Thousands of mourners flooded St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan on Friday to pay their final respects to “America’s Cop” Bernie Kerik, remembering him as a hero who “took command” on 9/11.

The former NYPD commissioner was eulogized by his son, Joey Kerik, as a steadfast family man even during his high-profile career leading the city’s police department through the terror attacks.

“He was raw, real, everything you’d want in a dad,” Joey said, speaking to pews packed with the Big Apple’s top leaders.

“As a man in the limelight, there’s nothing he loved more than his children,” Joey said.

But Kerik also put “his whole heart” into his demanding job, facing the struggles of his role head-on both during Sept. 11, 2001, and in post-terror attack New York City, the son said.

“He took command, didn’t flinch or retreat,” said Joey, 41, who followed in his father’s footsteps into law enforcement and currently serves on the Newark SWAT team.

“He always told me how proud he was of me. The one thing I never got to say to him was how proud I was of him,” the son said.

Kerik’s brother, Donald, delivered a second eulogy at the service, telling the crowd he had looked up to the future commissioner since he was a young kid.

“I remember how protective my brother was. As he grew bigger, stronger and more comfortable … I wanted to stay close to him. He was my big brother, my hero,” Donald said.

The pair had a strained relationship for several years because Donald admittedly began hanging with a “bad crowd” before Kerik helped steer him in the right direction​, his brother said.

“He changed my life​,” David said.

“As we grew older, my career advanced, and my brother’s career skyrocketed. We continued to focus on our families, our lives, we now had much more in common. We became closer, talking and strategizing​. We would often talk on the phone, regardless of who was calling who​. The first words out of our mouths were always, ‘Yo, bro, are you alone?​’ ” Donald recalled.

“If I could call my brother right now, ‘Yo, bro, are you alone?’ The answer would be​, ‘He’s not alone, he has us, standing with him.​’ Please receive my brother into your arms, dear Lord.” 

Dozens of dignitaries were in attendance to honor the life of Kerik, who died Thursday after he was hospitalized with cardiac disease. He was 69.

FBI Director Kash Patel and his wife were among the mourners, as was former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who named Kerik to the top cop job in 2000, and his son, Andrew. Giuliani was seen rubbing elbows with Kerik’s successor, former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.

“I think of him as a little 6-year-old boy that I was when Bernie volunteered on the Giuliani campaign, and I remember him just as the toughest, kindest-hearted guy that you could meet. Really, really a great man and a great New Yorker,” Andrew Giulian​i told The Post after the service.

Kerik and then-Mayor Giulian​i had a relationship that was more akin to a “brotherhood,” ​Andrew explained — pointing to 9/11 and the various funerals at St. Patrick’s for first responders who laid their lives down in the line of fire.

“I think ​Dad feels like he lost, and I’m putting words in his mouth here, but as his son, I think he lost as much as a peer and somebody he respected, but also somebody who was like a son to him as well​,” Andrew said. ​”I’ll miss ​[Kerik]. I’ll miss it dearly​.”

After the service, Rudy Giulian​i remembered Kerik on X, ​writing, “The quote, ‘Courage is an uncommon virtue,’ applies today as we commemorate D-Day and celebrate the life of Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the man whose courage saved lives, delivered a city from its worst attack and helped elect the man who is saving America, President Trump.”

Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch were among those lined up in front of flag-bearers before Kerik’s coffin was brought into the church. Deputy Mayor Randy Maestro and Deputy NYPD Commissioner Tania Kinsella joined the crowd, too.

A touching photo captured Adams giving Kerik’s widow, Hala Matli, the flag from her husband’s coffin.

D​etectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro, who was promoted by Kerik as his last official act after Munro locked up a cop-killer on a RICO charge ​when prior cases failed to get anything to stick, emphasized that Kerik never forgot his roots even as he skyrocketed to the top job.

“On 9/11/2001— the worst day in ​City history—NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik led us through tragedy and restored our confidence. He rewarded bravery. I know. Kerik promoted me for tracking down and arresting an alleged cop killer. He was and remained what he always was—a street cop,” Munro ​said in a statement to The Post.

“The quote, ‘Courage is an uncommon virtue,’ applies today as we commemorate D-Day and celebrate the life of Commissioner Bernard Kerik, the man whose courage saved lives, delivered a city from its worst attack and helped elect the man who is saving America, President Trump,” Giuliani wrote on X on Friday.

A procession to the famed cathedral before the ceremony included motorcycles, a marching band and dozens of NYPD officers.

Kerik had a storied career that earned him the nickname the “Beat Cop Commissioner” for his hands-on leadership style, making five arrests during his 16-month tenure as commissioner, including one involving two ex-convicts in Harlem driving a stolen van.

His law enforcement career spanned four decades and involved national security work and helming the NYPD during 9/11, overseeing its response, rescue, recovery and investigative efforts in the aftermath.

Kerik is survived by his wife and three children, including a son with ex-wife Jacqueline Llerena.

-Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy