50 THE QUEENS COURIER • HOLIDAY • DECEMBER 21, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
holiday
Santa and NYPD bring holiday cheer to kids at Bayside hospital
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
New York’s Finest made the season
merry and bright for a group of kids in
Bayside.
Police offi cers from precincts throughout
the city brought presents, song,
dance, entertainment and joy to kids at
St. Mary’s Hospital for Children on Dec.
14. Th e event began inside the lobby with
a sing-along of Christmas favorites, presents
and greetings.
Children and their families headed outside
and braved the cold to enjoy an exciting
NYPD helicopter fl yover. Santa himself,
donned in blue, pulled up in a NYPD
Emergency Services Unit truck to greet
the crowd.
Kids at the event were also introduced
to NYPD horses and K-9 dogs and
enjoyed visits from characters including
Mr. Met, Islanders mascot Sparky the
Dragon and Elsa and Olaf from the movie
“Frozen.”
Police Commissioner James O’Neill
also joined in on the festivities alongside
Edwin Simpser, president and chief executive
offi cer of the hospital.
“Just to see the joy on kids’ faces — I
think it’s absolutely priceless,” O’Neill
said.
Th e tradition was started by NYPD
Detectives and couple Bernice and Terry
Brienza fi ve years ago. Since its inception,
the annual event has grown to a tremendous
size.
“We started this on three week’s notice
the fi rst time,” Terry Brienza said. “Every
year aft er that, we decided we were going
to improve on it.”
Reaching out to police communities in
all fi ve boroughs, the response was overwhelming,
Brienza continued. Th e detective
said it would be impossible to say
exactly how many offi cers showed up to
help or off ered their services.
“For as long as I’m capable of doing
this, I’m gonna continue to do this,” he
said. “Even if it’s for one minute that I
see them smiling, it’s a victory for me,
because I know the challenges they face
every single day … Using this job for
something positive means a lot to me.”
St. Mary’s Healthcare System for
Children provides health and quality
of-life services for children with special
needs and life-limiting conditions. It
is the largest provider of long-term care
for children with complex medical conditions
in the state.
Photos: Suzanne
Monteverdi/QNS