2021 Honorees
On April 13, 2021, we inducted two more long-time residents to our 50-year Hall of Fame. These are the remarks made by Hedy Campbell at the induction event.
"I always look forward to introducing our honorees, but I must admit that I feel especially pleased tonight to be able to say that both of our honorees have a long history of participation in the Block Association. To be truthful, though, until recently I was only aware that one of them, Jill Chase, had been involved in the organization. For many years she was always on duty at the refreshments table of the annual Halloween Parade and Party. Last month, watching Asya and Ted Berger’s wonderful presentation about the Block Association’s early years, I was delighted to spy our other inductee, Elliott Shapiro, holding a mic on a stage at an early Block Fair, predating my involvement in Block Association activities by a number of years. On behalf of the board, I’d like to thank you both for your contributions to the organization.
Jill and Elliott share something else in common: they both moved into the neighborhood in the same year: 1971. Because there’s only a few months difference in their tenure, I’m opting to introduce them to you alphabetically, beginning with Jill.
Most of the people I’ve interviewed for the Hall of Fame have an interesting story to tell me about how they found their apartments. Among the many distinctions that make Jill the unusual person I know her to be, she moved into her apartment in 865 having never laid eyes on it. Her husband found it for them while she was stuck in the hospital with an illness. Obviously it was to her liking, as she’s remained here ever since!
Jill had moved around plenty before putting down her roots in our neighborhood. She was born in Holland, and in order to escape the Nazis, was hidden by nuns in an orphanage. She moved here at 15, living at first in Brooklyn, then for a short time in Los Angeles with her sister while attending high school. Soon after returning to New York, she met and married her husband, Murray Chase. They owned a fabric store that was originally located in the West 80s, but later moved to W. 106th St. It was during that time that Jill picked up Spanish, her fourth language, in addition to Dutch, Yiddish, and English. She also had two children, a son and a daughter, who have since given her four granddaughters, one of whom currently lives with her, and a grandson. She also has a niece and two nephews.
In addition to helping run the fabric store, over the years, Jill has worn many additional hats: she worked at the American Electric Power Company; she was a promotion model at Macy’s, she ran a household for a millionaire, she ran a construction company, she’s been a child care provider, and a street vendor. She gave us both a chuckle when she remarked that she’s peddled everything but herself!
Clearly, a career has not been the common thread throughout Jill’s lifetime. Providing support for the most vulnerable in whatever way she can is. She’s known in her building and in the neighborhood as a valuable resource. She collects castoff clothing and household goods and redistributes them to various people, charities, and institutions, including a hospital for undernourished children, all over the world. You may have seen Jill behind her table at our Yard Sales, selling all manner of goods; the proceeds from those sales become charitable donations as well. She puts her rationale very simply, “I like to make people feel better.”
She loves to read, loves animals, and loves to cook and bake, giving away the proceeds to friends and neighbors. She also has participated in research studies, hoping that what science can learn from her will help others.
As I do with all of our 50-year residents, I asked Jill to identify what has remained the same about the neighborhood and what’s changed. “I still don’t need to go downtown for anything,” she described, reflecting on the variety of stores that continue to be found along Broadway despite the many vacancies. Crime is way less of a problem, Jill observed, and the neighborhood is much safer.
We also welcome Elliott Shapiro to the Block Association Hall of Fame. A lifelong New York City resident, except for a brief sojourn in Nassau County, Elliott moved into a furnished apartment in the Master’s that was meant to be temporary, on Valentine’s Day, 1971. In a way, it was temporary; he moved from that east-facing apartment across the hall to a west-facing one.
Elliott spent his professional life as a lawyer, working first as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx and then as a criminal defense lawyer in Manhattan, serving in the Army’s JAG Corps along the way. After chatting with him, I got the sense that being a lawyer had been his day job, a means to end to support himself and allow him to explore a diverse menu of outside interests. He loves to travel. He is much involved in the arts: he’s a painter and a photographer, a song writer and musician who plays the bamboo flute, guitar, piano, and banjo, and has participated in BAiP’s poetry group and a DOROT story telling group. He was a jogger when the craze first took off, and practices yoga and Tai Chi. Although his apartment kitchen is not big enough to support meal preparation, recent access to farmer’s markets and a real kitchen during an out-of-the-city visit to his sister sparked his interest in cooking.
