The 19th Precinct Just Honored an Officer Who Died on Duty 57 Years Ago, and the City Council Has Set Aside a Corner in His Name

The 19th Precinct took a moment this week to remember one of its own, an officer who died while on duty on the Upper East Side nearly six decades ago. His story is a short one, but the city has already moved to attach his name to a corner a few steps from where he worked.

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Patrolman Kenneth N. Keller suffered a fatal heart attack on August 31, 1969, “during a stressful situation while on duty,” according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a national registry of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. He’s listed on the NYPD’s own roll of fallen officers with the same date.

On Monday, the 57th anniversary of his death, the precinct posted a brief tribute on X: “Today, we remember 19th Precinct Patrolman Kenneth N. Keller, who suffered a fatal heart attack 57 years ago during a stressful situation while on duty. Kenneth & his family will never be forgotten.”

Keller served in the U.S. Navy during World War II before joining the NYPD, where he spent 19 years on the force, according to the City Council’s description of his career. He received numerous departmental recognitions and awards over that time, including the department’s Exceptional Merit citation.

That description accompanied a City Council bill to co-name the intersection of East 67th Street and Lexington Avenue “Patrolman Kenneth N. Keller 19th Precinct.” The precinct’s station house sits on that block of East 67th Street. The co-naming was included in a package of 103 street and intersection namings across the five boroughs that the Council passed on June 30, 2026. The mayor neither signed nor vetoed it, and it became law on July 31. Council Member Keith Powers, whose district includes the precinct, sponsored the Keller co-naming.

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A co-naming doesn’t change the street’s official name; it adds a supplemental sign at the designated spot.

Keller is one of more than a dozen NYPD officers who died in the line of duty in the late 1960s, a period that included several officers killed by gunfire and others, like Keller, whose deaths came from medical emergencies while on the job. Visitors to his memorial page have left reflections for years, with retired officers from across the country marking the 44th and 50th anniversaries of his death with notes of thanks.

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