Mayor De Blasio Honors Correction Officer And FDNY Lieutenant For Acts Of Heroism
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio honored a pair of New York City heroes Thursday.
During a ceremony at City Hall, the mayor presented Certificates of Recognition to Correction Officer Daniel Leites and FDNY Lt. Adam Vilagos for their acts of heroism.
"On behalf of all New Yorkers, we honor Officer Leites and Lt. Vilagos, who went above and beyond the call of duty to save the lives of others," de Blasio said. "The heroic and selfless actions of these outstanding public servants truly exemplify the spirit of New York's boldest and New York's bravest. We thank them not just for these acts of heroism, but for serving New Yorkers each and every day."
Leites was honored for saving a woman with Alzheimer's from oncoming traffic on Monday. Officials said that while off-duty, Leites spotted the woman wandering aimlessly on Woodhaven Boulevard and threw himself into harm's way to keep her from getting out into the street.
"All New York City correction officers, all civil servants, FDNY, NYPD, that's what we do on a regular basis. We're never off-duty," Leites said.
On Tuesday night, Vilagos crawled into the attic of a burning Corona, Queens home to save a 3-week-old baby.
"I just want to say that I'm happy that it worked out for that family. I had the luxury of working with great firemen and I couldn't have done anything without them," Vilagos said.
De Blasio also added that while the city honored two heroes at home, officials in Los Angeles were saying thank you to two off-duty NYPD officers who subdued a knife-wielding attacker on Wednesday.
