SEA OF BLUE: Throngs of cops stand at attention yesterday as a band of brothers leads the funeral march for fallen Officer Peter Figoski in Babylon, LI. (Paul Martinka)
He had been a cop for 22 years, but it was only after his death that Peter Figoski’s four daughters realized what that truly meant.
“We now feel connected to a side of our dad we rarely saw at home — he put us aside from his duties as a police officer and always put us first,’’ the grief-stricken girls said in a heartbreaking statement read at their father’s funeral yesterday.
“When a hero falls, an angel rises. Rest in peace, Daddy.’’
The young daughters wept, hugged each other — and, in one particularly touching moment, paused to rest their hands on their father’s casket one last time — as they joined a throng of some 20,000 red-eyed cops, relatives and friends in and around their family’s Babylon, LI, church to honor their devoted dad.
An emotional Mayor Bloomberg posthumously bestowed the title of detective first grade on the beloved Figoski, who was gunned down during a drug robbery-gone-awry last week.
“Knowing your father was a hero doesn’t make these days any easier for you,’’ a grim-faced Bloomberg acknowledged to Figoski’s daughters, Christine, 19; Caitlyn, 18; Caroline, 16; and Corinne, 14.
“As the father of two daughters, I understand the bonds you shared with your dad — and how much you miss him now.”
The black Cadillac hearse carrying Figoski’s body had arrived at the church to a mournful drumbeat as the huge sea of blue — thousands of cops in their dress blues and white gloves, alternately fighting back tears and openly weeping — flooded the streets to honor him.
As his casket was removed and brought inside, the officers stood solemnly at attention and saluted. Some immediately broke down in tears.
The Finest included hundreds of uniformed cops standing on a nearby LIRR platform because that was the only place they could get a glimpse of the scene.
Figorski’s funeral also drew cops from as far away as Chicago, Baltimore and Boston.
About 1,000 people packed inside St. Joseph’s Church — but more than 19,000 others, some who had parked and walked from a mile away, listened silently standing outside, as the touching eulogies given by Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly were broadcast on speakers in the cold, crisp nearly winter air.
As Figoski’s daughters made their way out of the church — where they and their father had all been baptized — they each paused separately to rest their hands on their father’s mahogany casket, which was draped in a green, white and blue NYPD flag, before walking out with their mother, Pauline.
The weeping daughters then went outside, where Pauline, who was divorced from Figoski, was presented with a folded American flag.
A bagpiper played “Amazing Grace” as the casket was sprinkled with holy water before being slid into the hearse.
Overhead, five police helicopters flew in formation.
Among the mourners were several Finest who over the weekend had, in round-the-clock shifts, stayed near Figoski’s body at the Boyd/Spencer Funeral Home in Babylon.
“The officers stayed in an adjacent chapel so Peter would never be alone,” said funeral director Sean Ward. “They just wanted to be with him in spirit.”
Also attending was Figoski’s hero partner at the 75th Precinct, Glenn Estrada, who chased down and captured his comrade’s suspected killer.
“Today was like I thought. It was very tough,” Estrada told The Post.
“But we’re all here together to remember a great guy. And it’s important that we’re here together to console each other, and everybody here who knew him, loved Pete.”
Figoski’s daughters, in their statement, publicly thanked Estrada for all he had done for their dad.
Kelly, in his eulogy, underscored the importance of Figoski’s daughters to their slain father.
“Pete’s devotion to his own family was legendary,” Kelly said in a voice that wavered at times.
“His locker at the 75th Precinct is covered with pictures of his four beloved daughters. They meant everything to him.
“Eight days ago, Pete was offered the chance to work a coveted overtime assignment in Manhattan. To his supervisor’s surprise, he turned it down. When he was told later how much money he could have made, he beamed and said, ‘I got a chance to spend a beautiful day with my girls.’ ”
Kelly — addressing mourners who included Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes, US Rep. Peter King (R-LI) and actor Tony Danza — also spoke of the heroism and bravery that had earned Figoski a slew of commendations.
Figoski, for example, had received the Medal for Exceptional Merit after being among the responding officers fired at by a man who turned out to be New York’s Zodiac Killer in 1996.
“Like most officers, Pete didn’t want his family to worry about him,” Kelly said. “If his children asked him what had happened at work the night before, he’d say, ‘Absolutely nothing. I just sat in the car.’ But the reality was very different.”
At North Babylon Cemetery, the funeral procession ended with a large American flag dangling from the extended ladder of a North Bablyon firetruck.
Figoski was buried in his NYPD uniform.
Friends recall Pete
“The thing I remember most about Pete, he was always positive, always smiling . . . This one hurts so much. Nobody ever said a bad word about the guy.”
— David Weber, retired NYPD officer, 75th Precinct
“I’ve known him 17 years. He was always a nice guy. When I came on the job, he was a senior man. Usually, senior officers don’t give new cops the time of day, but he was always nice to me.
— 75th Precinct Detective Kenny Anderson
“Pete would do anything for [his daughters] including, I’m told, something Caitlyn wishes he hadn’t. All Caitlyn wanted were some highlights. What she got was the crown on her head bleached completely white. Dads are good at a lot of things. But let me tell you: A hair makeover isn’t one of them.
— Mayor Bloomberg
“Peter was just a peaceful, humble quiet, great cop. You ask him for anything, and he was there for you. I learned so much from him.”
— Officer Angelo Baez, 20-year veteran of the 75th Precinct
Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton, Daniel Prendergast, Leonard Greene and Jamie Schram