Remembering Officer Anthony Sanchez

An officer who belonged to the neighborhood

Anthony Sanchez was a 13th Precinct officer and a ten-year NYPD veteran. On May 19, 1997, he was fatally shot while responding to an armed robbery on West 17th Street. He was 31. The City’s account records fifteen departmental medals during his career.

A community gathered

The Gramercy Park Block Association recalled Sanchez’s warmth and his relationships with residents and businesses. After his death, the Block Association organized an outdoor memorial concert. Its retrospective reports that more than 2,500 people attended.

Anthony Sanchez Way

On April 24, 1999, the City renamed East 21st Street between Second and Third Avenues Police Officer Anthony Sanchez Way. The Block Association’s account describes its support for the street-naming legislation and the hope that the sign would keep his memory present for his family and future neighbors.

1997–1999

From legislation to dedication

The September 1997 profile credits Arlene Harrison with leading the street-naming effort at Captain Steven Anger’s request. City Council authorized the naming on September 18, 1997; the public dedication followed in April 1999.

The April 29, 1999 photographic report also preserves Captain John Healy’s thanks to the Block Association among the supporters of the precinct’s memorial wall. Todd Maisel’s photographs show the unveiling with Sanchez’s family, police and city officials.

2004

Returning to Epiphany

On May 19, 2004, family, officers and neighbors gathered for a memorial Mass at the Church of the Epiphany. Detective Roy Ruland, Sanchez’s former partner, worked with precinct Community Affairs officers and the Block Association to organize the remembrance.

The May 13 announcement and May 27 photographic report together document the plan and the completed gathering. The earlier report also recalls the Block Association’s memorial concert and support for the street naming, connecting that year’s remembrance with the neighborhood’s response in 1997.

Remembrance in the years that followed

The Block Association continued sharing memorial observances, including the twentieth anniversary in May 2017. Sanchez’s story also belongs to the 13th Precinct’s Wall of Honor, which the Block Association helped support.