Their love story is fascinating.
A married police officer couple were promoted together in a heartwarming ceremony at the NYPD on Friday, with one spouse taking on the badge number of his father, a former emergency medical service hero.
“My dad was always my hero and I wanted to follow in his footsteps,” Gina Buscemi, 33, said of her father, James Buscemi, 70.
“I’m very proud to wear that same shield and carry on the tradition in my family.”
Buscemi, 33, of Midtown South, was promoted from police officer to sergeant, while her husband, Joshua Rios, 42, was promoted from lieutenant to captain.
He is currently based at Police Station 113 in Rochdale, Queens, but is unsure where he will be assigned next.
Buscemi was presented with the same sergeant’s shield number worn by his father, who served as an NYPD officer for more than 33 years, including responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and serving as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) team that responded after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people.
“Now my daughter is wearing my plaque and my plaque number, 378. I’m so proud of her and my son-in-law,” Buscemi said. “It’s special.”
Buscemi and Rios were honored Friday at the New York City Police Academy in College Point, Queens, along with about 300 other officers who were promoted.
The blue-clad lovebirds, who have two daughters aged two and six months, met through mutual friends at work.
“We met at a bar as a group after work and we just hit it off,” Rios said, his wife smiling next to him.
The couple married about five years ago and live in Seaford, Long Island.
“[It’s]”It’s unheard of,” Rios said of getting promoted on the same day as his wife.
Buscemi said he decided to become a police officer after watching his father respond to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“9/11 really hit me hard. What happened was very sad, but I was also very happy that my father came home. He lost a lot of friends that day,” she said.
When asked how he felt when he found out his daughter wanted to be a police officer, he joked, “I thought, ‘Oh my God.'”
“It’s a big step going from police officer to sergeant. You supervise other officers, it’s a lot of responsibility and you work your way up from there – it just keeps going up and up,” he said.
“She worked hard to get it. Well done.”
