Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Thursday, September 6, 2001
Release #311-01

Contact: Sunny Mindel / Sid Dinsay (212) 788-2958


MAYOR GIULIANI SIGNS BILL RENAMING CORNER OF
BRADLEY AND WESTWOOD AVENUES ON STATEN ISLAND
"C.O. GEORGE MOTCHAN CORNER"

Remarks by Mayor Giuliani at Public Hearing on Local Laws

The first bill before me today is Introductory Number 914, sponsored by Council Members Oddo and Abel. The bill would add the name "C.O. George Motchan Corner" to the southeast corner of Bradley and Westwood Avenues on Staten Island.

George Motchan was born in Brooklyn on August 11, 1930. He served his country during the latter part of World War II and, in 1958, he became an officer in the New York City Department of Correction. For seventeen years, Officer Motchan admirably performed his difficult duties for the Department.

On September 9, 1975, Officer Motchan and Officer Joseph Connors were escorting an inmate from the Brooklyn House of Detention to Kings County Hospital. At the hospital, the inmate told the officers that he needed to use the bathroom. Unbelievably, the inmate's girlfriend had placed a gun inside the restroom, and when the inmate emerged, he opened fire, unleashing a hail of bullets. Both officers were badly wounded. While Officer Connors managed to survive, Officer Motchan succumbed to his injuries six days later, on September 15, 1975.

Officer George Motchan was the last Correction officer killed in the line of duty. Because of his death, City law enforcement agencies now use a series of protocols for transporting prisoners designed to prevent other officers from being sabotaged as Officer Motchan was. So although he has been gone for over a quarter century, the City has not forgotten his ultimate sacrifice, and his tragic death has helped to make safer the lives of his former colleagues. I am honored, therefore, to name the southeast corner of Bradley and Westwood Avenues on Staten Island in memory of Correction Officer George Motchan.

For the reasons previously stated, I will now sign the bill.

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