Happy New Year

Dear Members and Friends, In a few hours, we will ring in 2018. Wherever you are - whether working or celebrating with friends and family - we hope you stay safe and, especially this NYE, warm! The past year has been another phenomenal one for GOAL, and I want to thank you all for your support, your time and your hard work. Our visibility in the community continued to soar - from our much-discussed awards gala in Central Park to once again celebrating Pride at 1 Police Plaza to supplying food for LGBTQ youth at the Kiki Coalition. We welcomed Andy Cohen to NYPD Headquarters. We participated in the Out of the Darkness Vigil to end AIDS. We continued our outreach to the community to discuss NYPD policies on a number issues, including the 2012 Patrol Guide Revisions. At every turn, you made these events a success. You showed up and in great numbers. Whether we were the hosts of an event or we volunteered, everyone alongside us took note of how many of us participated and how much GOAL contributed. None of this would also have been possible without our Executive Board, and I cannot thank them enough for managing our work and events. I’d like to give a special thanks to Bill Shepard for his service to our team these past few years and wish him the best, and I’d like to welcome Ryan Merola to the role of Executive Director. The rest of us are excited to stay on and keep GOAL moving forward. On behalf of the Executive Board, we wish you a very Happy, Healthy and Safe 2018! Fraternally,  Brian E. Downey President