NYC Together second annual gala raises funds to keep kids out of prison

Cops Join North Brooklyn Do-Gooders to Stop Feeding the Prison-Industrial Maw

October 19, 2017 By Andy Katz Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

NYC Together Founder and CEO Dana Rachlin with Philip Granderson. Eagle photos by Andy Katz

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Dana Rachlin wasn’t joking around when she named the organization dedicated to disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline “NYC Together.” The first thing a supporter attending the nonprofit’s annual gala encounters when entering the Wythe Hotel is a table offering samples of Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch Whiskey imported all the way from Islay in the Inner Hebrides.

Hard liquor served gratis at an event on Oct. 16 that raises funds to support high school students by providing them opportunities to work closely with both NYPD officers who patrol their communities and some of the businesses that serve them?

Why not?

“Dana’s fearless,” North Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Paul Samulski said of his erstwhile colleague (Rachlin was the North Brooklyn Chamber’s Director of Development several years ago). “She gets things done because she’s not afraid of being told no, and she’s not dismayed by conventional barriers.”

“Tonight is about getting off the sidelines,” stand-up comedian and master of ceremonies Chuck Nice insisted. “Tonight is about getting engaged!” And so they do. Moments later, Nice called for individual donations: “Is there anyone for $10,000?” he starts. “I know, I know, but I got to ask…”

When Chris Breslin of Credite Agricole Bank raised his hand, the room erupted. Rachlin danced over to envelop him in an ecstatic hug.

“Everyone has a role to play,” Breslin explained while transferring data from his Amex onto the pledge form. “And I just want to support Dana any way I can.”

Breslin’s monster, 10-grand pledge opened the floodgates. Kate and Jed Walentas matched it with 10 large of their own, and several thousand dollar pledges followed suit. NYC Together raised $26,000 in donations and received another $28,000 in sponsorships from area businesses.

Awards were also a part of the evening, and the first, the Visionary Award, went to Assemblymember Joe Lentol. If Rachlin is the mother of NYC Together, Lentol is its father.

“Dana and I go back a ways,” Lentol explained earlier, “working the Greenpoint Youth Court until it closed in May of 2014. Dana’s great with kids, and you have to focus on the kids. By the time they’re grown ups, it’s often too late.

“Even if we can’t do this for my generation,” Lentol told the audience, “we can do this for the current generation.”

“NYC Together brings social justice tenets to police work,” Rachlin said. “Our goal is to turn adversaries into partners. This is something beyond important.”

Longtime ally NYPD Chief of Patrol Borough Brooklyn North Jeffrey Maddrey spoke, recounting: “When I first took over, I told my staff how important it was to become involved with the communities and with the young people. When one of my commanders, Inspector DiPaolo, told me about Dana and what she was trying to do, I realized this was what I was looking for. Dana’s passion for this kids is second to none.”

“I really liked the program,” said alumnus Uriah Roman, showing some of his street photos that had been printed and mounted for the event. “This is my grandmother,” he said as he pointed to a shot of a woman sitting on stairs in somber available light.

A few years before meeting Dana and NYC Together, Roman helped to support his family by busking Bruno Mars tunes with his own keyboard accompaniment in the Port Authority subway station.

Past NYC Together projects have included the 90th Precinct Community Garden, a joint police-student mural also set on the 90th Precinct Station House, and numerous joint learning activities, one of the most recent having been a cop-student mise-en-place prep at Zach Weiner’s Barano restaurant in Williamsburg.