Remembering the only MTA officer to die in the line of duty

MTA Bridges and Tunnels officials, NYPD and MTA officers, the Choi family and elected officials attended the funeral service for MTA Bridges and Tunnels Officer Thomas Choi in Dyker Heights on Friday, January 9.

Choi, 62, was struck by a vehicle on October 20, 2013 during his shift at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge as he was reopening the Brooklyn-bound lower level roadway. He never regained consciousness and died on December 29, 2014, 14 months after the accident.

“The entire MTA Bridges and Tunnels family is deeply saddened by the loss of Officer Choi,” said

MTA Bridges and Tunnels President James Ferrara. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and all of his colleagues who have worked with him. He was genuinely liked by all who knew him.”

Choi was honored with a full line-of-duty funeral led by the MTA Bridges and Tunnels Honor Guard, and attended by police officers from around the tri-state region.

Choi – who received a meritorious service award in 2006 for the felony arrest of a motorist driving with a license that had been suspended 179 times, and who was subdued by Choi when he tried to escape — was initially treated at Staten Island University Hospital and later transferred for long-term care to Seaview Rehabilitation Center. Choi was recently transferred back to Staten Island University Hospital where he died.

Choi is the first Bridge and Tunnel Officer to die in the line of duty in the 81-year history of MTA Bridges and Tunnels, formally known as the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority.

“Officer Choi dedicated himself to serving and protecting everyone who travels the bridges and tunnels that unite New York, and all of us at the MTA join in mourning him,” said MTA Chairperson and CEO Thomas Prendergast.

Choi, who lived in Staten Island, leaves behind a wife, Michelle, two sons, Calvin and Timothy and a daughter, Tiffany.

The funeral took place at King Fook Funeral Home on Fort Hamilton Parkway.