NAMA-STAY HEALTHY
Adams calls for meditation training for cops following suicides
CHILL: Borough President Eric Adams holds a press conference on the steps of City Hall on July 12 to demand
mediation training for city cops. Photo by Aidan Graham
INSIDE
Jump for joy
World’s biggest bounce house comes to Brooklyn
By Aidan Graham This party is blowing up!
An enormous inf latable playground is
bounding into Brooklyn! “Big Bounce America”
will bring its record-breaking bounciness to Floyd
Bennett Field on July 26, giving both children and
adults a chance to shed their shoes and have some
inflatable fun, according to the company’s founder.
“It’s the biggest bounce house in the world — that’s
according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
That’s the focal point of the event,” said Cammy Craig.
“We also have a giant inf latable obstacle course, and
another section that’s full of different space-inspired
inf latables for people to play on.”
That bounce house, a giant monument to jumping
joy that is larger than a baseball diamond, features a
ball pit, climbing towers, basketball hoops, and a deejay
station to keep the party hopping, said Craig.
“That’s really where the party is,” he said. “We’ve
got a lot going on in there, from limbo competitions,
dance competitions, dodgeball. It’s really interactive
and fun.”
Those with a competitive bounce in their step can
take a turn climbing inf latable walls and pushing
through blow-up barriers on “The Giant” — an airfilled
Out of this world: Big Bounce America features a separate, spacethemed
inflatable park filled with slides and mazes.
Big Bounce America
obstacle course that spans nearly the length
of three football fields — and try and beat the twominute,
40-second course record, said Craig.
Hop to it: “Big Bounce America” brings its recordbreaking
bounce house to Floyd Bennett Field for
10 days, starting on July 26. Big Bounce America
“The giant obstacle course really brings out the
competition element. People are running around
trying to beat each other,” he said. “It’s actually very
difficult, but it’s achievable.”
Guests can also take a trip to the otherworldly
“AirSpace” section, which features gigantic spaceshipthemed
slides and alien-inspired mazes, which are
designed to be picture perfect spots for selfies,
according to Craig.
During the bounce house’s 10-day stint in
Brooklyn, visiting slots are cordoned off for various
age groups: toddlers, little kids age 4–7; big kids age
8–14; and adults. Each age group will have its own
three-hour session; and those who are simply young at
heart are the largest-growing segment of the bouncy
community.
“We’ve always had adult sessions, but this year
we’ve got one every night — and the demand for it has
been crazy,” said Craig. “We usually sell about 6,000
to 8,000 tickets, and a lot of that is adults.”
Big Bounce America at Aviator Sports and
Events Center 3159 Flatbush Ave. at Floyd Bennett
Field in Marine Park, (833) 428–0889; www.
thebigbounceamerica.com. July 26–Aug. 4. Times
vary. $30 ($25 kids, $17 toddlers).
Your entertainment
guide Page 33
Police Blotter ..........................8
Now on Brownstoner .......... 14
Opinion ...................................20
Letters ..................................... 21
Wellness .................................25
Standing O ............................ 32
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BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Borough President Eric
Adams climbed the steps of
City Hall on Friday fl anked
by an unlikely entourage of
yoga gurus, wellness experts,
and police union honchos to
demand meditation classes for
New York’s Finest amid a rash
of suicides.
“The stress and trauma
that our police offi cers face on
a daily basis, where they are
frequently forced to make lifeor
death decisions, are all too
familiar,” said Adams, who
served as a city police offi cer for
22 years, retiring with the rank
of captain. “Just as we teach
police offi cers how to use a
weapon, we should be teaching
them how to use mindfulness
to manage stress.”
Adams hosted his July 12
press conference after fi ring off
letters to Mayor Bill de Blasio
and Police Commissioner
James O’Neill urging them
to institute semi-annual
meditation courses, arguing
that eastern mindfulness
techniques aren’t a bunch of
hippy-dippy nonsense, but a
proven method of providing
psychological benefi ts that
translate to happy, highperforming
cops.
“Secular meditation and
mindfulness-based stress
reduction are evidencebased
practices that have
been scientifi cally proven to
decrease anxiety, depression,
hostility, and stress, while
increasing attention and focus,
ethical decision-making, and
even happiness scores,” wrote
Adams.
This year, six city cops
have taken their own lives,
including veteran offi cers Joe
Calabrese and Steven Silks ,
who shot themselves one day
after the other in June.
And the beep — a noted
fi tness fanatic , who meditates
twice each day — said he
hopes Brooklyn’s boys in blue
won’t let their masculinity
stand in the way of his fl owerpower
healing routine, saying
there’s nothing manly about
allowing your mental health to
deteriorate.
“Policing is a macho
occupation,” he said.
“Meditation and self-help is
considered almost a sissy
response.”
The Patrolmen’s Benefi t
Association — a labor union
representing offi cers within
the NYPD — threw its
support behind Adam’s call
for mindfulness training,
with President Patrick Lynch
claiming it’s never been
harder to be a cop and never
more important to support
fi rst responders.
“The job of a New York City
police offi cer has always been
a stressful one, but policing
today is more mentally and
emotionally taxing than ever
before,” said Lynch.
The city has not been
idle amid the tragedies, and
Adam’s zen-like advocacy
comes on the heels of a newly
formed mental health task
force , which will provide peer
counseling at police precinct
citywide, as well as training
for commanding offi cers on
how to recognize mental health
problems among offi cers.
The beep has been on
something of an eastern
wellness kick recently, and
early this week suggested
the city offer prisoners at the
Brooklyn House of Detention
yoga classes amid a public
review process for a mayoral
scheme to expand the Boerum
Hill holding facility.
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of
suicide, do not leave the person alone; remove any
fi rearms, alcohol, drugs, or sharp objects that could be
used in a suicide attempt; call the U.S. National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273–8255; and take the person
to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or
mental health professional.
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