Tony, tell everybody what PAL is.
Alright, so PAL is the Police Athletic League.
It's an organization that's been around
for almost 100 years here in the city.
It serves over 30,000 children.
All of New York City's kids, all over the city.
And a lot of different programs.
One of the programs is the teen acting program
of which these two wonderful kids are apart of.
And you're apart of, too.
And I'm apart of, yes.
He's a pal of PAL.
(laughing)
I was a PAL kid.
And you were a PAL kid.
I was a PAL kid when the cop
on the beat in my neighborhood
in east New York, Brooklyn strongly
suggested I should give it a try.
So that's how I ended up and I've
been working with it ever since.
And then what happened was is,
and it's very important to me.
It's a really worthy cause because you're
talking about the kids of New York City.
And so what we did was we found
some wonderfully talented police officers
and we put them together with some of the kids
from the acting program and came up with something called,
maybe you remember the Harlem Boys Choir.
Yeah, of course.
Well we have now, get ready for the Cops and Kids Chorus.
Nice.
♪ I love to sing ♪
Walk up and you are in character.
Right from the moment that you step on the stage.
Bow, okay.
Bow, your left foot's in line with your left shoulder.
Bow.
(applause)
So when Tony's not at work,
he does exactly what he does when he's at work.
That was rehearsal for the tree lighting.
We actually sang, we performed at the tree lighting.
It was wonderful, it was a great night.
You know there's nine and nine or ten and ten
Cops and Kids in the choruses.
This is only few of them.
So what do you guys get from this?
How has this experience been for you?
What have you learned or why do
you feel it enriches your lives?
Well for me, honestly I love going here
and the experiences have been
amazing since I've started the program.
I was like 13 when I started the program
and ever since then everything has just been going so well
and it's just been like a great experience.
How old are you now?
I just turned 16.
Oh, congratulations, sweet 16.
Thank you.
(applause)
What has the program meant to you?
It's meant a lot.
PAL is like second home for me.
I can go there and just feel comfortable.
I can work on art whether it's acting or newly found
singing 'cause I didn't know I could sing before.
And now you can.
Right, it's great.
And that's what it's really about.
Discovery, right, with these kids.
What do you guys get out of it as officers?
It's simply an amazing, amazing experience
just to know from day one, you know we got
a half smile and a little timidness
but now we're literally like a family.
I call her my play daughter, Ivy.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful experience.
And she's a great singer, believe me,
she's a great singer.
Mark, how did you get involved in this?
May I, 'cause I'm interested.
Sure, so the PD had put out throughout the department
anybody who was interested.
I had submitted a letter and they had chosen.
I'm honored to be one of the 10 that were chosen.
So you guys actually vie for this?
Yes, yes, there were a lot
of people that did put in for it and for me,
throughout my career, my long career,
I've seen bridges being torn and this was another way
that I felt that bridges are being repaired.
And the police department is actively involved,
heavily actively involved in neighborhood policing,
and the philosophy of neighborhood policing.
I just felt that this was just another way to protect.
It is protect and serve.
This is the way you serve.
If I may, I went to see the commissioner,
James O'Neal and I told him, I pitched the idea to him.
By the way, I went to 1 Police Plaza, gotta go there,
it's like a fortress with memorabilia.
It's so crazy.
But anyway, I pitched it to him, and you know what he said?
He said who wouldn't wanna see
cops and kids singing together?
That's right, it's adorable.
That's the thing, PAL...
(applause)
We have to mention we have right in our audience,
we have the co-founders of the PAL program in our audience.
Latoya Lewis and Brian Hails,
we saw you at the piano.
Thank you.
If I may say, both of them are like kid whisperers.
Kids come in and you know when they come,
they're not ready to do this.
They have to drop their guard,
they have to do all the things you have to do in life.
Be part of something bigger than yourself.
And in a matter of minutes,
they're talking about their ensemble.
It's wonderful, it really is a great program
and it's worthy of support, I promise you.
Next year, we'll have to have a special
performance like they get at the tree lighting.
Why don't you come on up
and we'll wave goodbye to everybody.
Head to our website to learn more about PAL
and see how you guys can help, too.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
We'll see you when we see you, bye.
(audience cheering)