Remarks from Daniel Steinberg, Acting Director, Mayor's Office of Operations

The Excellence in Customer Service Awards were established in 2008 to honor City employees who provide exceptional customer service to their fellow New Yorkers.  The awards have allowed us to recognize colleagues for a wide range of achievements, all of which made City government more accessible and responsive to the people we serve.

Occasionally, our routinized forms of customer service are eclipsed or intensified by disruptive, even unthinkable events.  Blackouts, hurricanes, and other emergencies have required City workers to sacrifice much for the good of all. The global COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated our City in personal and material ways, has required City workers to use every ounce of creativity and commitment to provide new services, in new ways, to a City in crisis.

Today we recognize individuals who make us proud to work for the City, such as Lenny James from the Department for the Aging, who spearheaded an initiative to train Older Adult Centers on how to operate as Cooling Centers during the COVID-19 State of Emergency summer months; Irma Cortijo from HRA, who went to great lengths to ensure all staff were able to work remotely, even using her personal vehicle to deliver laptops to her colleagues, and our own Annie Gurvis, who helped create and manage the COVID-19 Business Inspection Program. On top of her other responsibilities, Annie recruited and trained inspectors from various City agencies to implement a completely new type of business inspection.

I also want to acknowledge other teams like the Administration for Children's Service Point of Distribution team, whose members assisted nearly 1,000 staff and their families in getting vaccinated; the Department of Citywide Administrative Services Central Storehouse staff who ensured agencies were provided with life-saving personal protective equipment, and the Department of Homeless Services'  JCC outreach staff, who assiduously canvassed and engaged potentially street homeless individuals and referred them for COVID screenings or shelter.

Your commitment and character make us incredibly proud to be your colleagues.  All New Yorkers owe you a debt of gratitude, thank you and congratulations.