Parkies Honored At Isaac Liberman Public Service Awards

The Chief-Leader Publisher Edward Prial joins Vincent Musillo and Leila Barconey from Parks and Jenny Zhang from the Administration for Childrenâ??s Services;
Photo courtesy of The Chief-Leader

Two Parks Department employees were among the winners announced on January 8 at the annual Isaac Liberman Public Service Awards, presented by the Hundred Year Association.

Vincent Musillo, Park Supervisor at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, won the Chief-Civil Service Leader honor for his 26 years of service. As the Park Supervisor overseeing Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Vincent has worked tirelessly for Parks. He oversees the park’s maintenance and operations, motivating his staff to clean and maintain the facilities and grounds of the park, including removing leaves and snow from miles of roads and paths. He goes above and beyond the call of duty, working long hours and communicating with the public, parks officials, other agencies, event sponsors, elected officials, and his staff with professionalism and respect. Vincent has more than 26 years of City service and was Parks’ Employee of the Year in 2010. Janice Melnick, Flushing Meadows Corona Park Administrator, said, “I can think of no one more deserving of this honor than Vinny. Not only is he great at his job, but he is also willing to devote his own time to help teach others. He is an exemplary supervisor and an extraordinary guy.” Vincent said, “I love my job because you meet a new challenge on a daily basis, you meet new people on a daily basis. Putting a smile on someone’s face every day they come into a park is always a delight for myself and all of my workers.

Leila Barconey, Director of Program Development and Education, won the Richard A. Cook Award presented by the Hundred Year Association of New York. In her position with the Parks Opportunity Program (POP), one of the largest and most successful transition from welfare to work programs in the nation, Leila oversees training programs which are customized to develop occupational skills for specific industries. Some programs focus on sustainability issues and career development in horticulture and energy efficiency. Others train for in-demand industries, such as hospitality, public safety, custodial maintenance and health care. Leila persistently seeks additional opportunities to develop and fund new programs to meet the needs of the community. She has spearheaded the grant application and program development process for programs supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. During her 12 years of City service, POP programs have successfully transitioned more than 10,000 people to work, impacting their families and the community at large. Leila said, “I love working with people and seeing them develop. I do a lot of work with our specialized programs, so doing a lot of horticulture training, specialization training. By the end of the time they’re with us, they love it, they’re applying for other jobs with the experience they received.”

Congratulations to Vincent and Leila for this well deserved honor!

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