NYPD cop's son, 10, accepts degree for his disabled dad

With a shift to work before his last day of classes for a hard-won master's degree, New York City police detective Adam Frasse wasn't feeling right.

"He said, 'I'm going to work. I don't feel good, but I'm going.' He never made it to that class," his wife, Kara, recalled of that day in November as she headed Friday toward Marist College in Poughkeepsie.

With his father disabled after a heart attack nearly six months ago, the couple's 10-year-old son, Scott, stood in for his father and accepted his degree at a Friday evening ceremony at Marist College.

"It's something he wants to do for his dad," Kara said. "My children know how hard their dad worked for that."

Dressed in a pressed shirt and khakis, the fourth-grader at Unqua Elementary School in Massapequa said he was ready.

"I want to do it. I think all I have to do is walk up there," Scott said. "I don't think I have to do a speech or anything like that."

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Kara Frasse said by phone, "It was wonderful.

"It went really well and he did a good job," she said of Scott.

When Scott received his father's degree, she said she could see college president Dennis Murray and NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, who gave the commencement speech, speak to her son. "Scott said they really liked his dad [and that] Scott should say 'Hi' to his dad for them."

Kara said the diploma represented her husband's hard work and planning. Adam Frasse, 44, grew up in Seaford and joined the NYPD soon after graduating from Hofstra University in 1987. He worked in firearm investigations and street crime units, among others, and more recently focused on human trafficking.

In his 40s and with more that 20 years on the job, the detective started taking Marist-run classes through the city police academy in preparation for a second career.

Taking classes at night, it took more than two years for the father of two sons to earn a master's in public administration. He was on duty in Queens on Nov. 24 when he had a heart attack. His brain was deprived of oxygen for 30 minutes, and he barely survived. Frasse remains in a Woodbury rehab center, awake but severely disabled.

"It's not a good situation, obviously, but we're looking ahead and we're not giving up on him," his wife said.

Among his supporters at the ceremony were to be several of Frasse's police friends and the couple's younger son, Jay, 7, who was named after Frasse's one-time partner, Det. Rodney "Jay" Andrews. Andrews was killed in 2003 during an undercover gun buy on Staten Island.

Before the ceremony, Scott said he wasn't at all nervous. A few weeks ago, the Police Department invited him to drop the puck at the NYPD vs. FDNY hockey match at Nassau Coliseum. He said he thought his dad was happy he'd be represented at the graduation ceremony. "I did the thing at the hockey game, so I think I can do this," Scott said before the ceremony.