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Public
Employee Press Top
honors for two Parks workers By
DIANE S. WILLIAMS
Two DC 37 members were given highest honors by the
city Parks and Recreation Dept. at an afternoon ceremony at the Central Park Arsenal
on March 25.
Recreation Director Andrea Williams, a Local 299 member, received
this years W. Allison and Elizabeth Stubbs Davis Award, one of the highest
awards bestowed on a Parks worker for dedicated service to New Yorkers. And Javier
Rodriguez, a veteran member of Lifeguard Supervisors Local 508, was named Employee
of the Year by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe the first time a Lifeguard
has won this prestigious award, said Local 508 President Peter Stein.
Supervisor
Vonetta Diggs nominated Williams, a Parks employee since 1985, for her outstanding
contributions and extraordinary dedication to parks and playgrounds and her community
participation above and beyond her job requirements.
To be
recognized is really exciting and is a result of opportunity and preparation,
said Williams. She credits the great people I work with, and accepted
the award on behalf of Brooklyn and the St. Johns Recreation Center staff.
With perfect attendance for over 15 years, Williams, a graduate of Brooklyn College,
is active in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community as an assistant coach with the Jeuness
track program. She is also an official for the Colgate Womens Games, the
Metropolitan Athletic Conference and the Penn Relays.
Working with
the children and staff makes every day rewarding, Williams said. We
instill two rules in life. Number 1: Never quit, and Number 2: Always remember
rule Number 1.
I am very surprised and feel deeply honored
that they recognized me professionally, said Rodriguez. Lifeguards
are sometimes a forgotten emergency response service unit. City Lifeguards
and Supervisors have amassed a sterling safety record for protecting the lives
of millions of New Yorkers at city beaches and pools.
Employee
of the Year Rodriguezs career in the Parks Dept. began in
1979, when as a teen he was hired as a Lifeguard at the Hamilton Fish Pool on
the Lower East Side. Rodriguez worked at Manhattan Beach, was promoted to Lieutenant,
became a Coney Island Beach Chief, and later served as Borough Coordinator. Rodriguez
captained the SUNY New Paltz swim team and in 1989 earned a law degree from Texas
Southern University Law School.
Today Rodriguez is an instructor at
the agencys Lifeguard Training School, teaching the 16-week training course
that includes swimming and rescue techniques and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
We produced 1,100 qualified Lifeguards last year and hope to surpass
that number this summer, he said.
Rodriguez credits co-workers Norberto
Ferrer, Leo Perlmutter, Martin Kravitz, Allison Jerriahian, and Ritchie Sher for
making his job enjoyable, and especially thanks his mentors, Howard Walter and
Jim Klewicki. He said, I have learned so much from them and they have helped
me grow professionally.
To receive this honor is acknowledgement
and recognition for all Lifeguards, who work hard to create a safe environment
at the pools and beaches, said Stein. Rodriguez accepted his award on behalf
of his colleagues who serve day-in and day-out with no recognition.
This
is affirmation of the confidence Commissioner Benepe has in the entire Lifeguard
program and of the wonderful job done by New York City Lifeguards, who are DC
37 members, he said. | |