When they ride, God is on their side.
First at St. Patrick’s Cathedral Blessing of the Bike On Saturday, the city made a €1 million investment, the first in its 145-year history.
“We basically shut down six freeways, three bridges and midtown Manhattan, and we arrived with a long line of motorcycles,” said Steve Cattaneo, a former NYPD sergeant. Blue Lives Matter New Yorkand plan events.
morning Charity Bike Run The ceremony began at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey for the families of the fallen officers and ended at St. Pat’s Church, with a police escort from start to finish.
Participants gathered inside St. Pat’s Church to pray for current and retired police and emergency personnel, then went outside to have their bikes blessed.
Father Andrew King gave holy water to the crowd that lined West 51st Street and to the motorbikes parked alongside them, some of whom made the sign of the cross in respect.
Money raised from rider registration fees and donations was donated to Blue Lives Matter, a non-profit organization set up to support police officers and their families, with a portion also going to St. Patrick’s Church.
“I’m a former police sergeant, so I know what those officers are going through and what their families are going through,” said Cattaneo, a member of the New Jersey chapter of the Punisher’s Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club.
“So that means a lot.”
