Meet the Board of Directors
Robert Aaronson
Bob has lived on West 103rd Street since 1979 with his wife, Nancy Gropper. They have raised two sons (public and independent schools, youth soccer, basketball, baseball . . .) and numerous dogs and cats. Bob is retired. He was elected to the Block Association board in 2011 and his primary responsibility, until COVID, has been to coordinate the annual Block Party and recruit volunteers to help run it. He currently coordinates the Security Guard service and our Zoom meetings. Contact Bob.
Hedy Campbell
Hedy moved into the neighborhood (West 102nd Street) in 1984 and joined the Block Association soon thereafter. Since then she's served as co-chair, co-editor of the newsletter, editor of the newsletter, treasurer, and secretary. For many years she organized the annual Halloween parade, and continues to oversee the annual holiday caroling event. In the past few years, she's interviewed our residents of long-standing for the Neighborhood Hall of Fame, helped launch e-waste recycling, and initiated an annual blood drive. Contact Hedy.
Mary Chestaro Coss
Mary is a born and raised Upper West Side resident, having grown up here with her family while her brother began a career in film. She runs a successful event-production company and, along with her husband, who works in live-event television, is raising a school-age daughter. Her first contribution to the Block Association was to run the first post-COVID Halloween Parade and Party, which was received with tremendous enthusiasm. She joined the board in April 2022 and will be spearheading the organization’s fundraising efforts and putting her energy into raising the group’s visibility. Contact Mary.
Cynthia Doty, Chair
Cynthia has lived in her apartment at 305 Riverside Drive for 45 years, moving in after living a few years in Brooklyn. In the late 1980s, she became active in her building’s tenants’ association and, shortly after that, started participating in Block Association activities. She officially joined the board in the early 1990s, and for the past 30 years she has helped with various Block Association events, most recently helping plan and moderate the Block Association’s annual meetings. Since Cynthia also serves as the Democratic District Leader for our area, she frequently acts as a liaison to our elected officials or various government agencies. She is also the vice president of the 24th Precinct’s Community Council. Contact Cynthia.
Amy Edelman
Amy has been a resident of 300 Riverside Drive since 1997, along with her husband, two children (now grown), and a series of wonderful cats. She was managing editor at Random House for many years and is now a freelance copy editor, specializing in fiction. She joined the Block Association board in March 2021. Aside from copyediting the quarterly newsletter, she helps welcome new members to the Block Association. Having spent many years attending her kids’ soccer and baseball games in Riverside Park, she is a big fan of that wonderful resource right at our doorstep. In her spare time, she roots for the Mets, works on get-out-the-vote campaigns, and occasionally babysits for her grandcat, Turtle. Contact Amy.
Peter Frishauf
Peter, a lifelong Upper West Side resident, and his partner (now spouse), KC, moved to West 103rd Street in 1982 with their daughter. Both are dedicated to making the neighborhood safer and more inclusive for walkers, wheelchair users, and bicyclists. In 2009, Peter and KC worked with the Block Association to create a temporary parklet by the Marseilles in a demonstration project and survey that tested the idea of a reimagined pedestrian-first street between Riverside Park and Central Park. In 2020 the idea was rekindled with the creation of the West 103rd Street Open Street, and Peter now serves as a volunteer coordinator for Park to Park 103. The same year Peter and KC moved to the neighborhood they started a medical publishing company, SCP Communications, which developed a collaborative “electronic newsroom” for fast scientific production of information far ahead of its time. SCP created Medscape in 1995, a site that became the most visited professional medical website in the world, informing millions of clinicians and consumers alike. Peter is an active adviser, investor, board member, and leader in New York's vibrant startup culture in health-care media and life sciences. He serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, and joined the Block Association board in April 2022. Contact Peter.
Celia Knight, Recording Secretary
Celia, a board member since 2012, has lived in the neighborhood for 46 years, enjoyed a career in publishing, and is working now to learn new software applications and discover new ways to reach out to the community. She sings with the Voices of New York, a choral group that plans to reassemble in the fall of 2022. Contact Celia.
