Public Employee Press

Civil service heroes

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

Members of District Council 37 took home nine out of 15 prestigious Isaac Lieberman Public Service Awards for outstanding service in 2007 given by the Hundred Year Association.

“The civil servants we honor today have demonstrated an extraordinary level of commitment to serving their fellow New Yorkers,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. With Commissioner Martha A. Hirst of the Dept. of Citywide Administrative Services, he honored the employees for their dedicated service and volunteerism in a ceremony held Dec. 18 at police headquarters. The civil service awards ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 and a number of college scholarships are co-sponsored by local businesses and organizations.

Suzanne Lee Kim, an Associate Project Manager in the Dept. of Design and Construction, completed a $240 million kitchen at Rikers Island for the Dept. of Corrections. At 40,000 square feet, it is the largest commercial kitchen in the Northeast, a source of great pride and a testament to Lee Kim’s abilities. The grateful Local 375 member said, “We have a lot of opportunities for training and education at the DDC.”

Before work could begin on the new kitchen, Lee Kim had to relocate and rebuild the jail’s recreation area. The stainless steel kitchen with multiple security features has a dozen cooking vats, 11 walk-in ovens, a dishwashing room the size of a public school cafeteria, and a “walk-in freezer the size of a small Costco,” said Lee Kim. The kitchen is used daily to prepare 15,000 meals for inmates.

“I came up through the ranks,” said Lee Kim, a 20-year career veteran of DDC. She literally hung in there through the 1980s, when the crime and crack epidemic made it a challenge to oversee construction projects around the city. “When you’re hanging off a rooftop in the projects or climbing a scaffold with binoculars, people get suspicious,” she chuckled.

Above and beyond
Award winner Judith Cohen, an Administrative Assistant in Local 384, works at Kingsborough Community College where her innovative ideas help the Communications Dept. get grants and function efficiently. She volunteers with Dress for Success and the Coney Island Aquarium and mentors single moms. Cohen said, “I love my job and volunteering comes natural to me, but it was exciting to be recognized for it.”

“I had no idea I was even nominated,” saidAnthony Mazzallo, a Parks Supervisor 2 in Local 1508 assigned to the Prospect Park garage in Brooklyn.

Responsible for a fleet of heavy-duty equipment and safety training for operators, Mazzallo created an operations manual for beach equipment, an invaluable tool for new drivers, which the Parks Dept. has adopted as its standard reference guide for the vehicles.

Other 2007 winners include DC 37 members Derek Parsons, Supervisor of Essential Services at the Dept. of Housing Preservation and Development, Local 375; Anne Arrowsmith, Principal Administrative Associate, Parks Dept., Local 1549; Alan Hom, Associate Program Officer, Dept. for the Aging, Local 371; Ernesto Escalera, Asst. Deputy Director, Fire Dept., Local 1407; Rufus Harvey, Deputy Director, HPD, Local 1219, and Brenda Snider, Senior Project Coordinator, Dept. of Small Business Services, Local 1407.

The Lieberman Awards have been a New York City tradition since 1927; college scholarships were added in 1971. Nominations for 2008 are being accepted now.

For more information visit www.100yearassociation.com.