Elliott’s recollections of the neighborhood when he moved in are full of references to favorite restaurants and shops that are no longer. He remembers dining at the Ideal restaurant, as well as at a cafeteria that was on the second floor of the building that now houses McDonalds. He misses the old-school European bakeries that were common fixtures, and the health food restaurants that were popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
Like Sally Jo Sandelin, another 50-year resident who we introduced in January, Elliott also remembers a time when his building was filled with colorful characters who enjoyed casually socializing with each other. Some would congregate around the pay phone in the lobby. The other residents on his floor, all of them women, retired teachers and social workers, chatted in the hallway. He was a frequent guest at the weekly salon hosted by another resident, crossing paths with an ever-evolving cast of notables, including psychologist Rollo May and British cellist Jacqueline du Pré.
He notices that the population of the neighborhood overall has changed similarly as well. There are fewer artists and performers than ever before. In fact he recalls that the competition to get a cab downtown an hour before a weekend evening performance at Lincoln Center or on Broadway was fierce, with instrument-carrying musicians usually carrying the day. And he remembers that when he switched jobs and started taking the subway downtown from 103rd St. to Chambers St., he stood out for being the only one on the platform dressed in a coat and tie.
Like Jill, he is very aware of the decrease in crime on our streets. His car was broken into so often that he stopped locking it. He was mugged twice as well, and remembers with gratitude that Len Tredanari, a Block Association founder, once scared off the attackers.
The architectural integrity of the neighborhood is one element that has remained constant, Elliott observed, including the contrast between the large buildings on the avenues and the townhouses on the side streets. He also feels that his sense of the neighborhood’s solidity and the stability the unchanging nature of the park and the river afford has remained the same all these years.
Let’s give Elliott a round of applause as he becomes the 35th 50-year resident to be inducted into the Block Association Hall of Fame.
"I always look forward to introducing our honorees, but I must admit that I feel especially pleased tonight to be able to say that both of our honorees have a long history of participation in the Block Association. To be truthful, though, until recently I was only aware that one of them, Jill Chase, had been involved in the organization. For many years she was always on duty at the refreshments table of the annual Halloween Parade and Party. Last month, watching Asya and Ted Berger’s wonderful presentation about the Block Association’s early years, I was delighted to spy our other inductee, Elliott Shapiro, holding a mic on a stage at an early Block Fair, predating my involvement in Block Association activities by a number of years. On behalf of the board, I’d like to thank you both for your contributions to the organization.
Jill and Elliott share something else in common: they both moved into the neighborhood in the same year: 1971. Because there’s only a few months difference in their tenure, I’m opting to introduce them to you alphabetically, beginning with Jill.
Most of the people I’ve interviewed for the Hall of Fame have an interesting story to tell me about how they found their apartments. Among the many distinctions that make Jill the unusual person I know her to be, she moved into her apartment in 865 having never laid eyes on it. Her husband found it for them while she was stuck in the hospital with an illness. Obviously it was to her liking, as she’s remained here ever since!
Jill had moved around plenty before putting down her roots in our neighborhood. She was born in Holland, and in order to escape the Nazis, was hidden by nuns in an orphanage. She moved here at 15, living at first in Brooklyn, then for a short time in Los Angeles with her sister while attending high school. Soon after returning to New York, she met and married her husband, Murray Chase. They owned a fabric store that was originally located in the West 80s, but later moved to W. 106th St. It was during that time that Jill picked up Spanish, her fourth language, in addition to Dutch, Yiddish, and English. She also had two children, a son and a daughter, who have since given her four granddaughters, one of whom currently lives with her, and a grandson. She also has a niece and two nephews.