Ginger Lief
Ginger has been a resident of the Master Apartments on Riverside Drive and West 103rd Street since August 1969. She joined the West 102nd & 103rd Streets Block Association board in 1982 and shortly afterward became the editor of the then-monthly BA newsletter and head of the Street Fair Publicity Committee. She resigned these positions in 1986 when she returned to school for graduate work, rejoining the board in 2002. Since then, Ginger has served as the BA archivist, and more recently as the BA representative to the West Side Federation of Neighborhood and Block Associations. She serves, as well, on the Park West Neighborhood History Group board and is actively engaged locally with community outreach at St. Michael's Church. Contact Ginger.
Susan Maderer, Co-Treasurer
After working in the garment district for more than 35 years, Sue changed directions and became a professional organizer specializing in financials and bookkeeping. She operated her own business and was bookkeeper and office manager for a small law firm. She has been the treasurer for two nonprofit organizations, so we’re fortunate to have had her expertise on the board for the past decade. In addition to serving with Komal Rathi as co-treasurer, she prepares a monthly reconciliation of our bank account, collects mail from our post office box, and makes regular bank deposits. A neighborhood resident for more than 40 years, Sue enjoys traveling, playing bridge, exercising, and reading. Contact Sue.
Komal Rathi, Co-Treasurer
Komal and her husband are residents of Alexandria House on West 103rd Street. She has lived in New York City since 2008, and moved to the neighborhood in 2013. Her favorite part about living on the block is the proximity to Riverside Park. While pursuing a management career in financial services, she serves as the co-treasurer of the block association. Contact Komal.
Mark Schneiderman
Mark is very happy to have gotten his hands dirty, taking over planning for the Block Association planting days a few years ago, when they were in danger of being canceled for lack of volunteers. He hopes to continually increase participation, with a goal of planting and mulching all area tree wells in the fall and spring of each year. He thanks the team of neighbors who come out to beautify our sidewalks. If you are interested in getting a tree guard installed in front of your building or want more information on how to request tree planting, please feel free to reach out to Mark. Contact Mark.
Non-Board
Caitlin Hawke, Block Association Blogger & Webmaster
Caitlin has been blogging at our site since early 2014 for which she was recognized with the Jim Torain Award of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group. An active member of our community, she created the TriBloomingdale Initiative which organizes activities to bridge this block association with the W. 104th Street Block Association and Bloomingdale Aging in Place. She also served as a director of Bloomingdale Aging in Place and for many years co-chaired BAiP's activities committee overseeing nearly 100 volunteers who produced 1300 activities annually. She is a lover of local urban history. Contact Caitlin.
Bob has lived on West 103rd Street since 1979 with his wife, Nancy Gropper. They have raised two sons (public and independent schools, youth soccer, basketball, baseball . . .) and numerous dogs and cats. Bob is retired. He was elected to the Block Association board in 2011 and his primary responsibility, until COVID, has been to coordinate the annual Block Party and recruit volunteers to help run it. He currently coordinates the Security Guard service and our Zoom meetings. Contact Bob.
Hedy Campbell
Hedy moved into the neighborhood (West 102nd Street) in 1984 and joined the Block Association soon thereafter. Since then she's served as co-chair, co-editor of the newsletter, editor of the newsletter, treasurer, and secretary. For many years she organized the annual Halloween parade, and continues to oversee the annual holiday caroling event. In the past few years, she's interviewed our residents of long-standing for the Neighborhood Hall of Fame, helped launch e-waste recycling, and initiated an annual blood drive. Contact Hedy.
Mary Chestaro Coss
Mary is a born and raised Upper West Side resident, having grown up here with her family while her brother began a career in film. She runs a successful event-production company and, along with her husband, who works in live-event television, is raising a school-age daughter. Her first contribution to the Block Association was to run the first post-COVID Halloween Parade and Party, which was received with tremendous enthusiasm. She joined the board in April 2022 and will be spearheading the organization’s fundraising efforts and putting her energy into raising the group’s visibility. Contact Mary.
Cynthia Doty, Chair
Cynthia has lived in her apartment at 305 Riverside Drive for 45 years, moving in after living a few years in Brooklyn. In the late 1980s, she became active in her building’s tenants’ association and, shortly after that, started participating in Block Association activities. She officially joined the board in the early 1990s, and for the past 30 years she has helped with various Block Association events, most recently helping plan and moderate the Block Association’s annual meetings. Since Cynthia also serves as the Democratic District Leader for our area, she frequently acts as a liaison to our elected officials or various government agencies. She is also the vice president of the 24th Precinct’s Community Council. Contact Cynthia.
