Lynbrook Insurance Executive and Former FDNY Commissioner Named as Honorees of Mount Sinai South Nassau’s 40th Annual Golf Outing

Jeffrey H. Greenfield, a prominent Long Island business leader, longtime supporter of Mount Sinai South Nassau, Vice Chair of the Nassau County Planning Commission, and member of the Rockville Centre Fire Department, has been named honoree of the Mount Sinai South Nassau’s 40th Annual Golf Outing to be held Monday, May 13.

Former New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Commissioner Tom Von Essen, of Rockville Centre, will be presented the hospital’s Community Service Award for his service as a first responder and leader of the FDNY, including during the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. Commissioner Von Essen also later served as Region II Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator.

The largest annual hospital golf fundraiser on Long Island, the outing will be held at three prestigious and challenging golf venues: The Seawane Club, Hewlett Harbor; Rockaway Hunting Club, Lawrence; and Rockville Links Club, Rockville Centre. All net proceeds will benefit Mount Sinai South Nassau with a portion of the funds dedicated to helping patients of the hospital’s cancer program. Mr. Greenfield previously served as volunteer co-chair of the hospital’s 45-member golf outing committee.

“Jeff is a loyal friend to the hospital and has been committed to our growth and success. He often reminds us that he was born at South Nassau, so our hospital is part of his life story. His dedication and selfless work, including his many years as Co-Chair of the hospital’s Golf Outing, inspires the Mount Sinai South Nassau staff, and we are grateful for his support,” said Adhi Sharma, MD, President of Mount Sinai South Nassau.

(L to R) Honoree, Jeffrey H. Greenfield, Managing Partner of the N.G.L. Group; and Tom Von Essen, Former New York City Fire Department Commissioner.

“Community Service Award recipient Tom Von Essen has decades of public service experience, including as a front-line FDNY member, often putting his personal safety at risk to help others. His leadership of the FDNY before, during, and in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 is worthy of recognition,” said Dr. Sharma.

Golf Committee Chair Tony Cancellieri noted that Mr. Greenfield’s work with the golf committee helped increase the number of golfers participating in the annual event while garnering the support of dozens of local businesses through golf outing sponsorships. Last year’s outing established a new record for the event, raising a gross amount of $723,335.

“Jeff Greenfield is a great friend who has been involved in community affairs for four decades. His work with the Rockville Centre Community Fund and as a Planning Board member are just two of his noteworthy efforts. He often appears before local governmental authorities as a ‘Citizen Taxpayer’ to advocate for common-sense solutions to the many challenges his fellow residents face here on Long Island," said Mr. Cancellieri. “His leadership of the hospital’s Golf Outing has helped grow the event and increase donations to advance the hospital’s mission.”

In addition to supporting Mount Sinai South Nassau’s ongoing growth and expansion to improve health care services for South Shore residents, a portion of the funds raised will also benefit the hospital’s cancer patients, including the no-cost “Cold Cap” program to help patients prevent hair loss during chemotherapy as well as a program to provide free rides for low-income patients to cancer-related medical appointments at the hospital’s Gertrude and Louis Feil Cancer Center.

“For me, there is no greater honor than this,” said Mr. Greenfield. “I have seen South Nassau grow from a small community hospital to a regional medical center with advanced services. This is my hospital and my community, and I am proud of this honor.”

A managing partner of the NGL Group in Lynbrook, Mr. Greenfield serves on Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Advisory Board and is the immediate past Co-Chair of the annual Golf Outing Committee. An active member of the insurance community for nearly 50 years, he has been a member of the Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc., which he served as its Vice President (1992-93), First Vice President (1993-94), and President (1994-95). In addition, he is an active member and past honoree of the UJA, Insurance Division.

Mr. Greenfield served 20 years (16 years as Chair) as a member of the Village of Rockville Centre Board of Zoning Appeals; was appointed to the Nassau County Planning Commission in 2002 by former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi; and was appointed by the New York State Senate in 2013 to the Long Island Power Authority Board of Trustees, where he serves as a liaison between the Authority and community.

After serving 10 years as a board member and officer of Temple B'nai Sholom, he was its President for two terms. He also has served as President of The Seawane Club. Additionally, he has been President of the Kiwanis Club, a trustee for the Village of Rockville Centre, and a member of the Rockville Centre Fire Department for more than 45 years. The first recipient of the Sunrise Association's Joe Weksler Memorial Service Award, Mr. Greenfield also serves on the Board of Directors for Molloy University.
Mr. Greenfield and his wife, Pearl, are residents of Rockville Centre. They are the parents of two children, Mitch and Jill, and are the proud grandparents of three.

Mr. Von Essen’s career in the FDNY began in 1970 when he joined Ladder Company 42 in the South Bronx. He was elected to the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA) executive board in 1983 and 10 years later he was elected President of the association. In 1996, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani tapped Mr. Von Essen to serve as Commissioner of the FDNY.

In this role, Mr. Von Essen seized the opportunity to improve protection standards and fire equipment training in the FDNY and helped rebuild the ranks of the department in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when 343 FDNY members were killed in the line of duty.

He left the fire service in January 2002 and in 2008 began consulting and traveling the world to speak about the FDNY, 9/11, and improvements in safety and communications in response to wide-scale and mass casualty emergencies. Mr. Von Essen resumed his career in emergency services when he was named Federal Emergency Management Agency Regional Administrator for Region II in New York City in October 2017 and spearheaded the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic response in New York and New Jersey. He currently serves as a consultant to the Melville-based Haugland Group, an energy and civil construction firm.

A recipient of awards from Queen Elizabeth II, the U.S. Army, Department of Homeland Security, and France, to name a few, Mr. Von Essen is the author of “Strong of Heart: Life and Death in the Fire Department of New York.” He and his wife, Rita, are longtime residents of Rockville Centre.

“My family and I have received care at Mount Sinai South Nassau, and I have watched it grow into a truly fine hospital that is always looking for ways to expand services to the South Shore where I raised my family,” said Mr. Von Essen. “It is truly rewarding and meaningful for me to be a recipient of the Golf Outing’s Community Service Award.”

Outing sponsorships, journal ads, and foursomes are available, as well as a pickleball tournament for those who do not golf. For more information about sponsorship packages or to register for golf or pickleball, visit here, or call (516) 377-5360 or email lynne.nordone@snch.org.

About Mount Sinai South Nassau
The Long Island flagship hospital of the Mount Sinai Health System, Mount Sinai South Nassau is designated a Magnet® hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care. Mount Sinai South Nassau is one of the region’s largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,600 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services and operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County, along with Long Island’s only free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach.

In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, Mount Sinai South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx™ and Gamma Knife® radiosurgery technologies. Mount Sinai South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons as well as Long Island’s only free-standing, 9-1-1 receiving Emergency Department in Long Beach. Mount Sinai South Nassau also is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons; is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program; and an Infectious Diseases Society of America Antimicrobial Stewardship Center of Excellence. For more information, go to www.mountsinai.org/southnassau.