Fast thinking and acting cops saving a man’s life and a possible tragic crime before it happened, a Jewish nonprofit coming to the aid of Jersey City residents following a murderous anti-Semitic attack at a kosher food market, and a Bay Ridge woman standing up to a creepy white nationalist organization encroaching on her neighborhood.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams honored all of them yesterday at Brooklyn Borough Hall as part of his latest “Heroes of the Month” encompassing the months of October, November, and December.
“Our Heroes of the Month showcase the best our borough and our city has to offer,” said Adams. “These individuals stepped up to help those in need, showing how everyday people can do extraordinary things. We are proud to have them representing Brooklyn, and look forward to seeing what they accomplish in the future.”
For October, Adams honored NYPD Officers Joseph Glorioso and Giovanni Cucuzza. Officers Glorioso, Cucuzza and John Desiderio of Brooklyn’s 61st Precinct were bowling at Rab’s Country Lanes in Dongan Hills when the man bowling next to them suffered a heart attack.
After placing the man on his back, the men’s training took over. Cucuzza ran to retrieve the lane’s defibrillator as Desiderio performed chest compressions, and Glorioso continued to check for vital signs — the man still had no pulse.
While 911 was called, the officers ripped open the man’s shirt and used the defibrillator. When asked about his heroic acts, Cucuzza modestly said, “This is what we signed up to do, and I’m glad I’m a New York City police officer.”
For November, Adams recognized Officer Michelle Schack, who was contacted on November 15 by a family in Brooklyn who said their daughter was sending them disturbing text messages and had taken her infant daughter out of daycare early.
The young mother, 27, said she “can’t go on like this anymore,” and planned to kill herself and her child.
Schack used department cell phones to track the vehicle which was going over the Verrazano Bridge, along a route to the family’s Pennsylvania home. She also mentioned how easy it was to buy a gun in Pennsylvania. Schack than sprang into action, finding a gun store on Google that was close to the family’s home and contacted the owner. She described the woman they were looking for to the owner, and told him to stall if she came in looking to buy a gun.
When the person matching the description walked into the store, the owner called 911 and stalled as instructed by Officer Schack. Eventually, the local police showed up and took the mom and the baby to a local hospital for evaluation.
For December, Adams honored two heroes.
After the horrific anti-Semitic shooting in Jersey City at a kosher market that claimed four victims’ lives, the city, which has a large Hasidic community, had no grocery store at which to shop. That’s where the Met Council and their network of volunteers came in. They donated and delivered 10,000 pounds of kosher food for the community right after the shooting to show support and solidarity with the Jewish community in Jersey City.
They then set up a free store at the Bethune Community Center on Martin Luther King Drive, where Jewish residents were invited to “shop” for supplies. There were boxes of challah, gefilte fish, pastries, cheese, cereal, milk, and other supplies. Within a day, they were able to help roughly 75 families from the surrounding community. For their selfless action to help a community recover after a horrific act of hate, he recognized Jessica Chait, Managing Director of Food Programs at Met Council.
“We’re thrilled at Met Council that Jessica Chait is being honored for her instrumental work providing over 10,000 pounds of food within 24 hours of tragedy striking the Jewish community of Jersey City,” said David G. Greenfield, CEO of Met Council. “Jessica and her kosher food team work tirelessly every single day to ensure that Met Council feeds over 181,500 New Yorkers through our network of 40 food pantries. We are incredibly proud of her accomplishments and grateful to Borough President Eric Adams for this important recognition of civic activism.”
The second December hero was Mallory McMahon. In December, a handmade banner promoting a white nationalist website was discovered hanging over the 80th Street pedestrian overpass on the Belt Parkway in Bay Ridge.
This followed the discovery of posters for the same organization in the same area. Coming on the heels of several anti-Semitic attacks and other hateful incidents, it was scary to see messages that promoted hate in a diverse community like Bay Ridge.
McMahon, who leads the grassroots organization Fight Back Bay Ridge, knew she couldn’t remain silent. She coordinated a rally along with 11 other community groups to show that Bay Ridge would not stand for hate in their community.
“I’m so glad to see Brooklyn and its politicians taking the threat of white nationalism seriously enough to feel my work to combat it is worthy of this award. I’m thrilled to stand here and accept this honor from the Borough President on behalf of everyone who does antifascist and anti-hate work in our city. It’s really exciting to be honored just for doing what feels right, and I hope others will be inspired by this story to do the same,” said McMahon.
