A third-generation cop graduated from the Policy Academy on Friday — wearing the same badge his grandfather wore when he was seriously injured in a 1982 New Year’s Eve bombing in Manhattan.
Newly minted NYPD Officer Chris Senft, 21, said he hopes to one day follow further in the footsteps of his grandfather, Anthony Senft, and join the department’s Bomb Squad.
Chris’ dad and Anthony’s son Brian Senft is already with the squad as a detective, and the new cop’s mom, Carmita, recently retired from the NYPD’s Narcotics Major Case Squad.
“As soon as I realized what a police officer meant and understood what my parents did, my whole family basically, I just loved it,” Chris Senft told The Post at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side, where he and nearly 500 cadets graduated. “The idea of it has always been a dream to me.’’
Chris’ beaming grandfather, father and mother were all present for the ceremony.
“We’re very proud,” said patriarch Anthony, who was wounded 36 years ago while trying to help defuse an explosive placed at Manhattan’s Federal Plaza by the infamous Puerto Rican terror group FALN.
Chris “started talking about [becoming a cop] with his mom and dad, and we’d talk about it a little bit back and forth,” the retired detective said of his grandson.
“He just said the other day he can’t imagine doing anything else in his life.”
Brian added of his son, “He was always asking me and my wife about what our day was like when we came home. He was always very interested in the cases that we did.
“And then, of course, just like I, when I found out that my dad was in the Bomb Squad taking apart bombs, when he found that out, he thought that was the greatest thing in the world as well.
“So I kind of knew he was going to do this.”
Chris is starting out at the Midtown South Precinct but said, “I definitely want to go to the Bomb Squad. I want to get there as soon as possible.”
The eldest Senft in 1982 was wounded as he was placing a mesh blanket over the bomb, which was one of several planted around the city by the terror group on New Year’s Eve night.
Chris said he’s very excited to join the force.
“To me, it’s helping people, helping the community, just doing whatever you can to improve the city and the quality of life,” he said.
Chris is among a group of academy graduates hailing from 34 countries and speaking 52 various languages, according to the Police Department. The class includes 37 veterans of the Armed Forces.
“Today you are beginning what I know to be the greatest and most rewarding job in the world,” Police Commissioner James O’Neill told the graduates.
Mayor de Blasio added, “You’re joining a championship team. You’re going to be changing people’s lives for the better. You’re going to save some lives.”
Additional reporting by Chris Perez
