Gold Medal of Honor for Sanitation Heroes

Colden Auditorium at Queens College became a Hall of Heroes recently when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Commissioner John J. Doherty presented the Department’s highest award, The Gold Medal of Honor, to Anthony DiMasso, formerly of Howard Beach, and his partner, Flushing resident Michael Abatatuno.
It was a near-capacity crowd at the Thursday, June 28 event, during which three other members of the city’s Strongest were also honored for outstanding performance with two Silver Medals and one Bronze Medal of Honor.
On July 19, 2006, Abatatuno and DiMasso of the Queens East Borough unit witnessed a vehicle flip over several times on the Van Wyck Expressway at Union Turnpike in Kew Gardens.
They immediately pulled over to the side of the road to offer assistance and observed a woman and a child, who was still strapped in a car seat, trapped inside the vehicle. Together they pried open the sunroof and pulled the child to safety. Next, they pulled the driver out through the driver’s side window.
Abatatuno and DiMasso, who currently resides in Bellemore, Long Island, noticed gas leaking from the vehicle. They put it in park, shut off the engine, called 9-1-1 and the driver’s family. Both Sanitation workers stayed with the crash victims until police, firefighters, and paramedics arrived.
Sanitation workers Kyle Bluth and Michael Casagrande received Silver Medals for a similar rescue from a smoldering vehicle in Manhattan and Supervisor Frank Perrone got a Bronze Medal for preventing an infant’s abduction after a domestic assault in the Bronx.
In addition to recognizing the extraordinary performance of the heroes, the mayor and the commissioner also administered the oath of office to 533 new Sanitation workers and promotions for 370 DSNY employees in various ranks, including chief.
The celebratory spirit of the day was reflected by the families and the DSNY personnel, who applauded their fellows, the “brass” and the mayor with a warmth matched only by the outside temperature, which crossed the 85 degree mark shortly after the 10 a.m. start.
“This awards day is a great tradition of a proud city agency, which happens to be the best Sanitation Department in any city in the nation,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The dedicated men and women of the Department of Sanitation - New York’s Strongest - not only have made our city the cleanest it has been in over 30 years by performing their duties with diligence and determination, but they even have gone above and beyond the call of duty to save lives. I salute today’s medals recipients and the example they set.”