In addition to helping run the fabric store, over the years, Jill has worn many additional hats: she worked at the American Electric Power Company; she was a promotion model at Macy’s, she ran a household for a millionaire, she ran a construction company, she’s been a child care provider, and a street vendor. She gave us both a chuckle when she remarked that she’s peddled everything but herself!
Clearly, a career has not been the common thread throughout Jill’s lifetime. Providing support for the most vulnerable in whatever way she can is. She’s known in her building and in the neighborhood as a valuable resource. She collects castoff clothing and household goods and redistributes them to various people, charities, and institutions, including a hospital for undernourished children, all over the world. You may have seen Jill behind her table at our Yard Sales, selling all manner of goods; the proceeds from those sales become charitable donations as well. She puts her rationale very simply, “I like to make people feel better.”
She loves to read, loves animals, and loves to cook and bake, giving away the proceeds to friends and neighbors. She also has participated in research studies, hoping that what science can learn from her will help others.
As I do with all of our 50-year residents, I asked Jill to identify what has remained the same about the neighborhood and what’s changed. “I still don’t need to go downtown for anything,” she described, reflecting on the variety of stores that continue to be found along Broadway despite the many vacancies. Crime is way less of a problem, Jill observed, and the neighborhood is much safer.
We also welcome Elliott Shapiro to the Block Association Hall of Fame. A lifelong New York City resident, except for a brief sojourn in Nassau County, Elliott moved into a furnished apartment in the Master’s that was meant to be temporary, on Valentine’s Day, 1971. In a way, it was temporary; he moved from that east-facing apartment across the hall to a west-facing one.
Elliott spent his professional life as a lawyer, working first as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx and then as a criminal defense lawyer in Manhattan, serving in the Army’s JAG Corps along the way. After chatting with him, I got the sense that being a lawyer had been his day job, a means to end to support himself and allow him to explore a diverse menu of outside interests. He loves to travel. He is much involved in the arts: he’s a painter and a photographer, a song writer and musician who plays the bamboo flute, guitar, piano, and banjo, and has participated in BAiP’s poetry group and a DOROT story telling group. He was a jogger when the craze first took off, and practices yoga and Tai Chi. Although his apartment kitchen is not big enough to support meal preparation, recent access to farmer’s markets and a real kitchen during an out-of-the-city visit to his sister sparked his interest in cooking.
Elliott’s recollections of the neighborhood when he moved in are full of references to favorite restaurants and shops that are no longer. He remembers dining at the Ideal restaurant, as well as at a cafeteria that was on the second floor of the building that now houses McDonalds. He misses the old-school European bakeries that were common fixtures, and the health food restaurants that were popular in the 1980s and 1990s.
Like Sally Jo Sandelin, another 50-year resident who we introduced in January, Elliott also remembers a time when his building was filled with colorful characters who enjoyed casually socializing with each other. Some would congregate around the pay phone in the lobby. The other residents on his floor, all of them women, retired teachers and social workers, chatted in the hallway. He was a frequent guest at the weekly salon hosted by another resident, crossing paths with an ever-evolving cast of notables, including psychologist Rollo May and British cellist Jacqueline du Pré.
He notices that the population of the neighborhood overall has changed similarly as well. There are fewer artists and performers than ever before. In fact he recalls that the competition to get a cab downtown an hour before a weekend evening performance at Lincoln Center or on Broadway was fierce, with instrument-carrying musicians usually carrying the day. And he remembers that when he switched jobs and started taking the subway downtown from 103rd St. to Chambers St., he stood out for being the only one on the platform dressed in a coat and tie.
Like Jill, he is very aware of the decrease in crime on our streets. His car was broken into so often that he stopped locking it. He was mugged twice as well, and remembers with gratitude that Len Tredanari, a Block Association founder, once scared off the attackers.
The architectural integrity of the neighborhood is one element that has remained constant, Elliott observed, including the contrast between the large buildings on the avenues and the townhouses on the side streets. He also feels that his sense of the neighborhood’s solidity and the stability the unchanging nature of the park and the river afford has remained the same all these years.
Let’s give Elliott a round of applause as he becomes the 35th 50-year resident to be inducted into the Block Association Hall of Fame.