Lt. John Wolf, the longest-serving police officer in New York, is off the job, leaving just before hitting the mandatory retirement age of 63.

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Wolf's wife, Kathy, joined him for a "Walk Out" Friday at the Manhattan South headquarters on 42nd Street, The New York Daily News reported. Wolf spent 36 years with the Manhattan South Task Force.

The couple walked together through a double row of Wolf's colleagues and commanders.

Many New York police officers leave after 20 years when they become eligible for a pension, and most are gone once they hit the 30-year mark. But Wolf, an officer for nearly 45 years, said he was having too much fun.

"If I could stay longer I would," Wolf said. "There's a Chinese proverb: Find what you like to do and you'll never have to work. I just enjoy police work."

Wolf, who grew up in the Yorkville neighborhood on Manhattan's upper East Side, joined the department in 1965 as a fingerprint technician. Three years later, he was a police officer.