Hundreds attend boroughwide celebrations for National Night Out Against Crime

Police Precincts Participate from Bay Ridge to Brooklyn Heights

August 2, 2017 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle

From left: City Council candidate John Quaglione, Col. Peter Sicoli, commanding officer at Fort Hamilton, State Sen. Marty Golden and Captain Joseph Hayward, commanding officer of the 68th Precinct at Night Out Against Crime at Shore Road Park. Eagle photo by John Alexander

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Police precincts throughout the borough celebrated National Night Out Against Crime on Tuesday, Aug. 1. The event is held annually to educate and inform residents about what their law enforcement precincts do and how to stay vigilant and remain safe in their neighborhoods.

The 84th Police Precinct in Brooklyn Heights held its Night Out at the Picnic Peninsula, near the foot of Joralemon Street in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The 94th Police Precinct in Greenpoint held its Night Out at Lorimer Street, between Meserole Avenue Calyer streets.

Mayor Bill de Blasio attended the Night Out sponsored by the 60th Precinct in Coney Island, along with Police Commissioner James O’Neill, Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, Assemblymember Pamela Harris and City Councilmembers Mark Treyger and Vincent Gentile.

That event was organized and hosted by Shelly Smith, vice president of the 60th Precinct Community Council. Smith said she worked diligently for months emailing politicians and elected officials to attend and soliciting numerous businesses for donations.

She was able to secure 500 Brooklyn Cyclones tickets, as well as tickets from the Coney Island Amphitheater, not to mention 500 hot dogs and buns from Nathan’s Famous and ample amounts of coffee and donuts from Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. Smith said this was her fourth year doing it and loved every minute of it, despite the hard work involved.

Bay Ridge’s event for the 68th Precinct, one of Brooklyn’s biggest, became a festival celebrating community.

Hundreds of people gathered for the 68th Precinct’s National Night Out Against Crime event at Shore Road Park at 79th Street. The much-anticipated crime-fighting community event was more like a giant block party with members of the NYPD, FDNY, elected officials and civic leaders joining forces for a common cause.

There were dozens of booths set up promoting various organizations, political candidates, local merchants, banks and hospitals, along with a variety of food and various activities for children to enjoy.

The event was hosted by David Ryan, president of the 68th Precinct Council. Ryan welcomed the attendees and introduced state Sen. Marty Golden, calling him a great sponsor of the 68th Precinct.

Golden thanked Col. Peter Sicoli, commanding officer at Fort Hamilton, and Captain Joseph Hayward, commanding officer of the 68th Precinct.

“We are blessed and honored by these two fine men we have here today,” said Golden before thanking all the groups who serve the community including Bravo and other ambulance services, NYPD and the Parks Department for “making sure the grass is cut so we are ready to have this great event.” Golden also thanked the band Head Over Heels, who performed at the event.

Ryan returned to the stage and thanked Gentile, Assemblymembers Nicole Malliotakis and Harris, Rev. Khader El-Yateem, Kevin Peter Carroll, Linda Orlando and the Merchants of Third Avenue, Justin Brannan, Liam McCabe, John Quaglione, NIA Community Services network and the event’s newest sponsor, NYC Ferry.

Ryan introduced Hayward, who thanked Ryan, the 68th Community Council and the community affairs group at the 68th Precinct for planning the event. He said that he knew he was the face of the precinct but praised the men and women of the 68th Precinct for being out there every night and locking up what he termed “the worst of the worst.”

“Anybody selling drugs in our neighborhood, we will lock them up and put them behind bars,” said Hayward. “Anybody doing robberies in our neighborhood, we will lock them up and put them behind bars. Anybody doing burglaries, they don’t walk the street more than a couple of days and these men and women, the cops, will catch them.”

Hayward thanked Sicoli for the amount of support the 68th Precinct receives from the Army base. Sicoli said he was honored to be at the event to represent Fort Hamilton and the United States Army.

He spoke about the recent active shooter drill that was conducted on the army base and thanked NYPD and FDNY for their support. He also thanked the community for the overwhelming amount of support they give the base every day. He said it was the best that he’d seen in his 26 years in military service.