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Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association delivers toys to children in Brownsville

December 17, 2018 By Todd Maisel Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

PBA members, NYPD Explorers and local children celebrate the holidays at the Brownsville Recreation Center. Eagle photo by Todd Maisel

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On a rainy weekend afternoon, police officers, kids and members of the Brownsville community gathered inside a recreation center on Linden Boulevard to get into the holiday spirit.

The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association visited the Brownsville Recreation Center on Saturday to deliver hundreds of toys to local kids and join the community for a holiday celebration.

Bringing gifts to low-income communities is a “long PBA tradition,” PBA officials said.

Members of NYPD Explorers, a program for teenagers with law enforcement aspirations, helped PBA members to unload presents from the trunk of the vintage PBA canteen truck while the younger kids performed dances, double-dutch and marching band drum sessions for their visitors.

Recreation Center Manager Jerry Childs presented PBA President Pat Lynch and his union leaders with a Community Service Award for the work they have done to create better relations between local children and police officers, calling the labor organization friends of the community.

Lynch said NYPD and his union have been working to improve perceptions of police officers in the neighborhood.