It’s been nearly 50 years since her police officer husband was shot and killed, but widow Teresa Picciano, 75, remembers cops knocking on her door like it was yesterday.
“It was like 6 o’clock in the morning,” Picciano, of Queens, said. “I thought it was Joe coming home and he forgot his keys. They work extended hours. He had just made detective.”
Detective Joseph Picciano was shot and killed on Feb. 15, 1971 by a prisoner at the 41st Precinct stationhouse.
“I wanted to go see him and they said no that was not possible,” Picciano recalled. “They said he was shot and he didn’t make it. But my mind was not listening.”
Part of 62nd Street in Maspeth will be renamed Det. Joseph A. Picciano Way on Saturday. His widow said the renaming was a pleasant surprise.
“Now, it’s like a thing to do,” she said. “Then, nobody really did it.”
The renaming is being sponsored by Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley.
Det. Picciano had been fingerprinting the suspect that he and other cops had arrested for abducting a 13-year-old boy. The suspect began to struggle with him.
During the struggle, Picciano’s revolver fell to the floor. The suspect was able to pick it up, and fired two shots, killing the detective. Other officers returned fire, killing the suspect.
“I was 25 and I had three children,” said Picciano, who still lives in the home she shared with her police officer husband. “I wasn’t as independent as the girl’s are today..”
Her daughter Suzanne was 3, Joseph was 5 and Vincent was 8, she said.
Today, one of her sons is a fireman and another is a Wall Street trader. Her daughter works for the Department of Corrections. She has four grandchildren.
“My children, I’m very lucky, they all landed on their feet,” she said. “They’re good citizens.”