Release # 075-01

 

Contact:

Sunny Mindel / Curt Ritter

(212) 788-2958

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani congratulated recipients of the 28th annual Sloan Public Service Awards during a ceremony this evening at the Great Hall of Cooper Union in Manhattan. Each year the Fund for the City of New York presents these awards in recognition of the many accomplishments of municipal employees, whose day-to-day dedication and effectiveness often go unnoticed.

"The dedication to public service and commitment to the quality of life of our City that the men and women we honor this evening are extraordinary examples of the sense of duty of our City employees," said Mayor Giuliani. "Without the contributions of these individuals our City would not be a model of good government to the rest of the nation and the rest of the world in so many different areas. They represent the best the City has to offer and I thank them for their commitment to their job, to the City and to all New Yorkers."

The eight recipients are all career city employees who have maintained unusually high levels of excellence throughout their careers. Often working away from the limelight, they exemplify the very spirit of public service. This year's winners are:

• H. Hardy Adasko, Senior Vice President for Planning, Economic Development Corporation, joined city government as a transportation analyst 29 years ago. With his colleagues, he has guided various projects from conception to completion: revamping old industrial sites, refurbishing movie theatres, and overseeing plans for minor league baseball stadiums. Developers and community groups praise his ability to work with civility and determination to strike a balance between the pressures for and against development.

• Esther Coupet, Coordinator of Home Care Referral, Bellevue Hospital Center, Health and Hospitals Corporation, started at the bottom of the clerical ladder 21 years ago, and was elevated because of her exceptional interpersonal skills and understanding of the health care system. After a medical decision is made to discharge the 1,500 patients a year who require care at home to complete their recovery, she alone has only 24 hours to navigate complex regulations and match patients' needs with the plethora of non-profit, for-profit, volunteer, and government home care providers. She has won the respect and admiration of physicians, nurses, administrators, government officials, home care providers, patients and their families.

• Michael Greenman, Chief Subsurface Section. Department of Design and Construction, has gained a reputation as a "subterranean wizard" in his 31-year career with the City of New York. He obtains samples analyzes and records geological conditions, issues warnings and makes recommendations to assure that municipal structures are built on safe ground. He created a "one-of-a-kind" geological record bank, and has undertaken efforts to make those records. His work has saved the city and its builders an untold amount of money and, more important, kept New York City's public structures on sure footing.

• Alice Hudson, Chief, Map Division, New York Public Library, has over her 30-year career, developed and promoted the largest public library map collection in the United States. Under Ms. Hudson, it has become the most-used public maproom in the world, with more than 7,000 visitors last year. It holds over 400,000 maps, 16,000 atlases, books, globes, and a computer mapping station with electronic atlases and other reference tools. It has New York City maps and atlases that document the changing city from the 17th century to the present. In addition to her managerial duties, she teaches, serves at the reference desk and rotates night and weekend duty.

• Parnel Legros, Physical Education Teacher, Gateway Intermediate School 364, Brooklyn Board of Education, is a physical education teacher in a school that does not have a gymnasium. An Olympic athlete, Mr. Legros says his purpose is to raise the life expectations of the 350 7th an 8th graders at his school. He is admired and respected by his colleagues, students, their parents and community leaders, for developing good students and good athletes, and for his unfailing dedication to the school and to the future of his students. He runs an after-school judo club, members of which have won medals at regional and national tournaments.

• Alan Leidner, Director, Citywide Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications; Wendy Dorf, Geographic Systems Coordinator, Department of Environmental Protection; Richard Steinberg, Director of Geographic Systems, Department of City Planning. These are three individuals who have long and distinguished careers in New York City government, totaling 78 years. Together they have created something colossal for this City: the NYCMAP, probably the most complex, detailed urban map ever created. Mr. Leidner was working at the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) when he visualized the benefit that a single City map would provide to help coordinate all City services. He brought together diverse agencies, people, and professions to share knowledge and work cooperatively for years, overcoming great obstacles to bring the vision to fruition. Wendy Dorf works with over 25 staffers and consultants and is her agency's prime mover in coordinating the mapping activities of the City's infrastructure. She oversees the implementation of the new technology used to realize the NYCMap. Richard Steinberg, a mathematician, systems programmer and city planner, spearheaded the creation of several critical and remarkable databases and maps that are used by over 30 City agencies. He provided the technical expertise required to create NYCMAP.

"These City employees have made concrete, measurable and important contributions to the quality of life in New York City that deserve our praise, respect and admiration," said Dr. Mary McCormick, President of the Fund for the City of New York. "With their unswerving dedication to excellence, they enrich the lives of all New Yorkers and demonstrate the highest ideals of public service."

The Public Service Award has been a program of the Fund for the City of New York for 27 years. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has helped support the program for the last 15 years. This year's seven award winners were chosen from more than 250,000 people who work for the City of New York. Each winner will receive a cash prize of $7,500, as well as an original drawing by Niculae Asciu depicting the work they each do.