Once a year, the heroes who are as close as our front door are nominated by their friends, families, coworkers, and employers, for the Building Service Worker Awards were handed out. The annual event, hosted by Straus Media-Manhattan (publisher of Our Town, The Spirit, Chelsea News, and Our Town Downtown) and 32BJ, proves to be a success year after year.

October 2016's evening reception for honorees— including doormen, supers, cleaners and others — was rich in detail and full of celebration. Honorees celebrated side-by-side with their employers, the event sponsors, elected officials, and their loved ones. New York 1 anchor Roma Torre kicked things off by remembering building workers who have made such a difference in her life.

The winners got their say. Julio DeLeon, a doorman for 31 years, grabbed a would-be jumper at the George Washington Bridge — but in accepting his Life Saver Award, he insisted that anyone there would have done the same thing. Wayne Blanks was cheered for cleaning each and every window at the 1,200-room Grand Hyatt Hotel on East 42nd Street. Yolanda Geronimo, a midtown office cleaner at WeWork space on West 18th Street, smiled and quietly thanked her husband. “I have never been awarded anything in my life,” she said, explaining why she was so happy about her honor.

Thank you to all who nominated and participated in this special event.