Today, we introduce a few of the nominees who have already made New York a better place through their selfless actions and unflagging dedication.

Sixty years ago, Sylvia Woods came to New York from the small farming hamlet of Hemingway, S.C., and, after struggling as a hairdresser and waitress, she opened Sylvia's, the Harlem soul-food emporium that's become the most famous Southern restaurant in New York.

In her 41 years owning her restaurant, Woods has developed a legacy of community service, serving thousands of free meals for charitable groups a year.

She has also given jobs to ex-prisoners, helping them re-enter society.

"Sylvia Woods is a Harlem icon," said Nan Puryear, a business executive and close friend of the Woods family, who has nominated Woods for The Post's Community Liberty Medal.

In order for Woods to buy the restaurant on Lenox Avenue and 126th Street that would become Sylvia's in 1962, her mother mortgaged her farm in South Carolina, giving her daughter $18,000 to buy a small luncheonette.

Sylvia's is a must for politicians courting the Harlem vote, and busloads of tourists go there for smothered chicken, okra and other Southern delicacies.

"I had no idea that I would get this far," said Woods, 78.

Woods is known in Harlem for feeding the hungry.

"I am a Southerner," said Woods. "I was taught that it is better to give than it is to receive."

Woods' new charitable endeavor is the Herbert and Sylvia Woods Endowment Scholarship Fund.

"I see the need for education," said Woods. "That will help the future generation, and we can lift them up."