2012 OTTY Awards: Our Town Thanks You

For 20 years, Carolyn Maloney has been leading the fight in Congress on national issues like women's rights, but she has also kept the focus on her East Side district as a strong advocate for the Second Avenue Subway, new schools and health care for workers and residents suffering from the environmental fallout of 9/11. She is Our Town's East Sider of the Year in our annual OTTY Awards special section. The Our Town Thanks You, or OTTY, Awards go to people who make the Upper East Side a better place to live and work. This year's group of 20 includes a hero by any definition, a fire lieutenant who carried an elderly woman out of a burning building. A trio working to improve schools state- and citywide, Matthew Goldstein, Merryl Tisch and Jennifer Raab, are our honorees in the Educator category. Our Cultural Club OTTYs go to leaders of two of the neighborhood's most distinguished institutions, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Japan Society. Other honorees include a former homeless man who regularly volunteers overnight at a shelter that helped turn his life around and a resident leading the fight to save a local playground from development. -Tom Allon, President and CEO -Josh Rogers, Our Town contributing editor To read our OTTY profiles click on a recipients name below: East Sider of the Year, Carolyn Maloney Bravest and Finest, Lt. Jason Rigoli Bravest and Finest, Officer Chris Helms Culture Club, Emily Rafferty Culture Club, Motoatsu Sakuri Educator, Jennifer Raab Educator, Merryl Tisch Educator, Matthew Goldstein Community Builder, Matthew Bauer Community Builder, Oscar Fernandez Community Builder, Nancy Ploeger Neighborhood Civic Association, Elaine Walsh Health Care Pro, Daryl Wilkerson Health Care Pro, Mary Cahill Health Care Pro, Constance Peterson Charity, Thomas Williams Real Estate Royalty, Louise Sunshine Real Estate Royalty, Debra Fechter Real Estate Royalty, Joseph Mattone and Scott DeMatteis Entrepreneur, David Brooks