Five active members of Community Board 1 are stepping down and were honored with citations at the board’s Tues., Mar. 24 monthly meeting. Chairperson Catherine McVay Hughes spoke about their contributions.
George Calderaro, who is moving, has been a member of C.B. 1 since 2010. He was co-chairperson of the Battery Park City Committee for three years as well as a member of the Landmarks Committee.
“His knowledge, passionate commitment to landmarks preservation [in] Community Board 1 and elsewhere in New York City [is] irreplaceable,” said Hughes.
As a member of the Planning and Quality of Life committees, Sarah Currie-Halpern joined the board in 2013. Hughes touted her knowledge of environmental quality of life issues, such as light pollution.
Corie Sharples has shown “her dedication to landmark designation and preservation through countless hours of committee meetings, complex disposition of issues and outstanding resolution writing” said Hughes. Sharples, a principal with SHoP Architects, who has lived both in the Seaport and Tribeca, became part of the Landmarks Committee in 2009.
Allan Tannenbaum has made “outstanding contributions” to the Landmarks and Tribeca Committee, said Hughes. He joined the board in 2006 and was a public member for two years prior to being appointed. He is also a well-known photographer, probably most famous for his pictures of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
A “dedicated chair” of the Seaport/Civic Center Committee, John Fratta has been on the board for 12 years. He once served as C.B. 1’s treasurer and will be back as a public member.
“I’ve been involved in community boards for 40 years now, both as a member of the board or as an employee of the board,” said Fratta. “And I thought C.B. 1 is one of the most professional and involved boards probably in the city of New York. You’re all great people — you’re committed. You really have the community at heart and for that I want to thank you,” said Fratta, to applause, and then thanked the board’s staff.
— Dusica Sue Malesevic
