St. Mary’s 2013 Tribute Dinner Raises Close to $900,000 for NY’s Sickest Kids

Labor leader, Gary LaBarbera and Construction Industry head, Jay Badame honored at St. Mary’s biggest fundraising event of the year

Top executives from the real estate, construction, and development industries and leaders from New York’s labor unions came out in numbers to support St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children’s 2013 Tribute Dinner at Cipriani Wall Street. The long-established event raised close to $900,000 to support life-affirming programs for St. Mary’s children and families. St. Mary’s is an esteemed institution rooted firmly in New York, committed to healing New York’s sickest children and supporting New York families. St. Mary’s was the city’s first medical institution for children back in the 1870s and today, remains the city’s only pediatric post-acute care facility, caring for children with medically complex conditions.

Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, an organization consisting of local affiliates of 15 national and international unions representing 100,000 workers in NYC, and Jay Badame, President and COO for the New York Region of Tishman Construction, an AECOM company, Chair of the Board of the Regional Alliance for Small Contractors and Co-Chairman of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, were the honorees for the fundraising event. Mr. LaBarbera has been an advocate for organized labor for over 25 years while Mr. Badame has been at the helm of some of the largest construction projects for NYC to date. On November 19th, these two gentlemen rallied the support of their industries to help the most vulnerable among us, children with special needs and complex medical conditions.

“St. Mary’s greatly appreciates the support of Mr. LaBarbera and Mr. Badame,” remarked Dr. Edwin Simpser, St. Mary’s Interim President & CEO. “The generous support of our honorees and our friends in the real estate, construction, and development industries makes a significant impact in the lives of these children and will go a long way in helping to build a better life for NY’s sickest children.”

Dr. Simpser was joined by four children from St. Mary’s—Matthew, Janeal, Glymer and Matteo, who heartwarmingly expressed their appreciation to the hundreds of guests in attendance and assisted in presenting awards to the honorees, co-chairs, and committee.

The event was co-chaired by Vincent Alvarez, NYC Central Labor Council; Robert Bonanza, Mason Tenders District Council; Mario Cilento, NY State AFL-CIO; Louis Coletti, Building Trades Employers’ Association Inc.; Pat Di Filippo, Turner Construction Company; Sabrina Kanner, Brookfield Properties; and Paul O’Brien, Building Contractors Association. The Dinner Committee included Christopher Erikson, Local 3, IBEW; Joseph Gallitto, DJ Ambulette Service; Ark Latt, Brookfield Properties; William Lerner, iPark; Thomas Scarangello, Thornton Tomasetti; and Richard Weiss, Mason Tenders District Council, LIUNA. Honorees Emeritus include Josh Kuriloff, Cushman & Wakefield; Vincent Riso, Briarwood Organization; Nicholas Billotti, Turner Construction Company; George Leventis, Langan International; Jeffrey Levine, Douglaston Development/Levine Builders and Nancy & Steven Plate, Port Authority NY & NJ.

Special thanks were offered to all of the event’s generous sponsors, including Leading Sponsors, Cindy and Tod Johnson; Visionary Sponsors, Brookfield Office Properties, DJ Ambulette Service, Norman M. Feinberg, Linda and Ray Riso, Vincent Riso, Tishman Construction, and Turner Construction Company; and Hero Sponsors, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP and Lorraine and Richard Gilden.