Thousands Line Streets For Somber Funeral Of Slain NYPD Hero From LI

MASSAPEQUA, NY — The sadness was palpable. Thousands of police officers formed a sea of blue for blocks on Merrick Road in a poignant final farewell to the NYPD's Jonathan Diller.

Diller's widow Stephanie clutched their one-year-old son Ryan, as the coffin was brought into St. Rose of Lima Church in Massapequa to bagpipes playing "Amazing Grace."

"With every hug that I've received, I just picture each one is from Jonathan," Stephanie Diller said. "I wish Jonathan were here to see the incredible kindness and generosity that has been shown to our family, but I know in his own way he is here watching over us.

"He was excited that Ryan's first word was 'da da,'" she said through tears. "I would playfully try to get him to say 'ma ma' instead. But now, I never want to stop hearing Ryan say 'da da' to me."

Diller was shot and killed when he approached someone who was illegally parked at a bus stop in Far Rockaway on Monday.

"[He was] murdered while protecting the people of our city, and even after he was mortally wounded, Jon kept fighting," NYPD Police Commissioner Edward Caban said. "He wrestled the gun out of the shooter's hand, saving lives until the very end."

For paying the ultimate sacrifice, Caban posthumously promoted Diller to the rank of detective first grade. Even more bittersweet, the badge number is 110 as a tribute to his son's January 10th birthday.

"Words are just not possible," Mayor Eric Adams said. "There's not much I can say to take away this loss [and] what it means to all of us."

In just three years on the force, with the Community Response Team based in Queens, "he was making a real difference," Caban said in his eulogy. "He went toward the danger. He put himself in harm's way and he did it so that other New Yorkers wouldn't have to. He did it because he was a New York City police officer."

The Reverend Michael Duffy, of the Cathedral of St. Agnes in Rockville Centre, who presided over their wedding five years ago, delivered the homily on Saturday.

"It's a whirlwind," he said. "Stephanie, you've been an inspiration to everyone here and everyone outside, from the very beginning of this disaster."

Despite Diller's long shifts and extended time away early in their relationship, Jonathan would always keep Stephanie close to his heart, she said.

"We must have exchanged over a 100 emails through the years that I will forever cherish," she said. "I would excitedly wake up to emails from him with sweet messages like 'I'm going to spoil the heck out of you when I get home and I'll be home before you know it. You're going to blink and I'll be in front of you giving you a big kiss.' I quickly knew that I found the person I was going to marry."

More than mourning a fallen hero police officer, "We are here today because of who Jon was, most especially, a loving son, husband, father," Duffy said.

Mayor Eric Adams said that Diller is "[A] hero to all New Yorkers and all Americans. The outpouring for this young man is real and it is raw."

Diller will be laid to rest at the St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.

"Jonathan, Ryan and I don't know how we're going to live without you, but I'm so amazingly grateful for every single moment we had with you," Stephanie Diller said. "Rest in peace, Jonathan, the man who captured my heart and now all of New York's."