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100-Year Association
Award Recipients
A Lifetime Scout Police Officer Felicia Richards received $6,000 and the top Isaac Liberman Public Service Award for her volunteer work leading a Girl Scouts group and for heading the NYPD's Law Enforcement Explorer program in East New York, Brooklyn. "I've been a Girl Scout since I was seven years old," she said, shortly before receiving her award from Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly. "Once a Scout, always a Scout." She said joining the NYPD in 1986 wasn't an easy decision. "I thought I'd be a doctor," she remarked with a smile. "I didn't know I'd be a teacher in the Police Department." 'Did It for the Kids' Watching the youths in her group mature into college students interested in helping her scout groups is the most rewarding part of volunteering, she said. "I'm humbled," she added, referring to the award. "I just did it for the kids. I didn't think it was that special." Her award was sponsored by Consolidated Edison. Officer Richards, who works in Housing Bureau 2 in East Flatbush, noted that her Cub Scout groups are currently preparing to participate in a national law-enforcement competition in Colorado Springs, Col. this summer.
Martha K. Hirst, who emceed the award ceremony, noted that youths have come from as far as Washington Heights to participate in her classes. Fourteen other city employees received awards at the ceremony ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Mayor Bloomberg hailed the winners. "You are the glue that holds the city together," he told the audience of family members, friends, and coworkers. "All of them have gone the extra mile. Your achievements really are remarkable." Allyson Mackey, the Human Resources Administration's Director of Medicaid Eligibility, was honored for her work helping people seeking health benefits. She also helped to purchase books for her local public library, the DeKalb Branch in Bushwick, Brooklyn. In addition, she successfully lobbied the city to extend the hours of the facility. Grant Money After the ceremony, Ms. Mackey said with the help of her church she wrote proposals for grants to get money to expand the library. "Everything I fought for was for the children of the neighborhood," she remarked. Discovering that she had been selected for the award "shocked" her. After a brief pause, she added, "It's good to realize that when you do work for the community that people recognize you later." Ms. Mackey, who began her career at HRA in 1984, is currently responsible for the determination of Medicaid eligibility for 48,000 clients. She received the $5,000 Ralph K. Smith Public Service Award. The Isaac Liberman Public Service Awards have been presented since 1958 to recognize the civic contributions of career civil servants at work and off the job. They are named for the department store executive who founded the Hundred Year Association in 1927. The awards symbolize the public-private partnership between the city and the members of the association, which is made up of more than 200 businesses and non-profit organizations that have existed in the city for at least a century. THE CHIEF-LEADER, founded in 1897, is a member of the association and sponsors an individual award. 'A Lot of Fun' Suzanne Lee Kim, the Associate Project Manager for the Department of Design and Construction, received the $3,500 award endowed by this newspaper. As an engineer, she has used innovative and cost-efficient construction methods for her projects. She is presently a project manager for the Correction Program Unit, where she has completed the Anna M. Kross Center kitchen facility project. "Working with Correction workers is not publicly recognized, but from a construction point of view there is a lot of fun and a lot of projects," she said after the ceremony. Ms. Kim was also part of the design team that developed the prototype for all new and renovated bathroom facilities in the Correction Department. She said that she has taken particular pride in her early work fixing up former crackhouses when she first started with DDC more than 20 years ago. City's Evolution "All of the neighborhoods that we worked on are totally different now," she remarked, noting that she has driven past some of the sites. "You get a chance to see the city evolve in terms of buildings landscape." Derek Parsons, the Supervisor of Essential Services for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, received $2,500 from John Galling & Son, Inc. Anne Arrowsmith, a Principal Administrative Associate for the Parks Department, was honored with $2,000 sponsored by the Henry W.T. Mali and Company. The names of the top $1,000 Isaac Liberman Public Service Award winners, their assigned agency, and the award sponsors are: Gloria Bent, Health and Hospitals Corporation, Okin Family/Rose J. Gilman Award; Judith Cohen, City University of New York, The Forward Association; Ernesto Escalera, Fire Department, Brooklyn Bar Association; Rufus Harvey, HDP, Rosenwach Tank Co.;
Alan Hom, Department for the Aging, Leys, Christie &
Co.; Anthony Mazzallo, Parks Department, Modell's Sporting Goods, Inc.; Sally
Osborn, NYPD, Brooklyn Bar Association; Brenda Snider, Department of Small
Business Services; Patricia Tallini (posthumous award), Education Department,
New York University; Toni Turcic, Department of Transportation, Paul Hastings
Janofsky & Walker. | ||||||
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