FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 10, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 29
Queens fi refi ghters among the honored at FDNY
Medal Day in Flushing Meadows Corona Park
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Queens fi refi ghters and EMS personnel
were among those honored for their
acts of bravery as the FDNY Medal Day
was held Wednesday, June 2, at the USTA
Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing
Meadows Corona Park.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Fire
Commissioner Daniel Nigro presided
over the FDNY’s largest public event
since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic
last year.
“Today, we can see the light at the end
of the tunnel,” de Blasio said. “We’ve all
been through hell together, but we are
coming out of it, and one thing was clear
throughout 2020 was the FDNY was
always there. No matter what COVID
threw at us, the
FDNY persevered.
Th ere
are many
extraordinary
moments
in the history
of this agency.
2020 will
go down in the
history books as one
of those times when people
did great things against the
toughest of odds.”
Among those honored for
their heroics were Firefi ghter
Richard Schmidt of Rescue 4 in
Woodside, who received the
Emerald Society Pipes and
Drums Medal for racing into
a burning home and rescuing
Queens fi refi ghters were honored during the FDNY Medal Day held at the USTA Tennis Center in Flushing
Meadows Corona Park.
a woman who was hiding from the
blaze in a closet.
Firefi ghter Joseph Ambrosio of Ladder
Company 152 in Flushing was awarded
the William F. Conran Medal for fi ghting
his way through a maze of clutter without
the protection of a hose-line to rescue a
Photos by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Offi ce
trapped victim.
Firefi ghter William J. Long of Engine
Company 292 on Queens Boulevard in
Woodside was recognized for entering a
burning building where the fi re hydrants
were not working and prying loose a
woman who was trapped in “extreme
conditions.” Long received the Th omas A.
Kenny Memorial Medal for his actions.
Rescue Company 4 Firefi ghter Antonio
F. Tarabocchia was honored for running
up a burning staircase, forcing open a
locked door and fi nding a woman protecting
a child from the fl ames. He rescued
both from the smoke-fi lled bedroom.
Tarabocchia was awarded the
Emily Trevor/Mary B. Warren Medal for
his heroics that night.
“Our members never back down when
they fi nd themselves in a life-and-death
situation for a New Yorker, a child trapped
by fi re, an unconscious occupant overcome
by smoke or carbon monoxide, an individual
in desperate need of medical care,”
Nigro said. “When someone is trapped
and needs to be rescued, New Yorkers turn
to the FDNY, and you rise to the challenge
every day. In a year fi lled with sorrow and
loss, these are the stories of bravery and
hope and a reminder that no matter how
dark the times may be, how diffi cult the
challenge or dangerous the situation, the
FDNY will always be there. Your actions
we celebrate today represent the greatest
traditions of our beloved department.
Th ank you all for ensuring that the FDNY
continues to be the best and that it can be
the greatest fi re department in the world.”
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