Red Hook Youth & Cops Unite For First Annual Basketball Tournament

Brooklyn youth and cops bonded over a basketball tournament to build a connection Saturday afternoon in Red Hook.

The games played at Joseph Miccio Community Center on July 30 brought Red Hook youths and cops from the 76th precinct together for the first annual ‘Unity in the Community’ basketball tournament to strengthen police-community relations.

Police and their younger teammates played several matches, planned game strategies, and cheered each other on the court.

Councilmember Carlos Menchaca, who represents Sunset Park and Red Hook, made an appearance and shot a couple of hoops with his team to support his district.

“We are all on the same team,” Menchaca said. “Everyone pulled their own and made magic. This is just the beginning.”

Middle school students from the Red Hook Initiative, an after-school program, pitched the idea for a tournament when asked what improvements they want to see in their community.

Red Hook native, Janet Andrews, organizes community events alongside Menchaca, and said it’s crucial for residents to know whose patrolling the streets for safety reasons.

“We need to build up the relationship with the cops,” Andrews told the New York Daily News.

A portion of the district’s budget set aside for its Street Soccer USA chapter — a sports program dedicated to teaching adolescents leadership skills — funded the basketball tournament.

The event included food and performances from Brooklyn Nets dancers. But youths were focused on playing ball with their new cop friends.

Tequan Bekka — the center’s program director — believes the event will help mend relations between the Red Hook community and law enforcement.

“This is something that the kids are going to remember,” Bekka told the News. He added that young residents would have the confidence to come up to a cop and say, “Hey. What’s up? I played with you.”