Schumer, Mcnulty Effort To Re-Name U.S. Post Office In Slain Officer Lt. John Finn's Honor Passes Congress
USPS Stuyvesant Plaza Station will be named after the Albany Police Lieutenant shot in the line of duty last December
The Senate passed the measure last month and the House passed the measure Tuesday night
US Senator Charles E. Schumer and Congressman Michael R. McNulty today announced that their plan to officially rename the building in honor of the late Police Lieutenant John Finn has passed Congress. Lt. Finn was an Albany Police Lieutenant who was shot in the line of duty last December and passed away earlier this year. Lt. Finn's wife Maura and their two daughters live nearby and use the post office often.
The bill, which was unanimously approved by the Senate on October 10th and the House last night, now heads to the White House for consideration. President Bush is expected to sign the measure into law in the coming weeks.
"Nothing we can do will bring Lt. Finn back to life, but we can honor his memory and the labor of all those in law enforcement who put themselves on the front lines day in and day out to protect our communities," Schumer said. "I am delighted that the Post Office will now bear the name of this great American and I look forward to coming back here and standing at this building with Lt. Finn's family to ensure that his name is enshrined in this community forever."
In his remarks on the House floor yesterday, McNulty called Lt. Finn a hero, who laid down his life for his friends, and will always be remembered by his wife, Maura, his children, Clara and Molly, his fellow police officers, and the community atlarge. Lieutenant John F. Finn was a 13year veteran of the Albany Police Department. He passed away in February after responding to a call in December of an armed robbery of a small grocery store on South Pearl Street. On Trinity Street, one block west of the robbery, Lt. Finn confronted a fleeing suspect who opened fire on him with a Tech9 semiautomatic machine pistol, striking him three times. During the next 51 days, Lt. Finn underwent numerous surgeries and heroically struggled for his life before passing away on February 12 surrounded by family and friends.
"When you talk to the people of this community, the family members of Lt. Finn, and his brothers and sisters in the Police Department, everyone says the same thing. He was a class act who put his community above everything else," Schumer said. "It's fitting that a government institution at the center of this community would now bear his name so that future generations will remember him and all that he stood for."
Lt. Finn was born in Port Jefferson, New York to William T. and Mary M. Finn. He was a graduate of Smithtown HS West on Long Island and attended the State University of New York at Albany. In 1991 he joined the Albany Police Department where he became a detective in the Juvenile Unit in 1993, was promoted to Sergeant in 1996 and became a Lieutenant in 2001. Lt. Finn received two lifesaving awards from the Albany Police Department and was named Officer of the Year in 2000 by the Kiwanis Club. He commanded the Civil Disturbance Unit, was a member of the Emergency Services Team and was instrumental in creating the Children and Family Services Unit of the Albany Police Department.
Lt. Finn is survived by his wife, Maura McNultyFinn, his daughters, Clara Riley McNultyFinn and Molly Rose McNultyFinn; his parents, William and Mary Finn; his siblings, William and Suzanne Finn of Keene, NH, Michael and Carley Finn of Reston, VA, Mary and Christophe Maille of St. Martin D'Uriage, France, Rose Finn and Edward Schauffert of Amherst, MA; his father and motherinlaw, John and Suzanne McNulty of Chapel Hill, NC; his brothers and sistersinlaw, Michelle and Kevin Scannell of Langhorne, PA, Riley McNulty and Songtao Lu of Boston, MA, Tom and Janet McNulty of Watkinsville, GA, and Tina Finn of Roswell, GA. Numerous nieces and nephews also survive him.
