2019 Honoree
In March 18, 2019, we honored our 2019 neighbor of longstanding, Ginger Lief.
Hedy Campbell, who conceived of this initiative recognizing neighbors of long-standing, made the following remarks:
"I’m especially pleased to introduce Ginger Lief to you, as she is the first among our Residents of Long-Standing with whom I’ve had the pleasure to serve as a Block Association board member. She joins several of the organization’s founders and stalwart volunteers as she becomes our 30th inductee.
Ginger was born in Rhode Island but was raised in California. She got her first taste of New York City when she visited with a group of friends during her sophomore year of college. After graduation, it didn’t take long for her to decide to move here. Upon moving to the city, she lived for a year at a residential hotel for women on the east side. As a member St. Bartholomew’s church, she had access to a bulletin board that led her to her first apartment on the west side. Some years later, her membership in a Broadway Presbyterian Church youth group led to a tip that resulted in her move to the Master Apartments, where she’s now lived for 50 years and has the second longest tenure among residents there.
During much of that time, Ginger supported herself by working in the Columbia University Department of Planning. She worked there for many years, long enough to “give myself my own fellowship, enabling me to continue investigations into my interests and calling.” One can discern from her apartment hunting history that those interests center around the church. She’s proud of her many years in ECW, the Episcopal Church Women, an almost-150-year-old national organization that is dedicated to the betterment of women and girls throughout the world. Ginger has served the group in many capacities, including as vice president of the national board and as editor and contributor to Communique, the organization’s publication, and locally as president of the diocese chapter.
She is also an active member of St. Michael’s Church on W. 99th St. She is deeply committed to working toward empowerment for women and remarked, as our conversation touched on the Me Too movement, that “There’s nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”
Along the way, Ginger found time to earn a master’s degree in business, become a licensed social worker, and earn a master’s degree in divinity. Yet she also found time to become a volunteer in the early days of the Block Association, responding first to a fund-raising appeal to help the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing purchase the Marseilles, then to a call for volunteers for the spring fair. Isn’t it poignant that she is receiving this honor tonight in the facility that resulted from that successful fund-raising effort?
Ginger has been a Block Association board member for many years, using her passion for history to carve out her role as our archivist. She’s responsible for having collected what came to be an archive of Block Association newsletters, currently housed at the Bloomingdale branch of the public library, and has been the driving force behind all of the various events that have in one way or another celebrated the history of our neighborhood.
Please join me in congratulating Ginger on her inclusion in the Residents of Long-Standing Hall of Fame and thank her for her steadfast dedication and service to her community."
Hedy Campbell, who conceived of this initiative recognizing neighbors of long-standing, made the following remarks:
"I’m especially pleased to introduce Ginger Lief to you, as she is the first among our Residents of Long-Standing with whom I’ve had the pleasure to serve as a Block Association board member. She joins several of the organization’s founders and stalwart volunteers as she becomes our 30th inductee.
Ginger was born in Rhode Island but was raised in California. She got her first taste of New York City when she visited with a group of friends during her sophomore year of college. After graduation, it didn’t take long for her to decide to move here. Upon moving to the city, she lived for a year at a residential hotel for women on the east side. As a member St. Bartholomew’s church, she had access to a bulletin board that led her to her first apartment on the west side. Some years later, her membership in a Broadway Presbyterian Church youth group led to a tip that resulted in her move to the Master Apartments, where she’s now lived for 50 years and has the second longest tenure among residents there.
During much of that time, Ginger supported herself by working in the Columbia University Department of Planning. She worked there for many years, long enough to “give myself my own fellowship, enabling me to continue investigations into my interests and calling.” One can discern from her apartment hunting history that those interests center around the church. She’s proud of her many years in ECW, the Episcopal Church Women, an almost-150-year-old national organization that is dedicated to the betterment of women and girls throughout the world. Ginger has served the group in many capacities, including as vice president of the national board and as editor and contributor to Communique, the organization’s publication, and locally as president of the diocese chapter.
She is also an active member of St. Michael’s Church on W. 99th St. She is deeply committed to working toward empowerment for women and remarked, as our conversation touched on the Me Too movement, that “There’s nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”
Along the way, Ginger found time to earn a master’s degree in business, become a licensed social worker, and earn a master’s degree in divinity. Yet she also found time to become a volunteer in the early days of the Block Association, responding first to a fund-raising appeal to help the West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing purchase the Marseilles, then to a call for volunteers for the spring fair. Isn’t it poignant that she is receiving this honor tonight in the facility that resulted from that successful fund-raising effort?
Ginger has been a Block Association board member for many years, using her passion for history to carve out her role as our archivist. She’s responsible for having collected what came to be an archive of Block Association newsletters, currently housed at the Bloomingdale branch of the public library, and has been the driving force behind all of the various events that have in one way or another celebrated the history of our neighborhood.
Please join me in congratulating Ginger on her inclusion in the Residents of Long-Standing Hall of Fame and thank her for her steadfast dedication and service to her community."