Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh to preside over annual medal ceremony

June 4, 2024

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh will preside over the annual FDNY Medal Ceremony on Wednesday, June 5 at 11 a.m. at City Hall Plaza – Center Street and Park Row. During the ceremony, medals will be presented to firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, fire marshals and FDNY officers for their lifesaving work during the 2023 rescues. The ceremony can be viewed live on the department's website at www.nyc.gov/FDNY or HERE.

Notable recipients of the medal include:

• Lt. Mark H. Russo, Rescue Battalion, will receive the Department Chief Peter J. Ganci Jr. Medal and the New York State Honorary Fire Chiefs Association Medal for saving 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 rope rescue in November 2022 when he saved a victim hanging from a 20th floor window of a burning building. This medal is awarded every three years to a recipient of the Peter J. Ganci Jr. Chief of Department Medal and the New York State Association of Honorary Fire Chiefs Medal.
• Captain Johnathan Shields, Ladder 42, will receive a new medal, the Thomas Neary Harlem Firefighters Battalion Chief Medal for his rescue of three people during a fire in the Bronx.

WHO: Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh; department head John Hodgens; Michael Fields, chief of EMS operations; FDNY officials; medal recipients and their families
OR: City Hall Square – Center Street and Park Row
WHEN: Wednesday June 5, 2024 – 11 a.m.

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