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Sunny Mindel / Michael Anton (212) 788-2958
Peter Fenty (Sanitation) (212) 788-3917 Tom Antenen (Police) (212) 374-6700 Francis Gribbin (Fire) (718) 999-2025 Tom Cocola (Transportation) (212) 442-7033 Frank McCarton (Emergency Management) (212) 442-2031 |
"Over the holiday weekend, City workers were called upon to rise to two important challenges: the largest snowstorm in the City since 1996, and the huge New Year's Eve gathering in Times Square," Mayor Giuliani said. "As expected, they performed magnificently, clearing our streets of snow, keeping the City safe, and ensuring that the New Year's celebration came off without a hitch. As much as anything else, it's the dedication and professionalism of our City employees that make New York City the envy of every city in the world. I want to thank personnel from every City agency, but especially the Sanitation, Police, Fire, and Transportation Departments, and also the Office of Emergency Management."
Sanitation Commissioner Kevin Farrell said, "The Sanitation Workers here today are representative of the 5,000 men and women who operated nearly 2,000 pieces of equipment over this past weekend. Some of them cleared Times Square to ready it for the New Year's Eve celebration. Others worked emergency snow clearing operations to ensure that New York City remained open and functioning. All of them worked tirelessly under arduous conditions, around the clock with very little rest in between their 12-hour shifts. Together, they showed why they are called 'New York's Strongest'."
Police Commissioner Kerik said, "I couldn't be more proud of the 6,000 officers who worked the Times Square celebration and kept it safe and festive for everyone who came to ring in the new year. And while the snow this weekend may have slowed down the City a bit, our officers still managed to make it work, keeping our City secure and our citizens safe."
Fire Commissioner Von Essen said, "Firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics work hard every day throughout the year, and New Year's Eve is always a challenge. With the huge snowfall on Saturday, this was a particularly demanding weekend for the 12,000 firefighters and 3,000 EMTs and paramedics who worked at least one shift over the long weekend. Through their dedication and commitment we were able to answer 15,290 emergency calls."
Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall said, "During the recent snowstorm our Ferry employees worked diligently to remove snow around the Ferry Terminals. Our Bridge Division staff kept the East River Bridges ice-free and clean. Our traffic operations personnel removed snow from municipal parking lots. Our street and arterial maintenance crews worked with Sanitation to remove snow from our busiest highways. All in all, DOT provided 69 pieces of equipment throughout the five boroughs. We also want to commend the private homeowners and business leaders who shoveled their sidewalks. And we want to reiterate that road conditions are still affected by the adverse weather, and we urge pedestrians and motorists to continue to use extreme caution."
Office of Emergency Management Director Sheirer said, "With more than 30 federal, state and city agencies in our Emergency Operation Center for this storm, the men and women of our Planning and Operation Divisions who are being honored here today are just examples of the great work performed in OEM before and after an incident."
Personnel on hand for the City Hall Ceremony included:
From the Department of Sanitation: Supervisor Salvatore DiVirgilio; District Supervisor Todd Grosin; and Sanitation Workers Chris Abbate, Chester Brown, Frank Carpenter, Curt Heiseler, Elisio Morales, Philip Passerella, and James Talbert.
From the Police Department: Chief Allan Hoel, Commanding Officer, Patrol Borough, Manhattan South; Sergeant Carl Camponi Patrol Borough, Manhattan South; Police Officer Anthony Makowski, Patrol Borough, Manhattan South; and Police Officers John Fuelling and John Pearson, of the Special Operations Division, Homeless Outreach Unit.
From the Fire Department: Captain John McKeon, and Firefighters Kevin Cassidy, Ron Cifu, Bill Fanos, Nelson Haerr, and Paul Lee, all of Engine Company 15 on Manhattan's East Side. Also present were Paramedics Christopher Doyle and Andy Ehrlich from Cabrini Medical Center; and Paramedics John Nicolaisen and Colin Right, and EMTs Jackaline Bailey and Lennox Younge, from Battalion 31 in Brooklyn.
From the Department of Transportation: Highway Repairmen Gary George and Arthur Kinloch, of the Street and Arterial Maintenance Division; Supervising Highway Repairmen Anthony Napolitano and Charles Remi, of the Bridges Division; Laborer James Lamberti of the Ferry Operations Division; Ferry Deckhand Pat Schum, also of the Ferry Operations Division; and Traffic Device Maintainer Darrel Lawrence, of the Traffic Operations Division.
From the Office of Emergency Management: Jeffry Armstrong, Interagency Coordinator;
Michael Berkowitz, Senior Planner; Elizabeth Davis, Planner; Dennis Honor, Interagency
Coordinator; Abraham Lima, Watch Commander; and Neil O'Connor, Watch Commander.
