NYPD Honors Cops Killed In Upper Manhattan 30 Years After Deaths

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Two cops killed in Upper Manhattan on the same night 30 years ago were honored by the NYPD on Monday.

The department named its newest rescue boat after police officers Michael Buczek and Christopher Hoban, who were killed in the line of duty in 1988, police officials said. The new rescue boat is one of the NYPD's most advanced and is one of only five in the department's fleet.

"These two NYPD cops, who didn’t know each other in life, have become inseparable in the 30 years since their deaths," Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill said in a statement. "They worked in different commands, but they wore the same uniform... This vessel will serve as another lasting reminder of the service, courage, and sacrifice these men embodied during their careers. This launch is now part of their legacies, and it’s a symbol of the cause to which these heroes devoted their lives."

The ship 45-foot rescue boat is equipped with dual Volvo D13 engines with 800 horsepower and a top speed of more than 42 knots and has the capacity to hold up to 24 people in 12 foot seas, police officials said.

Buczek and Hoban were gunned down within hours of each other on October 18, 1988, police officials said.

Hoban and his partner Michael Jermyn were assigned to the Manhattan North Narcotics squad and were working undercover when they were caught in a shootout in a building on West 105th Street. The 26-year-old officer was shot in the head and chest and pronounced dead at St. Luke's Hospital.

Less than three hours later, Buczek and his partner Joseph Barbato were patrolling the 34th Precinct when they attempted to break up a drug deal on West 161st Street near Broadway, police officials said. Buczek, then 24, was shot in the chest during a chase and was pronounced dead at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital.

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Photo of Michael J. Buczek — Courtesy of Mary Jo Buczek