Chamber Hosts 2023 FDNY & EMS Valor Awards Luncheon
By Dom Provenzano, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
On Wednesday, April 19, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce hosted their 2023 FDNY & EMS Valor Awards Luncheon. The event, co-presented by the Staten Island Media Group, was hosted at the Historic Old Bermuda Inn, honored eleven members of the FDNY and EMS for their extraordinary acts of bravery.
The event was sponsored by Gerald Peters, Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC), Staten Island University Hospital, Sottile Security, and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
The Valor Awards luncheon - the Chamber’s first since 2017 - drew more than 200 attendees, which included firefighters, battalion chiefs, lieutenants, paramedics, and EMS members from Staten Island’s 19 firehouses. The borough’s leadership was also well-represented, with Borough President Vito Fossella and District Attorney Michael McMahon joining to celebrate the day’s honorees.
“The Chamber, and Staten Island’s business community, are extremely proud to honor the best and bravest of our FDNY and EMS departments,” said Linda Baran, President and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce. “It is thanks to your courage that our borough is the best place to live and work in New York City.”
FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens served as the event’s keynote speaker. “I think that it is worthwhile that we have some spectacular acts of bravery by our members being acknowledged,” said Chief Hodgens. “We teach them to be a good citizen and a good neighbor on the job, but off the job we expect that they carry themselves in a professional manner.”
“We are a great city, a great community, in large part because of the people who decided to put the uniform on and save others,” said Borough President Fossella. “We all know too well on Staten Island how we’ve lost so many, but we don’t forget and we try to honor them by events like today.”
“Thank you to all of the honorees and recipients of the awards today,” said District Attorney McMahon. “Thank you for the partnership that the DA’s office and the Police Department share with you every day.”
For the full list of honorees, click here.
Quotes retrieved from the Staten Island Advance. Photos by Steve White, Staten Arts Photography.
