Teresa Giudice is a big hit with New York's finest, because cops nabbed the 'Real Housewife' ... for selfies and such, that is -- which is ironic considering her legal history.
The 'RHONJ' star was in Manhattan Thursday night when an NYPD cruiser pulled up next to her SUV parked in Midtown on 5th Avenue ... and the officers gave her a friendly greeting over their loudspeaker.
Folks who were there say cops hopped out of their car and walked over to Teresa and asked for a photo ... and she obliged. As you can see, Teresa and a trio of NYPD officers were all smiles as they took snaps on the sidewalk.
It's pretty interesting to see Teresa chopping it up with police ... especially since she ran into some serious legal trouble.
TG ended up doing 11 months at a federal correctional institution in Danbury, CT for wire and bank fraud. Of course, her then-husband Joe Giudice was also convicted of the same crimes, and hit with a 41-month sentence.
Teresa's also been chummy with cops across the river in New Jersey ... when she was pulled over last year, she used the celeb card and ended up catching a break.