N.Y. Building Supe Made the Catch of His -- and a 1-Month-Old’s -- Life

NEW YORK — The building superintendent who caught an infant boy thrown out of a burning third-floor apartment in the Bronx said Friday that “it’s a beautiful feeling” to know he helped save the baby’s life.

Felix Vasquez, a longtime Housing Authority supervisor who has been a catcher on the authority’s softball team, also gave 1-month-old Eric Guzman mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after the child’s mother threw the baby from the smoke-filled apartment Wednesday.

Firefighters rescued the mother, Tracinda Foxe, 30.

Mother and baby were treated at a local hospital and released.

“It was a huge stroke of luck, perhaps divine providence, that Felix was standing there,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said while presenting him with a bronze medallion symbolizing the city’s highest award for civic achievement.

While calling Vasquez “a real-life hero with hands of gold,” Bloomberg joked that he had kissed babies but never caught any.

“Felix, a lot of amazing things happen in New York -- but I don’t know that anyone has seen anything quite like this,” the mayor said.

Vasquez, asked about what he and others have called a “great catch,” said: “Everything happened so fast. When I found out later he was just a month old, it broke my heart. I’m glad I did what I did.”