The Department of Sanitation held a graduation ceremony at Aviation Park Wednesday to welcome in over 400 new employees.

The DSNY swore in sanitation workers, environmental police officers, sanitation police officers and sanitation enforcement agents.

In addition to the 400 new members, over 100 DSNY employees were promoted into new positions and recognized for their distinguished accomplishments. Some received medals of honor for putting their own lives on the line.

The Department of Sanitation is opening its hiring exam for the first time in seven years. Those who graduated today and took the exam seven years ago say it was definitely worth the wait.

So far, over 75,000 people have applied to take the new exam in February - a record number for the DSNY.