Posted on 05/25/2004 10:33:12 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Officer Daniel Rodriguez, the “singing cop” who gained prominence when he performed at the Yankee Stadium prayer service shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, turned in his retirement papers on Tuesday and will devote himself to music full time.
“I’d like to dedicate myself to learning how much I can actually accomplish as a singer,” said the 40-year-old Rodriguez. “I’m sad to leave because I really love the job but I’m also happy to be moving forward.”
Rodriguez sang the national anthem in Times Square in a promotion for Hilton Hotels before heading over to One Police Plaza to give his 30 days notice.
He plans to keep busy with performances including his operatic debut in “La Boheme” in New Zealand next year and recording his third CD, which will have a Christian theme.
First time I saw him perform I said, "this guy needs to quit his job and sing."
I hope to hear him again. Maybe he can visit the troops overseas on holidays.
That sounds wonderful. I hope he does that.
BTW, do NYC cops still retire using the final year's salary as the pension income base? They used to colaborate so that those who had decided to retire a year hence got to work extraordinary hours of premium and overtime pay to jack up earnings in the final year to more than twice the annual average. So, most cops retired very early on what was, in effect, a higher rate that when they were on the job. Still that way in union owned NYC?
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