Bill Would Name Portion Of Southern State Parkway For Detective Steven McDonald
ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A piece of legislation introduced on Wednesday, would name a portion of a Long Island roadway for an NYPD detective who has served as an inspiration since a shooting that left him a quadriplegic.
Detective Steven McDonald died in January, but spent the decades following his shooting preaching forgiveness.
As 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported, the New York State Senate passed a bill to rename a section of the Southern State Parkway, 'Detective Steven McDonald Memorial Highway.'
The section will run from the Belt to the Meadowbrook Parkway.
Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan told McDonald's wife Patti Ann that her husband was, "a truly great man."
Flanagan recalled how McDonald publicly forgave Rashad Jones, the teenager who shot him in Central Park and paralyzed him from the waist down.
"That is just so incredibly awe inspiring and humbling, and it makes me think of myself as a person, how to be a better person by learning from people like your late husband," Flanagan said.
After the ceremony Patti Ann reflected on the honor given to her late husband.
"What I think was so beautiful was not just recognizing Steven, but all police officers, and what they do for everybody, and that's what Steven would want," she said.