Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez celebrated Haitian heritage month at SUNY Downstate Hospital in East Flatbush on May 31. The borough’s top prosecutor honored several Haitian-American achievers in a ceremony concluding the commemorative month, and talked about the community’s contributions to the city.
Four awardees in the fields of art and science, education, health, and law were presented with citations by Gonzalez. All were either Haitian-born or of Haitian background.
They included the Honorable Dweynie Esther Paul, who was the first judge of Haitian descent elected to civil court in New York state; Dr. Mona Rigaud, the chief of the pediatrics department at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn and one of nine medical doctors that specialize in pediatric infectious disease; Dr. Yvrose Pierre, an educator and educational advocate, and Rodney Leon, an architect and designer of the African Burial Ground Memorial in Manhattan.
The event was presented by mistress and master of ceremony, Rose Pierre-Louis, of the Haitian Roundtable, and Dr. Jeffrey Gardere, author and psychologist — known for his books and appearances on reality television.
