MTA Bridges and Tunnels Honors Officers For Life-Saving Actions

MTA Bridges and Tunnels President Susan Kupferman awarded the agency's highest awards, Medal of Honor and President's Medal, to five Bridges and Tunnels Officers at an Oct. 8th ceremony at the Robert Moses Building on Randall's Island. The awards are presented to Bridge and Tunnel Officers (BTOs), Sergeants and Lieutenants for extraordinary valor in the line of duty.

"The men and women we honor today represent the best in achieving our mission of delivering safe and efficient transportation to the public," said Ms. Kupferman, who also thanked the employees for their professional skill, knowledge and compassion that helped earn them these awards.

The medal–winning awards involved three separate incidents that occurred at the Throgs Neck Bridge, Henry Hudson Bridge and Verrazano–Narrows Bridge.

BTO Michael Millender, a nine–year veteran from Coram, N.Y., received the President's Medal for his actions on the morning of Sept. 21, 2008 when a distraught woman began climbing near the edge of the Throgs Neck Bridge. Officer Millender was the first on the scene and heard the woman shouting that she was going to jump. He was able to get close to the woman, who was standing on the ledge of the bridge, clinging to a cable. Calmly and persuasively, Millender talked to her for 25 minutes. By time emergency service workers arrived, Millender had convinced the woman to abandon her plans and led her to safety.

Sgt. Vincent Montello, a 22–year veteran who lives in Valley Cottage, N.Y., was given a Medal of Honor for his heroic efforts April 10, 2009 in stopping a moving car after the driver had passed out behind the wheel as the car continued barreling into traffic at the Henry Hudson Bridge. Sgt. Montello was alerted to the situation after hearing frantic cries of help from the driver's elderly wife who was sitting in the front passenger seat.  Montello chased the out–of–control vehicle through moving traffic on the toll plaza, managed to get the door open, jump inside and stop the car.

The third medal–winning incident involved BTO Darren Fox, of Queens, Sgt. Kenneth Winslow, of Staten Island, and Lt. Todd Suratt, who also lives in Staten Island. While on patrol the afternoon of Aug. 8, 2008, Officer Fox spotted a driver exiting his vehicle on the upper level of the Verrazano–Narrows Bridge. Fox requested back up and made his way to the eastbound lane where the man was approaching the railing above the water. Careful to maintain a safety zone, Fox coaxed the man into conversation. Lt. Suratt and Sgt. Winslow arrived just as the man placed one leg over the parapet wall. Without concern for their own safety, Suratt and Winslow rushed forward and pulled him back to safety.  Fox has been with the Authority since 2001, Suratt since 2000 and Winslow since 1987.

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MTA Bridges and Tunnels' facilities, which connect the five boroughs of New York City, includes the Robert F. Kennedy, Throgs Neck, Bronx–Whitestone, Henry Hudson, Verrazano–Narrows, Cross Bay Veterans Memorial and Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Bridges, and the Queens Midtown and Brooklyn–Battery Tunnels.

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