NYPD officers in north Brooklyn took Santa's sleigh for a ride across the borough.

They stopped at a number of precinct buildings on their path -- and also at a few unscheduled stops to give gifts to random children watching from the street.

"Not only the kids, the adults, everybody's waving along -- everybody's happy to see us," says Chief Jeffrey Maddrey. "Everybody's saying merry Christmas and happy holidays. It's just a good feeling."

The NYPD says this is the first year of the Brooklyn sleigh ride. More than 3,000 children received gifts thanks to donations from the Big Brooklyn Holiday Drive.