Bay Ridge street corner co-named in memory of cop who died protecting it
The entirety of 86th Street between Dahlgren Place and Seventh Avenue was closed to traffic the morning of Saturday, October 21 as family and community members alike came together to memorialize a Bay Ridge hero.
That morning, the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 86th Street was co-named “Patrolman David Guttenberg Way” in memory of the 68th Precinct officer who, nearly 40 years ago, died protecting it.
David Guttenberg – who, after service in the army and time as a U.S. postal officer was called to enter the Police Academy and eventually serve the 68th Precinct – was gunned down on December 28, 1978, after entering an auto parts store with the intention of finding the owner of a near-by double-parked car (so as not to issue it a ticket during the holidays) and stumbled upon a robbery in progress.