Latest news with #Kerik
New York Post
06-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
‘America's cop' Bernie Kerik remembered as ‘raw, real' family man at NYC funeral
Thousands of people flooded St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan on Friday to pay their final respects to 'America's Cop' Bernie Kerik, remembering him as a hero who 'took command' on 9/11. The former NYPD commissioner was eulogized by his son, Joey Kerik, as a steadfast family man even during his high-profile career leading the city's police department through the terror attacks. 'He was raw, real, everything you'd want in a dad,' Joey said, speaking to pews packed with the Big Apple's top leaders. 4 Dignitaries including Mayor Eric Adams attend Friday's funeral for former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. GC Images 'As a man in the limelight, there's nothing he loved more than his children,' Joey said. But Kerik also put 'his whole heart' into his demanding job, facing the struggles of his role head-on both during Sept. 11, 2001, and in post-terror attack New York City, the son said. 'He took command, didn't flinch or retreat,' said Joey, 41, who followed in his father's footsteps into law enforcement and currently serves on the Newark SWAT team. 'He always told me how proud he was of me. The one thing I never got to say to him was how proud I was of him,' the son said. Dozens of dignitaries were in attendance to honor the life of Kerik, who died Thursday after he was hospitalized with cardiac disease. He was 69. FBI Director Kash Patel and his wife were among the mourners, as was former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who named Kerik to the top cop job in 2000, and his son, Andrew. Giuliani was seen rubbing elbows with Kerik's successor, former top city cop Ray Kelly. Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jennifer Tisch were among those lined up in front of flag-bearers before Kerik's coffin was brought into the church. Deputy Mayor Randy Maestro and Deputy NYPD Commissioner Tania Kinsella joined the crowd, too. 4 Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whom Kerik served under as NYPD commish, attends the funeral with his son Andrew. GC Images 4 Kerik died Thursday after he was hospitalized with cardiac disease. He was 69. AFP via Getty Images 'The quote, 'Courage is an uncommon virtue,' applies today as we commemorate D-Day and celebrate the life of Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the man whose courage saved lives, delivered a city from its worst attack and helped elect the man who is saving America, President Trump,' Giuliani wrote on X on Friday. 4 FBI Director Kash Patel lines up ahead of the flag-bearers for the service. GC Images A procession to the famed cathedral before the ceremony included motorcycles, a marching band and dozens of NYPD officers. Kerik had a storied career that earned him the nickname the 'Beat Cop Commissioner' for his hands-on leadership style, making five arrests during his 16-month tenure as commissioner, including one involving two ex-convicts in Harlem driving a stolen van. His law enforcement career spanned four decades and involved national security work and helming the NYPD during 9/11, overseeing its response, rescue, recovery and investigative efforts in the aftermath. Kerik is survived by his wife, Hala Matil Kerik, and three children, including a son with ex-wife Jacqueline Llerena.
New York Post
01-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Remembering my friend Bernard Kerik — NYC's top cop
Kerik was friend to the end Eternity is breaking up that old gang of mine. In his good years, Bernie Kerik was good. Very good. Nobody gooder. I was often at his New Jersey home. Dinners. Parties. Crowded? You couldn't throw a summons without hitting a VIP. Son Joe a detective. Himself a former NYC cop. As top cop, one Christmas card pictured his favorite one-namers — Donald, Geraldo and me. Advertisement I've kept letters he sent me from prison. Talk was maybe a movie being written about him. He wanted Tom Cruise to star. Yeah, he went bad. In politics it's catching. It's in the walls. Like the virus. USA — greatest piece of Earth God ever created — and Mrs. ventriloquist Biden getting hairs bleached a swab away from the nuclear codes? Before Bernie went to jail we talked. Just us. Blotting tears he said: 'Not easy to take. My brother said he didn't know I was this tough. I don't read newspapers, don't watch TV. Seeing, hearing it yourself is awful. Advertisement 'Friends fell to three types. Those who fled, those who stayed as support, and those I'll have to try to forget. 'Happened was I got involved in my own celebrity. It's arrogance. You think you're above the law. I made mistakes. I'm paying the price for it. People have said I had no right to have reached that high because I'm a nothing who came from nothing . . . so what do I know . . . I don't know.' Down 50 pounds, NYC's once-heralded former police commissioner — who now spoke very quietly — 'Even at this stage I'm getting offers. Stuff like international security. Israel, Jordan, Middle East. Consulting on counterterrorism. Advertisement 'And you don't know your friends until trouble hits. I've been ignored by them all. Close ones stick. Some show up to see — or help. Then there's the so-called ones you thought you always had. They disappeared.' Ciao to Chow's And from life's other side: another deeply appreciated Philippe Chow Chinese restaurant's opening. His East 60th branch — after 20 years — is closing. His new East Side location's opening September. Advertisement Why's he moving? Because Extell Development Co. founder Gary Barnett has building plans. Philippe Chow Downtown inside West 16th's Dream Hotel is already getting jazzy queries. The clientele included Mariah Carey, Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar. Need a table? The GM at the new place is Kostas Paterakis. Doc is music to his ears Sting and Trudie Styler's kid Jake Sumner doing a doc about famed NYC concert promoter Ron Delsener — he brought Simon and Garfunkel back together for their 1981 reunion in Central Park. Paying tribute in the flick, Jon Bon Jovi says: 'His name even came before the band.' Paul Simon: 'New York was his town.' Delsener, for some reason, eats a sandwich during the piece. Sandwich, OK. But if it's ribs — better he should ship them to my house. Advertisement And be it known the previous government was desperately trying to help small businesses. We should be grateful a little fellow once made the rounds with a hand organ and a monkey. Biden gave him a loan. Now he flounces around with a steam calliope and a gorilla. Only in Washington, kids, only in Washington.
