The long arm of the law gets a big embrace.<\/p>\n
Thousands of New York\u2019s Finest packed Madison Square Garden Saturday night for a free, star-studded concert<\/a> honoring their service in a spirited push to boost morale across the force \u2013 an inaugural event set to become an annual tradition.\u00a0<\/p>\n The \u201cThank You, NYPD<\/a>\u201d concert \u2013 spearheaded by MSG Entertainment CEO and executive chairman James Dolan<\/a> \u2013 welcomed over 15,000 police officers and civilian employees, along with their families, to be entertained by comedians, Grammy Award-winning legends, and blue-backing actors.<\/p>\n Signage during the Thank You, NYPD concert at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2026. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n Cyndi Lauper performs onstage during the Thank You, NYPD concert at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2026. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m absolutely excited,\u201d Officer Andy Guo, of the 60th Precinct, told The Post ahead of the concert, noting he was most excited to see Cyndi Lauper perform.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [the concert] just highlights the importance of what my brothers and sisters do on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n The event raised $500,000 for the New York City Police Foundation.<\/p>\n Rapper Fat Joe belted his tunes during the Thank You, NYPD concert at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2026. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cThe donation was made possible with the support of MSG Entertainment and other New York City businesses and leaders, including Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, who matched every dollar donated up to $250,000,\u201d the Garden said in a press release.<\/p>\n In addition to the \u201cGirls Just Want to Have Fun\u201d crooner, singer John Fogerty and rapper Fat Joe took the stage and belted their hit tunes, while headlining comedians Chris Distefano and Sam Morril had the energetic crowd roaring with laughter.<\/p>\n Officer Christopher De Sciora, also of the 60th Precinct and a huge fan of Fat Joe and Distefano, credited MSG for hosting the event while sharing his pride in the force.<\/p>\n Comedian and actor Tracy Morgan took the stage to express his appreciation for the NYPD. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n Attendees waved their arms in the air during the concert at Madison Square Garden. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cBeing able to help our community day in and day out, you know, it\u2019s what we love to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s why we put on the uniform everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout the event, Hollywood stars and athletes, including Tracy Morgan, Rosie Perez and former Knicks player Stephon Marbury, also took the stage to express their appreciation for the NYPD.<\/p>\n Officers Chris De Sciora, 32, and Andy Guo, 34, were thankful for the event. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n Actress Rosie Perez takes the stage. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n Thank-you clips from the public, along with messages from heavyweights such as Jerry Seinfeld and Darryl Strawberry, were also played during the event. As part of Dolan\u2019s initiative, people were encouraged to thank police officers directly or submit a video featured at the concert.<\/p>\n Dolan, who footed production and operating costs and offered The Garden rent-free, previously told The Post he wanted to stage the gratitude event to show Big Apple cops how much they\u2019re valued amid rhetoric that often condemns the police.<\/p>\n \u201cWe think that in your and my world, where there\u2019s so much cynicism and negativity, that this was an opportunity to do something really positive for New York,\u201d the New York Knicks owner said.<\/p>\n Singer John Fogerty performs during the Thank You, NYPD concert at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2026. Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n The screen at MSG thanking the NYPD \u201cfor all that you do.\u201d Michael Nagle for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the NYPD is a really big piece of New York. Administrations come, administrations go. The NYPD is always there. We\u2019re really just focused on them, I hope we can all agree that we should be grateful for the efforts of the NYPD.\u201d<\/p>\n MSG Networks told The Post Saturday that it plans to continue the goodwill campaign throughout the year, with the concert becoming an annual event for the force, which has about 33,000 officers and 15,000 civilian employees.<\/p>\n Madison Square Garden has a history of rallying New Yorkers for big civic events, such as \u201cThe Concert for New York City\u201d following the 9\/11 attacks, \u201cFrom the Big Apple to the Big Easy\u201d after Hurricane Katrina and \u201c12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief\u201d following Super Storm Sandy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The long arm of the law gets a big embrace. Thousands of New York\u2019s Finest packed Madison Square…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":689598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,21200,63691,5248,405,403,3122,5226,5225,5228,5227,5257,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-689597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-concert","10":"tag-madison-square-garden","11":"tag-metro","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-knicks","15":"tag-newyork","16":"tag-newyorkcity","17":"tag-ny","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-nypd","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-news","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116311087298049244","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}