MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) — The World’s Most Famous Arena draws thousands of people for all kinds of events on any given night, but not too often are all the guests the finest New York has to offer.
Madison Square Garden hosted a ‘Thank You NYPD’ concert. 15,000 members of the police force – including officers – were invited to leave the uniform home and bring their loved ones to indulge in a few hours of live music and comedy – something to ease the burden of protecting 8 million people.
“It’s encouraging to have support from your community and also makes the cops who join motivated to stay. Gives them good purpose,” said retired NYPD officer Enissa Perez.
Aside from performances by Fat Joe and Cyndi Lauper, all New Yorkers were encouraged to submit a video thanking an NYPD officer.
Former New York Knicks great John Starks had his own message on behalf of the city.
“For us to understand that what they do on a daily basis is tough and to have them here and to show them our appreciation for their commitment to this great city of ours – means a lot,” said Starks.
It is a commitment for the families of officers too. Jessica Bravo is grateful to have some downtime with her husband.
“It’s stressful, but I trust in God and I know that he’s a sergeant – he’s good, he’s trained, and all I can do is just pray,” she said.
“I have a family, so same thing. I want my family to be safe. I want everyone else to be safe,” added Sergeant Michael Bravo.
While thousands of officers were able to sit back and relax tonight, thousands more were on the job keeping the city safe so New Yorkers could do just that.
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