Mayor Eric Adams and Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh to preside at Annual Medal Day Ceremony

June 6, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams and Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh will preside at the annual FDNY Medal Day Ceremony on Wednesday, June 7th - 11 a.m. at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Louis Armstrong Stadium. At the ceremony, medals will be presented to FDNY Firefighters, Paramedics, EMTs, Fire Marshals, and Fire/EMS Officers for their life-saving work at incidents in 2022. The ceremony can be viewed live on the Department's website, www.nyc.gov/FDNY.

Notable medal recipients include:

• Firefighter Artur Podgorski of Ladder 108 will receive the Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci Jr. Medal and NYS Honorary Fire Chiefs Association Medal for his participation in a 20-story rope rescue at a Manhattan fire. Eight medals will be awarded to Firefighters for their heroic actions at this fire, leading to the rescue of multiple trapped occupants.
• Lieutenant Shlomo E. Winkler and Paramedic Kira L. Watkins of Station 45 will receive the Christopher J. Prescott Medal for their outstanding rescue of an individual who was trapped and injured in an elevator shaft. They overcame multiple obstacles to provide quality medical care to this patient.
• Two new medals will be presented this year - the William P. Moon II Medal of Life and the Captain Allison Russo North Star Medal. The first is named in honor of Firefighter William "Billy" Moon, Rescue 2, who was critically injured during a training drill in December 2022. The medal will be presented to his wife, Kristina. The second is named for EMS Captain Allison Russo, killed in an unprovoked attack while on duty in Queens in September 2022. This medal will be presented to Captain Edgar Baez for his outstanding leadership during this incident.

WHO: Mayor Eric Adams, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer, Chief of Department John Hodgens, Chief of Operations John Esposito; Chief of EMS Operations Michael Fields; medal recipients and other FDNY members

WHERE: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Louis Armstrong Stadium, 124-02 Roosevelt Avenue Corona, NY 11368

WHEN: Wednesday, June 7 - 11:00 a.m.

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