogy during the service. "How many more lives of those who protect us have to be seized from us by violence and crime? The officers of the NYPD protect us but who protects them? Take action, enough is enough."

Mora, 27, and his partner, Jason Rivera, 22, were called to a domestic dispute in Harlem on Jan. 21. Mora was critically wounded in the incident and succumbed to his injuries last Tuesday. Rivera died the night of the shooting, according to NYPD.

Mayor Eric Adams paid his respects at the funeral service, calling Mora "an exceptional young man."

Addressing Mora's family, the mayor said: "I thank you for sharing your son with our city and you must know we share your grief and feel your sorrow." 

The mayor also spoke out against rising crime in the city and pledged to give more resources to the police department.

"Every day I walk the streets of New York, the people of this city remind me, 'Support our police and let them know we appreciate them,'" he said.

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell announced Mora was posthumously promoted to detective first-grade. Rivera was also promoted posthumously to the same rank last week. Sewell said that being a police officer "was the most loved, significant, inextricable part" of Mora's life.

"Even among the city's skyscrapers, scaffolding and buildings, at 6’3" tall, police officer Wilbert Mora was still a giant," Sewell said. "His mother called him 'King Kong' and her strapping big boy with his family. At an early age, like the fabled character, he too found his way to the empire state."

Mora came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic at seven years old, the mayor said.

He attended John Jay College where he studied criminal justice and began serving in Harlem in November 2019.

Mora's brother, Wilson Mora, said his brother didn't have "an ounce of meanness" in him and was "impossibly patient."

"We had so many plans together," Wilson said. "We were supposed to travel, go camping and go on road trips. I wanted to experience the adventure with you because your love for life was infectious." 

"Until next time my beloved big baby, Wilbert, we'll always remember you, with your beautiful smile that was one of a kind," Claribel Jiminian, Mora's cousin, said in Spanish during the service. "Today, heaven has two more stars that will shine bright forever."