Celebrating and honoring our Purple Heart heroes today at City Hall! 🇺🇸

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Reverend Viviana DeCohen, a Veteran of the Unites States Marine Corps Served as the Director of Military & Veteran Affairs, and Adjunct Professor at Concordia College- NY, since January of 2019. She served her country from September 1983 -
September 1987, during the Grenada Conflict.

She has dedicated her life to assisting Veterans in her career and as an active volunteer, ensuring food, shelter, clothing, and time, earning her the affectionate title of “Mama V.” At Concordia College, Viviana made a great impact in a very short time: creating an On-Campus Resource Program, that ensures that Student Veterans had access to food, shelter, clothing, gas gift cards, and baby items, to concentrate more readily on their academics. Viviana has more than 25 years volunteering and serving fellow Veterans through Community Service organized Health and Resources fairs, with the help of the Bronx Veterans Administration.

Her highest call is to God, as Associate Pastor aside her husband, Reverend Troy P. DeCohen, Mount Vernon Heights Congregational Church.

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Kristyn Briez Reed is a native Mt. Vernonite and product of the Mt. Vernon public school system. A third-generation military veteran, Kristyn served four years in the United States Air Force as an Aircraft Maintenance Technician troubleshooting and repairing radar, radio, and surveillance systems on AC-130 gunships. During her enlistment, she served in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, earned national and state medals, and was subsequently inducted into the New York State Senate's Veterans' Hall of Fame.

Kristyn holds Associates of Applied Science Degrees in Avionics Systems Technology and Industrial Management Technology, a dual bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and Social Work from the University of West Florida, and a master's degree in Business and Workplace Education from New York University along with graduate coursework in Human Performance Technology.

Prior to becoming the first woman Director of the Veterans Service Agency in the City's history and acquiring unprecedented departmental grant funding and tax exemptions for veterans along with renovating the City's Memorial Room; Kristyn worked in progressively responsible roles providing veterans services, grant implementation and oversight, case management, workplace training, and strategies for organizational change in the private, corporate, military, and non-profit sectors. Kristyn has a passion for policy, research, and abiding by the rules- all of which will serve her well in her new role as Grants and Partnership Compliance Officer where she will ensure that all City departments and partners comply with the fiscal and performance activities mandated by state, federal, and private funding sources.

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Today, @westchester_county_government has initiated its commitment to restoring Memorial Field back to its former glory. @mayorsph, County Executive George Latimer, Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins, and Legislator @djtubiolo stood proudly together for a historic ground breaking ceremony.

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Sylvia Gadson is the Commissioner for the Department of Recreation in the City of Mount Vernon, New York. She has dedicated her life to serving the members of her community. At only 22 years of age, she began her 501c3 organization “Lending A Hand to The Future” which is an all-inclusive and barrier summer camp and afterschool program for young children which she still maintains to this day.

Sylvia is a graduate of Mount Vernon High School. She later continued her education at Westchester Community College receiving her Associate's degree in Communications and Media Arts. A year later she received her Bachelor’s degree from Mercy College in Corporate Communication. And the following year she received her Master’s degree in organizational leadership. While studying for her Master’s degree, she’s been serving on the board for Vernon Manor’s Co-operative Apartments Section 1. After only a few years, she was promoted to serve as the Director of the Board and has been serving in that capacity ever since. She has also worked as the Commissioner for a Taxi and Limousine Service. She’s also served on the Planning board for two years and worked in the Civil Service Department

Sylvia has always felt the need to involve herself with acts of service and now is able to do that for the affairs of the City of Mount Vernon in order to help inspire change within her community on a larger scale. Her dedication is still visible to this day as she continues to wear many hats and to provide quality programming to what she refers to as the most sensitive demographic which is children and our senior citizen population. She is passionate about caring for those who require assistance or those who simply cannot care for themselves and demonstrates a “lead by example” style of leadership.

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Damani L. Bush, born and raised in Mt. Vernon, NY, is a graduate of Lincoln Elementary School, Blessed Sacrament High School in New Rochelle, and has taken coursework in Civil Engineering at New York Institute of Technology.

Damani L. Bush began his employment with the City in 2009 and has worked his way up through DPW’s ranks as a seasonal laborer, clerk, principle clerk, and Special Assistant to the Commissioner. In 2019 he was sworn in as the City’s youngest Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Public Works (DPW). Mr. Bush is well versed in all aspects of DPW which oversees sanitation, recycling, street paving, parks, sewers, street lighting, and traffic.

Mr. Bush has been the key coordinator on DPWs’ Annual Departmental Budget Proposals, Interdepartmental Personnel Organizational Initiatives, City-wide Street Resurfacing, Graffiti Removal Campaigns, Winter Weather Operations, Slide the City, Sanitary Storm and Sewer Project, #PotholeMV, and many other initiatives that have improved the quality of life and safety of residents.

His daily functions consist of delegating operational assignments, seeking and allocating internal and external funding, drafting legislation, implementing efficiencies in technology and personnel, and oversight of departmental purchasing in addition to exclusively overseeing sanitation and streets while assisting the Commissioner with all tasks and emergencies that may arise.Mr. Bush has proven himself to be an asset to 9 commissioners over his tenure and brings a wealth of knowledge to the Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard Administration.

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