Inwood Officer Killed In 2022 Honored With Street Renaming

INWOOD, NY - A New York Police Department detective killed last year was honored Saturday with a street co-named after him.

Det. Jason Rivera and his partner Officer Wilbert Mora were killed while responding to a domestic violence call in Harlem in January 2022. 22-year-old Rivera was just over a year into the job.

Rivera grew up on 204th Street in Inwood, now co-named Detective Jason "TATA" Rivera Way.

Mora, 27, was honored with a street renaming in Brooklyn earlier this summer.

During the weekend ceremony, Rivera’s wife Dominique Rivera noted Jason joined the NYPD to improve the relationship between his community and the police.

“Jason was so proud to wear his blue uniform and be part of the NYPD, but more importantly, to protect and serve this community, and I cannot think of a better way to honor and celebrate him than to have a street named after him in his Inwood neighborhood,” Dominique said. “I hope that whenever someone passes by this street and reads Jason's name, they are reminded of the sacrifice and feel encouraged, motivated and inspired to go after their dreams.”

Today, we honored a hero of NYC — our fallen brother, Detective Jason Rivera. The street now named in his honor renews our vow to #NeverForget. DEA Board Officers were proud to stand with Jason’s family and fellow cops as “Detective Jason ‘Tata’ Rivera Way was unveiled. pic.twitter.com/0pdbQf0GeT
— Detectives' Endowment Association (@NYCPDDEA) September 16, 2023

Rivera joined the department in November 2020, assigned to the 32nd Precinct in Central and northern Harlem. Aside from his duties as a police detective, Rivera was an active member of the Dyckman Run Club and encouraged other young people, Mayor Eric Adams said.

During a 2022 news conference at Harlem Hospital, Mayor Eric Adams called the shooting "an attack on the City of New York." He later ordered flags on all city buildings to fly half-staff in Rivera's memory.

“He was a symbol of strength. was a symbol of manhood, of who we want our young men to be,” the mayor said.

“Jason loved this community so much so that he made his life's work to protect it and to keep the people he cared about safe. That was the life he chose, and that life was ended far too soon,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban added. “But the mark that Jason left on our lives, that will never fade, because we will keep telling the story on this block and everywhere else each and every chance we get, and he will be a son of Inwood forever.”

The newly dedicated Detective Jason “Tata” Rivera Way at the corner of 204 Street and Sherman Avenue will forever honor our fallen hero — taken far too soon in life. Jason grew up here and years from now when his son Wesley looks up at the sign that bears his father’s name, he… pic.twitter.com/RlJnxbCam2
— Edward A. Caban (@NYPDPC) September 16, 2023