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Stanley Michels

Stanley Michels

Councilman Stanley Michels worked to restore several parks in northern Manhattan, notably Fort Tryon Park.

Places: Fort Tryon Park, Highbridge Pool
Public Policy: Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, Clean Indoor Air Act
Above: Billings Arcade in Fort Tryon Park; Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Stanley Ernest Michels was born in Manhattan on January 28, 1933, as the son of handbag factory owners Lewis and Anne Strasberg.1 Michels graduated from Hobart College in 1955 and later received a law degree from Cornell University in 1958.2

Michels served as a New York City councilman from 1978 through 2001 in District Six, which covers Washington Heights, Inwood, West Harlem, and parts of central Harlem and Morningside Heights.3 He also served as chairman of the Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection from 1992 to 2001.4 He spent his life as an ardent supporter of environmental reform and park restoration. Michels played a pivotal role in the Clean Indoor Air Act that regulated smoking in public places in 1987.5 In addition to this Act, he also sponsored the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act in 1982, prohibiting the use of lead-based paints in apartments where young children live.6

Among Michels’s many contributions to environmental reform in New York City, he also played an important role in the rehabilitation of parks in northern Manhattan. Being a resident of the Castle Village on Cabrini Boulevard, Michels lived in close proximity to the parks he helped to restore.7 He secured tens of millions of dollars and amended the capital budget of the Parks Department and expense budget for park improvements.8 The restoration of the Moses-era Highbridge Pool is a key example of Michels’s preservation efforts.9 Another park Michels helped restore was Fort Tryon Park at Heather Garden, which overlooks the Hudson River. The main walkway in Fort Tryon Park was named the Stan Michels Promenade on July 24, 2008.10 Michels died on August 1, 2008 at the age of 75.

New York City Council
Councilman, District Six, 1978-2001

Council's Committee on Environmental Protection
Chairman, 1992-2001

Fort Tryon Park Trust Board
Member

Friends of Heather Garden
Member

Stanley Michels' contributions to historic preservation include the restorations of several historic parks in northern Manhattan. While serving as a councilman, Michels secured tens of millions of dollars and amended the capital and expense budgets for park improvements.11

For instance, the one million dollar restoration of the Moses-era Highbridge Pool is a prime example of Michels' preservation efforts. The pool was built in 1936 and was among the 11 community pools constructed by the Works Progress Administration in New York City.12 Michels was responsible for renovating the recreational center, which is equipped with volleyball and basketball courts.

Stanley Michels also helped to preserve Fort Tryon Park. Frederick Olmsted, Jr. designed Fort Tryon Park in 1935.13 The land was purchased by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and later gifted to the City in 1917.14 Stanley Michels served on the Fort Tryon Park Trust Board in addition to being a member of the Friends of Heather Garden. He was able to provide regular funding, which helped in the renovation of the Heather Gardens to the historic design that Olmsted had intended.15 Thanks to Michels's efforts to revitalize the park, the once popular Medieval Festival now takes place in the park again.16 In thanks for his vigilant efforts to restore Fort Tryon Park, the main walkway leading from Margaret Corbin Circle to the Heather Gardens was named Stan Michels Promenade.

  1. Dennis 
Hevesi, “Stanley E. Michels, Longtime Councilman, Dies at 75,” The New York Times, 2 August 2008.
  2. 
Ibid.
  3. 
Ibid.
  4. 
Ibid.
  5. 
Ibid.
  6. 
Ibid.
  7. 
Henry J. Stern and Steve Simon, “Park Mourns The Loss Of Stan Michels,” Daily Planet, Vol. XXIII, No. 4763, 5 August 2008.
  8. 
Ibid.
  9. 
Ibid.
  10. “Daily Politics: RIP Stanley Michels (Updated),” Daily News: The Daily Politics. Blog retrieved 19 March 2016.
  11. Dennis Hevesi, “Stanley E. Michels, Longtime Councilman, Dies at 75,” The New York Times, 2 August 2008.
  12. “Highbridge Park: Highbridge Pool and Recreation Center,” NYC Parks. Article retrieved 19 March 2016
.
  13. “Fort Tryon Park,” NYC Parks. Article retrieved 19 March 2016.
  14. 
Ibid.
  15. 
Henry J. Stern and Steve Simon, “Park Mourns The Loss Of Stan Michels,” Daily Planet, Vol. XXIII, No. 4763, 5 August 2008.
  16. 
Ibid.