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In a ceremony held on Wednesday, Oct. 30, hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the renaming of the Tuckahoe Road Bridge over the Sprain Brook Parkway in Yonkers after Yonkers Police Detective Sergeant Frank Gualdino, who was killed in a crash in December 2022 at the age of 53.
On Dec. 1, 2022, Gualdino, a Putnam County resident who lived in Mahopac, was driving on Tuckahoe Road while on duty when a speeding, unlicensed 16-year-old driver lost control of his vehicle and collided with his police vehicle head-on.
Gualdino later succumbed to his injuries at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx. The teenage suspect was taken to an area hospital in critical condition after the crash.
In the days after the crash, investigators determined that the boy had lost control of the BMW while speeding, causing it to swerve into the opposite lane of traffic and hit Gualdino's vehicle and a Westchester County Bee-Line bus. The boy had not had a driver's license at the time of the crash and instead had a learner's permit obtained three weeks before, police said.
The driver was originally criminally charged with one count of criminally negligent homicide in connection to the crash in late October 2023. However, the boy's case was adjudicated in Family Court because of his young age.
A bill to rename the bridge after Gualdino was signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier in 2024. Resolutions supporting the renaming were also made by Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano and the Yonkers City Council.
Memorial signs with Gualdino's name can now be seen on the northbound and southbound lanes of the Sprain Brook Parkway at the Tuckahoe Road overpass. Additionally, memorial signs were also installed on the eastbound and westbound lanes of Tuckahoe Road at the overpass.
"With this sign, it’s an eternal thank you from the people of Yonkers," Spano said during the celebration on Wednesday, adding, "We will never stop supporting our local police officers, who, like Det. Sgt. Gualdino put their uniforms on every day and protect and serve our City. This is a moment in our hearts to pause and celebrate his life every time we drive across this bridge."
Yonkers Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza also spoke at the event, saying that the department can "still feel the void" of Gualdino's loss.
"When we lose an Officer in the line of duty, we vow to ‘never forget.’ This is the reason why we do memorials and dedications- we want our community to remember Frank every time they are on this bridge; his legacy, service, and sacrifice to our community will never be forgotten," Sapienza said.
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