Plaque Honors Paralyzed Cop Steven McDonald In Central Park

CENTRAL PARK, NY — The city unveiled another honor for the late NYPD detective Steven McDonald — who barely survived a 1986 shooting and publicly forgiving the teenaged shooter — in Central Park this week.

City and police officials held a ceremony Thursday to dedicate a memorial plaque for McDonald inside the park near East 108th Street and Fifth Avenue. The plaque marks the spot near where McDonald was shot in the line of duty, city officials said.

"It’s a site where something horrible happened and that could have been the end of the story, but it was the beginning of a story that was so extraordinary and so inspiring – that there are very few we could possibility name in history that could reach the level reached by Detective Steven McDonald," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

The plaque reads: Born out of tragedy in 1986, came a life of service and forgiveness. Steven became a messenger of hope and goodwill to the community and city he loved.

Before he had even served two years on the force, in 1986, McDonald was shot and nearly killed by a 15-year-old suspected bicycle thief in Central Park. The young officer survived but lived the rest of his life as a quadriplegic and could breathe only with assistance.

McDonald famously offered his forgiveness to Shavod Jones, the 15-year-old who shot him. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said Thursday that the plaque should remind parkgoers of the forgiveness McDonald showed to Jones and think about how they would have responded if they were in McDonald's shoes.

"We pray that we never have to endure what Steven did but we all face turning points, we all have moments when you have a choice between two extremes and that choice will impact the course of our lives and the course of our lives around us also," O'Neill said. "We all know the choices Steve made. We also know that there will never be another Steven McDonald."

In October, the city re-named the 86th Street Transverse that runs through the park and by the NYPD's Central Park precinct in honor of McDonald.

McDonald died at the age of 59 in January after going into cardiac arrest when the permanent respirator he used to breathe became clogged. McDonald was remembered by remembered at a funeral mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral that was attended by elected officials, sports greats and television stars.

Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office