Public Employee Press


DC 37 News
Mural honors fallen EMT

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

The memory of Emergency Medical Technician Yadira Arroyo has been honored with a colorful mural in the Bronx by the graffiti artists Tats Cru.

Uniformed EMTs and Paramedics Local 2507 commissioned the team of internationally known muralists from Hunts Point to paint the large mural on the side of a building facing Morrison Avenue, just a couple of steps from the Morrison Avenue-Soundview subway stop on the 6 train.

Arroyo worked out of FDNY Station 26 on Boston Road, in the Soundview section of the Bronx where she lived. She was killed in the line of duty on March 16 when her ambulance was hijacked by a homeless man who then ran her over. The 14-year veteran was responding to an emergency in the Bronx with her partner Monique Williams.

Arroyo's image joins Bronx rapper KRS-1 and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on the wall of fame.

Jeremy Romero, a student at James Monroe High School, had not noticed the addition of Arroyo to the wall. "That must be a new one," said Romero, as he waited for the BX27 bus in front of the image of Arroyo in her blue uniform with Station 26 in the background.

"It happened a couple of blocks from here," he said of the tragic incident.

Bronx native Bio Feliciano is one of the artists and founders of Tats Cru and spent six hours with his team working on the mural and went through dozens of cans of spray paint. "The response from the community has been amazing," said Feliciano of the mural.

Since 1994, eight emergency medical workers have been killed in the line of duty.

"EMT Arroyo was literally a lifesaver," said DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido. "She went to work knowing that, at a moment's notice she would be called to face the responsibility of saving a person's life."