COOPER SQUARE — Officers from the East Village’s 9th Precinct were honored Wednesday as part of an annual awards ceremony recognizing the neighborhood’s top cops.
More than 30 members of the East Fifth Street stationhouse received awards at Cooper Union’s Great Hall for their work in making area streets safer over the past year.
Deputy Inspector Kenneth Lehr and 9th Precinct Community Council president Jerry Shea presided over the ceremony, which honored everyone from detectives and rookie police officers to community affairs staff and auxiliary officers.
Lt. Patrick Ferguson, an 18-year NYPD veteran and head of the precinct’s special operations unit, was given the 2011 "Supervisor of the Year” award for his close ties to the community and ability to “fix a problem any time of the day.”
A trio of cops — Sgt. Michael Katinas and officers Daniel Silverio and Sergio De La Mota — were recognized for making 170 total arrests for the year-to-date, as well as intervening in a late-night robbery attempt that turned out to be part of a larger pattern.
Sgt. Peter Massa and officers Toni Delorenzo, Karinn Young and Neal Perro were honored for apprehending a robbery suspect who had struck multiple times before, as well as foiling a robbery attempt at a Mobil gas station on Second Avenue.
Rookies Israel Sanchez Escobar, James Woods, James Luongo, Michael Fratangelo and Robert Cerci — “the new kids on the block” — were recognized for making 191 total arrests in the last nine months alone.
And detectives Robert Ronne and Eric Ocasio were honored for investigating two separate shootings that ultimately led to arrests.
Shea also recognized Lehr for his work as the precinct’s commanding officer, as well as community affairs officer and longtime precinct member Det. Jaime Hernandez.
