Subway Cuts Don’t Block this Advocate’s Vision
Albert’s push for service improvements runs express
Andrew Albert has a vision for the future of New York City transit. As the chairman of the Transit Riders Council and the representative from that committee to the MTA board, he knows what straphangers need most and also how the MTA can best bring about the changes. Read more
Restaurateur’s Compass Points Due West
Founder of Taste of the UWS helps the nabe’s restaurants
The Upper West Side has not always been the culinary destination it is today. The Manhattan neighborhood once derided for its lack of food diversity and quality has become the home of some nationally recognized restaurants and a vibrant culinary scene, thanks in part to Don Evans. Read more
A Voice for His Neighbors
Paul S. Bunten has been a devoted Upper West Side advocate since his Columbia graduate student days, back in the 1980s.
“There is no substitute for complete understanding,” he said, “and a neighborhood can only be profoundly understood when the citizens who have created it over many decades of daily life are personally consulted.”
Bunten, 56, lives in Park West Village, a group of buildings encompassed by West 97th to 100th streets between Central Park West and Amsterdam Avenue.
“Park West Village is an exceptional neighborhood with a distinct legacy of community activism unlike anything I have ever known,” he said. Read more
Activism at Every Age
Batya Lewton has a loose definition of the word “retirement.”
Instead of taking time to enjoy life and relax, she became a full-time community activist. But that is hardly surprising, given her history.
In 1986, a negligent landlord didn’t stop her from enjoying her home: she was dubbed “Landlord Buster of the Year” by building residents after she led a successful 20-month rent strike against him.
Even the latest technology doesn’t daunt this independent 78-year-old, as she hunts for a photo to send to a reporter. Read more
Keeping Up the Avenue
Richard Emery and Erika Petersen, co-founders of the West End Preservation Society, are not just looking to protect the historic townhouses of West End Avenue, but an entire way of life.
“There are a lot of families, and it’s great in the afternoon when they’re out,” Petersen said. “The feel of community is consistent up and down the avenue, which is why we want it to stay this way.”
Emery and Petersen have both been residents of the Upper West Side for more than 30 years. Emery, a partner at Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, grew up in the Village and moved uptown to attend Columbia Law School. Petersen came to New York City as an aspiring actress in the 1970s and found a rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side. Read more
A REGAL ACTIVIST
COMMUNITY BUILDERS
As National Director for Equal Employment Opportunity at Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Joyce S. Johnson was nicknamed “Duchess” for her manner and style. “We were out there in Las Vegas with the sales folks and the bigwigs. You know, it’s the liquor industry,” she laughed, “and I guess they saw me as slightly flamboyant and aristocratic. And I’m from Dutchess County.”
But it’s the very non-hierarchical word “equity” that sums up the substance of Johnson’s past and present Read more
A TOP TENANT LEADER
COMMUNITY BUILDERS
Margarita Curet moved to Amsterdam Houses in 1960, so if anyone knows and loves the cluster of 24 buildings between 61st and 64th streets at Amsterdam Avenue, she does. When Curet arrived 48 years ago, two of her children were very small; another two were born at Amsterdam. Though all four have grown up and moved up, Curet refers to the development’s residents as “my extended family,” which is perhaps why she’s taken on the role of president of the Resident Association with such determination to effect change. Read more
CREATIVE COMMUNITY THINKING
COMMUNITY BUILDERS
Helen Rosenthal says her mission has been to put the “community” back in the community board. It was community outreach that made her former job, overseeing health care budgets under Mayors Koch, Dinkins and Guiliani, come alive.
“What made it real was going to individual hospitals,” she said, “seeing their working conditions and asking, ‘What would the impact be?’ ”
In her two years as chair of Community Board 7, Rosenthal Read more
