President’s Letter: November 2024
Monthly observations and insights from MAS President Elizabeth Goldstein
When you do things knowing you won’t do them again, it feels oddly profound, even if they aren’t big or important things. I have begun to feel that way about my “egg-‘n-roll-with-sausage-‘n-jack-cheese” from Toasties downstairs in our office building. I KNOW that is not a normal BEC order, gang. But it is my favorite. Sorry. It just is.
The reason I am noticing this odd profundity is that I am preparing to retire after almost 8 years at MAS.
One of the treasures of this job has been writing this piece once a month. I am always surprised when one of you mentions a piece you read with interest or pleasure. I began to write this column as I re-entered New York after several decades away. It was a musing to myself about the city I love, how it had changed and stayed the same. I have a very vivid memory of walking through the Diamond District on my first day of work at MAS and thinking: WOW, this street is unchanged. Not so much anymore. The jewelers are as likely to be of South Asian descent as Jewish, and the jewelry more varied from traditional solitaries to Hip Hop finery.
My monthly musings are just that, reflections from my idiosyncratic view of the city. I wanted to share the more personal observations that don’t get captured in the work of the organization. I would often get to the end of my month and think about which of my adventures would be interesting to you. I considered what observations I was eager to share about the city. Thank you for being my readers.
The column has evolved over the years. I have written on many topics, from the challenges to old New York from the Garment District to the legacy businesses like Sahadi’s. I have chronicled trips to Alice Austin House on Staten Island to walks on the Grand Concourse. And I have written about the pain that our collective history has caused us all. The terror and uncertainty of the onset of the pandemic, the damage of Hurricane Ida and the horrors of racial violence in Charlottesville that sent shock waves through our worlds. All this is a counterpoint to the uplifting power of celebrating the anniversary of the 19th Amendment or the restful experience of being on the water in New York Harbor.
My column will be gone soon, but I know our work together will not go away. MAS has done groundbreaking work during the last eight years. That is not due to just me. It is due to my incredible colleagues, our wonderful partners, Society Committees, and of course, the MAS Board.
We issued an Accidental Skyline report with key recommendations on closing some of the biggest loopholes in the system. And some actually got closed (looking at you, VOIDS.) We assembled international expertise to help frame the policy proposals in our Fight for Light (in partnership with New Yorkers for Parks.) We delivered important analysis of how environmental reviews matched up with the realities of development (not so well, as it turns out). The list goes on.
That work has and, I have no doubt, will continue to shape the policy environment of New York. We shape our physical city through our monuments program. We help both academics and practitioners understand and analyse our city through the Greenacre Library.
However, one of the great glories of being at the head of this organization is the wide array of opportunities to explore the city we give our fellow urbanists. From our hallowed walking tours program to our book talks and the amazing Jane’s Walk NYC Festival weekend, we are there to help folks discover more about the place they call home. That is the MAS gift to the city.
I will miss the conversations I have had with many of you about what is most important to you about New York. I will miss being in the know about the latest twist in the city’s policy and political landscape. I will miss working with all the talented people at MAS and those that I have encountered in our work, at the City and in the non-profits that guide it. I will miss writing this column.
However, I will be out there enjoying our city and hope to run into you doing the same. Thank you for all your support through my time at MAS. MAS will be in good hands without me and will continue to do great, groundbreaking work. I hope that you will continue to consider it a trusted place to support with your time and treasure.
Elizabeth Goldstein
President, Municipal Art Society of New York
MAS is proud to fight alongside you for a city where growth is balanced and character endures.
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