New York Post
30-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
End of watch for ex-NYPD Commish Bernie Kerik, 1955-2025
Former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik, 'America's Cop,' who helped make New York the safest big city in America and led the department through the 9/11 terror attack, passed away Thursday at 69. A high-school dropout from Paterson, NJ, he joined the Army and eventually earned his GED while stationed at Fort Bragg (and, much later, a college degree). A few years after leaving the service, he joined the NYPD in 1986, earning the department's Medal of Valor for saving his partner in a gun battle. He shifted to the Department of Correction in '94, rising to head it in '98. At DOC, he led a complete turnaround of the Rikers Island jail complex, ending an epidemic of inmate violence. In 2000, recalled his old boss, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, 'He became police commissioner when they thought crime couldn't be reduced any further, yet he reduced it further. His work helped New York become the safest big city in America and a shining example of urban renaissance.' In his 16 months as the city's top cop, he was lauded for his hands-on leadership — even making five arrests, plus collaring two ex-cons driving a stolen van in Harlem — and presiding over a 63% drop in violent crime. He'd just written a memoir of his rise, 'The Lost Son,' when the planes hit the towers. After 9/11, Kerik's work overseeing NYPD rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero led to his honorary appointment as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and brought him to the attention of President George W. Bush, who tapped him to organize Iraq's provisional police force and then named him to head the newly-created Department of Homeland Security. Then the roof fell in, as the vetting process uncovered some stupid mistakes that torpedoed the nomination and eventually led him to plead guilty to federal tax fraud and do four years' hard time. Yet Kerik bounced back, eventually penning his second best-seller, 'From Jailer to Jailed: My Journey from Correction and Police Commissioner to Inmate #84888-054.' He devoted much of his later years to prison issues and (sensible) criminal-justice reform. Bernard Kerik was a cop's cop. Rest in peace.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Rudy Giuliani Chokes Up Remembering Former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik
Rudy Giuliani became visibly emotional while paying tribute to former New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik, who died Thursday at age 69. The disgraced former New York City mayor audibly sniffled and appeared to be holding back tears at several points during Thursday's episode of his 'America's Mayor Live' podcast, a segment of which was recorded just moments after Kerik's death was publicly confirmed. Describing Kerik as 'my closest friend and my brother, who saved my life,' Giuliani said, 'Actually, there was no one in my life who was braver than he was.' 'I was a better man for having known Bernie. I certainly was a braver man and a stronger man, and I wish my father had known Bernie because my father was the bravest man I ever knew,' he explained. 'I don't know what I'm going to do without him. Never expected this. I love him.' A New Jersey native and Army veteran, Kerik was appointed by Giuliani to serve as New York's police commissioner in 2000. He was hailed as a national hero after overseeing the city's response, rescue and recovery efforts in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In 2004, he was tapped by then-President George W. Bush to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Five years later, however, he pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud and false statement charges, and was given a four-year prison sentence, of which he served three years. President Donald Trump pardoned Kerik during a 2020 clemency blitz, after which Kerik reteamed with Giuliani to investigate Trump's baseless claims of election fraud following his loss to Joe Biden later that year. Deeming Kerik 'one of the first victims of lawfare,' Giuliani added: 'He was pardoned by a great president with a big heart and a lot of decency, and he loved that president. 'Bernie dedicated, I would say, the last years of his life, from about 2015 on, to making sure Donald Trump would become president, and would succeed as president,' he continued. 'He loved him. He absolutely loved him.' Toward the end of the broadcast, Giuliani said he'd been planning to visit Kerik over the weekend. 'I feel like I should've been with him,' he said. Watch Thursday's episode of 'America's Mayor Live' below. Giuliani's comments on Bernie Kerik begin around the 1:08:52 mark: Donald Trump Taps Rudy Giuliani's Son For Top Sports Gig Ex-NY Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, Who Pleaded Guilty To Federal Tax Fraud, Has Died Rudy Giuliani Says He's Too Sick For Court Hearing — But Fine For Trump's Inauguration
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tearful Rudy Giuliani breaks down over death of Bernie Kerik
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani broke down in tears remembering ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik, who died on Thursday at age 69. 'I was a better man for having known Bernie,' Giuliani said on his 'America's Mayor Live' podcast shortly after Kerik's death was announced. 'I don't know what I'm going to do without him.' Earlier this month, Kerik was hospitalized with a serious illness from which he was expected to recover. Giuliani said he had planned to visit his old pal on Saturday and regrets not doing so earlier. 'I feel like I should've been with him,' the choked-up Brooklyn native told listeners. Giuliani recalled the times he spent with Kerik, which included fighting crime in New York City, moving the city forward after the 9/11 terror attacks and supporting President Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former mayor also praised his longtime friend for his 'honesty and integrity,' claiming Kerik was targeted by 'lawfare' when he served three years in prison for tax fraud. Giuliani became increasingly emotional recalling Kerik's service to law enforcement in the U.S. and overseas during the Iraq War, as well as their work together in the private sector. 'I've gone through difficult times, right, and I found out who my friends were,' he confessed. 'Bernie was there for every single thing.' The water works began when Giuliani once again said he wished he'd been at Kerik's bedside when he died. 'I wish I was there for you Bernie, you were always there for me,' he sobbed before saying a prayer for Kerik.
