In August 2019, the Gramercy Park Block Association welcomed seven-year-old Abigail Arias from Texas, with her family and Freeport’s police chief. An honorary officer with the Freeport Police Department, she had dreamed of becoming a police officer.

Blue Lives Matter NYC organized the family’s broader New York trip. The Block Association’s part was a neighborhood welcome arranged by Arlene Harrison and Kathleen Scupp.

The Gramercy Park Hotel and Maialino co-hosted the pizza party. Local NYPD personnel, including Emergency Service Truck 1 and Neighborhood Coordination Officers, joined the gathering.

The August 13 newsletter shared photographs and reflected on the time the neighborhood had spent with Abigail and her family. The visit was one personal expression of the relationships behind the Block Association’s police partnership.

The earlier visit arranged for Jonah Gold is another example of those relationships making a memorable day possible for a child.

Abigail Arias with family, neighbors and police officers during the 2019 visit.
The welcome for Abigail Arias, pictured in the Block Association’s August 13, 2019 newsletter.
Sources

Adapted from the distributed Block Association newsletter of August 13, 2019.