I often visit a certain part of Calvary to check in on the Calvary Civil War Veterans Memorial (I’ll have more to say about the Civil War Memorial another day) as well as the nearby Alsop Family Cemetery.
While passing between these two places today I noticed a grave from 1972 with a conspicuous quantity of freshly-placed decorations. I was intrigued by the abundance of grave decorations left at the site of one who had died 37 years ago. Abundant grave decorations are not unusual but they are more common at the sites of the more recently deceased. Such a quantity of markers for someone who died so long ago suggested a story was still alive.
It turns out a story is very much alive. This young man — Phillip W. Cardillo, 1941-1972 — was an NYPD officer killed in the line of duty while responding to a fake 911 call at a Nation of Islam Mosque in Harlem. The case was recently re-opened but remains unsolved, and a quick grab of web searches shows that the story is as interesting as I imagined when I spotted the burial site.
Cardillo was a subject of the 2005 book Circle of Six, by former NYPD Detective Randy Jurgensen. The New York Daily News summarized the case in a recent article of April 15, 2009:
THIS SUNDAY, the Blue Knights Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club, Nassau County Chapter X will hold its fourth annual ride in memory of Police Officer Philip Cardillo.
Cardillo, was fatally wounded on April 14, 1972, at the Nation of Islam Mosque No. 7 in Harlem. He responded to a phony 911 call of a cop in trouble.
As the infamous story goes, more than a dozen witnesses were let go because police and city officials feared a race riot. No one was ever convicted of his murder.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly re-opened the investigation two years ago.
Last year, more than 150 people participated in the memorial ride.
I just ordered a copy of Circle of Six. I would likely never have known about this story had I not spotted Cardillo’s grave at Calvary today.
Another more upbeat find at Calvary today was Charley (also spelled "Charlie") White.
I noticed the words "FAMOUS REFEREE" near the top of the marker of Charles H. White and a cursory web search shows that Mr. White was, indeed, a well-known referee of high-profile boxing matches and a respected part of the pugilist scene. His New York Times obituary is here and a description of the funeral service which ended at Calvary is here.
Pretty cool stuff … for me at least.
My friend Tiffani Cardillo told me tthe story of her grandfather. It hurts me deeply to hear the way he died. He remains in the hearts of the Cardillo family and will never be forgotten.
I am retired from NYPD, and was on the job when this happenrd. This was a complete SHAM, COVER UP FROM THE MAYOR,P.C and down the line. In 1972, after his death,my partner, Jim Cirillo, and I were put in uniform only to answer family dispute calls from the Harlem Precients. Wew are sitting in front of the mosque having our meal, when up comes a RMP Sgt. in the car telling us we CAN NOT PARK HERE. I told him WE ARE FROM THE STAKE OUT UNIT, and we DOI NOT WORK FOR YOU. GO back to your statiion house, and get a buch of UF #95 tags, and enough body bags to match. If we have to go inside that mosque, Officer Cardill killers will need a body bag, along with anyone who resist arrest. The Sgt. did not say another word to us, he fled the scene.
No one in the Job ever screwed with us, they knew of our reputation.