PBA honors officer who stopped Gracie Mansion bomb suspect
The police union's annual bravery awards in Queens also recognized officers from a Brooklyn stabbing call and the Brooklyn Bridge ship crash.
Dozens of NYPD officers were honored Thursday by the Police Benevolent Association, among them an officer who took down a man suspected of hurling an improvised explosive device into a crowd near Gracie Mansion. The union’s Finest of the Finest Awards took place in Howard Beach, Queens, at the venue Russo’s on the Bay.
Speaking to an audience of about 150, PBA President Patrick Hendry said people who want to tell officers how to do the job have never been through what the honorees faced. “None of them ever ran towards a burning car and rescued the person inside,” he said.
Gracie Mansion tackle on March 17
On March 17, Officer Grant Pulgarin was working a demonstration at Gracie Mansion, which falls within Manhattan’s 19th Precinct. According to PBA Treasurer Joe Strong, Pulgarin saw a man who had just thrown a fuse-lit bomb, rushed at him and tackled him. Strong said Pulgarin then kept the man on the ground until he was handcuffed, and a second man was arrested as well. Pulgarin accepted a plaque but did not talk about the case, since it remains under active investigation.
NYPD bravery awards for Brooklyn, Harbor Unit and off-duty rescues
From Brooklyn, the union recognized Lt. Michael Simmonds along with Officers Seoungjae Chung, Donglun Liu and Antonio Andreani, all assigned to the 62nd Precinct. On April 6, 2025, they responded to a home on 84th Street where four children had been stabbed. The PBA said the officers heard screaming, forced their way in through the door and fired at a man with a meat cleaver after he charged toward them. The children, who were 8 to 16, all survived.
Three members of the Harbor Unit, Sgt. Jose Figueroa and Officers Christopher Kessinger and Steven Westgate, were honored for their work after a Mexican Navy ship struck the base of the Brooklyn Bridge in May 2025, a crash that killed two crew members. According to Strong, the officers carried 19 victims to safety and made sure they got medical care.
Officer Joseph Wetzel, 29, received the PBA President’s Award. On Feb. 4, he helped rescue two people trapped in a car that had flipped and caught fire at an intersection in Wantagh, on Long Island. Wetzel was off duty that day and on long-term medical leave while getting radiation treatment for cancer.
Quick answers
Who was honored at the PBA Finest of the Finest Awards?
Dozens of NYPD officers, among them Officer Grant Pulgarin, four officers from the 62nd Precinct, three Harbor Unit members and Officer Joseph Wetzel, who was off duty during his rescue.
Where were the PBA awards held?
The ceremony took place Thursday in Howard Beach, Queens, at Russo's on the Bay.
