MANHATTAN — The streets around St. Patrick's Cathedral will close to cars starting 7:30 a.m. Friday for the funeral of Steven McDonald, the inspirational NYPD detective who died Tuesday.
Later, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., 10 to 15 aircraft will also fly over the city to commemorate McDonald, 59, who was put on life support after he suffered a massive heart attack on Jan. 6, 31 years after he was paralyzed by a shooting in Central Park.
His funeral will begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday, but the streets around the cathedral — Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, East 50th and 51st streets — will close to vehicular traffic two hours beforehand, NYPD officials said.
A spokeswoman said the streets would reopen once mourners fully clear St. Patrick's, but she couldn't provide an exact time.
Those who can't attend the service can watch a live broadcast on the cathedral's website.
McDonald, who'd been a police officer for just two years, was stopping a robbery in Central Park on July 12, 1986, when 15-year-old Shavod Jones shot him three times, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.
McDonald later forgave Jones and spent the next several decades touring the world, spreading a message of peace.
Tributes to McDonald poured in after his death.
"Steven McDonald was the most courageous and forgiving man I have ever known,” said Patrick Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
“Despite the tremendous pain in his life, both physical and emotional, his concern for his fellow police officers and for the people of New York City never wavered."
