Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh to Preside at Annual Medal Day Ceremony

June 4, 2024

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh will preside at the annual FDNY Medal Day Ceremony on Wednesday, June 5th at 11 a.m. at City Hall Plaza – Centre Street and Park Row. At the ceremony, medals will be presented to FDNY Firefighters, Paramedics, EMTs, Fire Marshals, and Officers for their lifesaving work at rescues in 2023. The ceremony can be viewed live on the Department's website at www.nyc.gov/FDNY or HERE.

Notable medal recipients include:

• Lieutenant Mark H. Russo, Rescue Battalion, will receive the Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci Jr. Medal and NYS Honorary Fire Chiefs Association Medal for the rescue of a fellow Firefighter who was trapped during a house fire on Staten Island.
• EMT Emmanuel F. Titus and EMT Shawn M. Griffin will receive the Christopher J. Prescott Medal for their rescue of a patient contemplating suicide.
• Firefighter Arthur Podgorski of Ladder 108 will receive the Dr. Harry M. Archer Medal for a lifesaving rope rescue in November 2022 when he saved a victim dangling from a window on the 20th floor of a burning apartment building. This medal is awarded every three years to a holder of the Chief of Department Peter J. Ganci Jr. Medal and the NYS Honorary Fire Chiefs Association Medal.
• Captain Johnathan Shields, Ladder 42, will receive a new medal, the Battalion Chief Thomas Neary Harlem Firefighters Medal for his rescue of three individuals during a fire in the Bronx.

WHO: Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh; Chief of Department John Hodgens; Chief of EMS Operations Michael Fields; FDNY Officials; medal recipients and their families
WHERE: City Hall Plaza – Centre Street and Park Row
WHEN: Wednesday, June 5, 2024 – 11 a.m.

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