16 FEBRUARY 1, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Local heroes honored at huge party in Maspeth
Captain John Mastronardi speaks as Cop of
the Year Detective Charles Sadler looks on
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
For decades, a pair of local heroes
have sacrifi ced their time to help
their neighbors in Ridgewood,
Glendale, Maspeth and Middle Village,
and their impact was on full display
when hundreds of people showed up
to celebrate their commitment.
At a dinner party thrown by the
104th Precinct Community Council at
the Knockdown Center in Maspeth on
Thursday, Jan. 25, Detective Charles
Sadler of the 104th Precinct’s Community
Aff airs Unit was honored as
the precinct’s Cop of the Year, and the
Greater Ridgewood Youth Council
(GRYC) was recognized as Community
Partner of the Year.
The renovated manufacturing
building was fi lled with nearly 300
people, including local elected offi -
cials, police offi cers, business owners,
friends and family members of the
honorees. Len Santoro, president
of the 104th Precinct Community
Council, presented the awards and
expressed his appreciation for the
selfless work that Sadler and the
GRYC do every day.
Sadler is in his 13th year with the
104th Precinct and has gone above and
beyond to connect with the community.
As coordinator of the precinct’s
Auxiliary Unit, Sadler has tripled
the unit’s size and been responsible
for overseeing thousands of hours
of volunteer police work. He once led
the precinct’s Relay for Life team and
completed an entire marathon.
When he was presented with the
award, Sadler showed the humility
that the community has grown to love
him for.
“We don’t just work together, we’ve
become family and I’ve watched you
have children and watched some of
your kids grow,” Sadler said to the
audience. “It’s an honor, and it’s a
humbling experience to be standing
here in front of you.”
Bob Monahan, president of the
GRYC, has been giving back to the
community for almost 40 years, and
has seen the nonprofi t grow immensely
since he started in 1981. There were
just three total employees then, he
said, and today there are 503. They
serve more than 3,000 kids every day
by offering pre-K and after-school
programs, internships, job readiness
programs and more.
His primary reason for what he has
done with the GRYC, Monahan said,
is that by helping more kids, fewer
will end up in the hands of the police
department.
“I surround myself with good people,
and great things happen,” Monahan
said to the crowd. “I look at myself as
a person who is in the business to put
the New York City Police Department
out of the kid business.”
During the ceremony, Sadler and
Monahan were also presented Proclamations
by Public Advocate Letitia
James, state Senator Joe Addabbo,
Assemblyman Brian Barnwell, Assemblyman
Mike Miller and Councilman
Robert Holden.
Assistant Chief Juanita Holmes,
commander of Patrol Borough Queens
North, also spoke on behalf of the police
department to thank Sadler and
Monahan, and former commanding
offi cer of the 104th Precinct, Deputy
Inspector Mark Wachter, off ered some
more personal remarks about the two.
“Without you, Bob, this community
wouldn’t be what it is,” Wachter said.
“Back in the late ’70s and early ’80s,
that’s when there was a lot of problems
in the city, and you actually took these
kids in.”
With the Cop of the Year award,
Sadler joins his partner, Detective
Thomas Bell, who won the award last
year. Bell expressed his admiration for
Sadler and his family, briefl y faked his
retirement and fooled everyone in the
audience, then ended by describing his
partner’s most lasting trait.
“Charlie tries to go above and beyond
each and every time, without question.
He just says, ‘I got it’ even if he doesn’t
have it,” Bell said.
Photos by Ryan Kelley/QNS
From left to right:
Len Santoro, State Senator Joe Addabbo, Assemblyman Mike Miller, City
Councilman Robert Holden, Greater Ridgewood Youth Council President
Bob Monahan, Detective Charles Sadler, Assemblyman Brian Barnwell
and Public Advocate Letitia James
Bob Monahan and Public Advocate
Letitia James
Detective Sadler and his partner
in the Community Aff airs Unit,
Detective Thomas Bell
Detective Sadler and 104th
Precinct Community Council
President Len Santoro
