Santa skipped the ferry and took a cool ride to Shaolin Temple instead.
Kris Kringle himself teamed up with the NYPD's Highway Patrol to hand out lots of goodies to special needs children on Staten Island on Wednesday.
Dozens of officers from NYPD Highway 5 Unit participated in this year's “Santa Sleigh Ride.” This is the event that has brought them to the Seton Learning Foundation at Bull's Head for the past 12 years.
This year's celebration was made even more special by the presence of the event's founder, Det. The last time Tommy Cerborn was seen in uniform before retiring due to a 9/11-related kidney cancer diagnosis.
“We started this 12 years ago…I wanted to give back to something that changed my life,” Cerborn told the Post.
Police officers, family members and neighbors gave the children Christmas hugs from Santa, handed out presents and gave them rides on NYPD motorcycle seats.
The Seton Foundation is dedicated to educating children with a variety of special needs, and for more than a decade, Highway 5 has been visited every holiday to ensure children don't miss a visit from Santa.
The children held a special ceremony to honor and thank Mr. Carbone, but he insisted the day was not about him.
“We're not detectives here. Operation Selborne, this is Operation Highway 5,” he said.
“This is a group effort by civilians and families. It's a group effort. If it weren't for these kids, we ourselves wouldn't be here.”
