New NYPD sergeant from Suffolk inpired by dad, police detective killed on 9/11

After two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, NYPD Det. Joseph V. Vigiano rushed with a number of his colleagues in the Emergency Services Unit to Ground Zero. Vigiano, 34, was killed in the collapse of the Twin Towers, with 13 other ESU personnel along with his brother John, who was an FDNY firefighter.  

On Monday, Vigiano’s NYPD detective son, also named Joseph, and a member of an ESU unit, took a step toward furthering his father's and uncle's legacies of public service when he was promoted to the rank of sergeant, something Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said served as a reminder of a special family tradition that continues within the department.

Vigiano, 33, who lives in Suffolk County, was among more than 100 officers promoted to sergeant before hundreds of NYPD officials and family members crowded into the auditorium at police headquarters.

"I am sure my father and uncle would be proud," Vigiano told reporters after the ceremony. "I had the privilege of wearing my dad’s [detective] shield, 4501, as detective and every time I put on that uniform ... I thought of him everyday."

Vigiano added: "After I lost my father, the NYPD became a second family. My mom was a police officer in the 75th Precinct and her friends in the 75 became my second family, so holidays, barbecues, birthdays was spent with them. So I wanted to be part of that camaraderie."

Vigiano said he didn’t expect to be promoted to sergeant so quickly, noting it's bittersweet since he has to leave the ESU to start sergeant’s school, with the next step being a patrol command. Eventually he might be able to go back to ESU work, Vigiano said.

He was joined at an impromptu news conference by his wife, Jenny, and the couple’s 4-year-old son, Joseph V. Vigiano II, who almost stole the show walking around his father, clad in a child-size blue ESU shirt. Vigiano's brother James, also an NYPD officer from Suffolk County, his wife, Kathy, and their daughter, Jackie, joined them.

On the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Vigiano said he and his mother and family will be at Ground Zero for breakfast at one of the ESU trucks with other officers and retired members. Vigiano told Newsday his father’s remains were later recovered but not those of his uncle.

"My dad loved this job and I never heard anyone say he didn’t like the work and doing the kind of work that he did," Vigiano said. "It’s a great rewarding career and I work for great people."

One member of the NYPD hierarchy who had a special interest in Vigiano’s promotion was Chief of Department Michael LiPetri, who got to know Vigiano’s father and uncle when they played together on the NYPD’s lacrosse team.

On Sept. 11, 2011, LiPetri, a sergeant at the time in the gang squad of the Brooklyn North command, was home in Nassau County when he got the call to report for duty. Because of traffic jams, LiPetri recalled in an interview with Newsday on Monday, he and his squad didn’t get to Ground Zero until about 10:30 a.m., at which point the Twin Towers had collapsed.

"I can’t even describe what I saw," said LiPetri, who started playing lacrosse when he was at East Meadow High School.  "It was just utter destruction which was hard for me to describe."

LiPetri was at the dais Monday as Tisch gave the newly promoted Vigiano his certificate to the rank of sergeant. As Vigiano walked by, LiPetri, no doubt feeling plenty of emotion from days gone by, sprang up from his chair, vigorously shook Vigiano’s hand and gave him a hearty pat on the back.

Looking at Vigiano and other sons of his deceased colleagues, LiPetri said privately he felt so proud.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.