Amy Edelman
Amy has been a resident of 300 Riverside Drive since 1997, along with her husband, two children (now grown), and a series of wonderful cats. She was managing editor at Random House for many years and is now a freelance copy editor, specializing in fiction. She joined the Block Association board in March 2021. Aside from copyediting the quarterly newsletter, she helps welcome new members to the Block Association. Having spent many years attending her kids’ soccer and baseball games in Riverside Park, she is a big fan of that wonderful resource right at our doorstep. In her spare time, she roots for the Mets, works on get-out-the-vote campaigns, and occasionally babysits for her grandcat, Turtle. Contact Amy.
Peter Frishauf
Peter, a lifelong Upper West Side resident, and his partner (now spouse), KC, moved to West 103rd Street in 1982 with their daughter. Both are dedicated to making the neighborhood safer and more inclusive for walkers, wheelchair users, and bicyclists. In 2009, Peter and KC worked with the Block Association to create a temporary parklet by the Marseilles in a demonstration project and survey that tested the idea of a reimagined pedestrian-first street between Riverside Park and Central Park. In 2020 the idea was rekindled with the creation of the West 103rd Street Open Street, and Peter now serves as a volunteer coordinator for Park to Park 103. The same year Peter and KC moved to the neighborhood they started a medical publishing company, SCP Communications, which developed a collaborative “electronic newsroom” for fast scientific production of information far ahead of its time. SCP created Medscape in 1995, a site that became the most visited professional medical website in the world, informing millions of clinicians and consumers alike. Peter is an active adviser, investor, board member, and leader in New York's vibrant startup culture in health-care media and life sciences. He serves on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, and joined the Block Association board in April 2022. Contact Peter.
Celia Knight, Recording Secretary
Celia, a board member since 2012, has lived in the neighborhood for 46 years, enjoyed a career in publishing, and is working now to learn new software applications and discover new ways to reach out to the community. She sings with the Voices of New York, a choral group that plans to reassemble in the fall of 2022. Contact Celia.
Ginger Lief
Ginger has been a resident of the Master Apartments on Riverside Drive and West 103rd Street since August 1969. She joined the West 102nd & 103rd Streets Block Association board in 1982 and shortly afterward became the editor of the then-monthly BA newsletter and head of the Street Fair Publicity Committee. She resigned these positions in 1986 when she returned to school for graduate work, rejoining the board in 2002. Since then, Ginger has served as the BA archivist, and more recently as the BA representative to the West Side Federation of Neighborhood and Block Associations. She serves, as well, on the Park West Neighborhood History Group board and is actively engaged locally with community outreach at St. Michael's Church. Contact Ginger.
Susan Maderer, Co-Treasurer
After working in the garment district for more than 35 years, Sue changed directions and became a professional organizer specializing in financials and bookkeeping. She operated her own business and was bookkeeper and office manager for a small law firm. She has been the treasurer for two nonprofit organizations, so we’re fortunate to have had her expertise on the board for the past decade. In addition to serving with Komal Rathi as co-treasurer, she prepares a monthly reconciliation of our bank account, collects mail from our post office box, and makes regular bank deposits. A neighborhood resident for more than 40 years, Sue enjoys traveling, playing bridge, exercising, and reading. Contact Sue.
Komal Rathi, Co-Treasurer
Komal and her husband are residents of Alexandria House on West 103rd Street. She has lived in New York City since 2008, and moved to the neighborhood in 2013. Her favorite part about living on the block is the proximity to Riverside Park. While pursuing a management career in financial services, she serves as the co-treasurer of the block association. Contact Komal.
Mark Schneiderman
Mark is very happy to have gotten his hands dirty, taking over planning for the Block Association planting days a few years ago, when they were in danger of being canceled for lack of volunteers. He hopes to continually increase participation, with a goal of planting and mulching all area tree wells in the fall and spring of each year. He thanks the team of neighbors who come out to beautify our sidewalks. If you are interested in getting a tree guard installed in front of your building or want more information on how to request tree planting, please feel free to reach out to Mark. Contact Mark.
Non-Board
Caitlin Hawke, Block Association Blogger & Webmaster
Caitlin has been blogging at our site since early 2014 for which she was recognized with the Jim Torain Award of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group. An active member of our community, she created the TriBloomingdale Initiative which organizes activities to bridge this block association with the W. 104th Street Block Association and Bloomingdale Aging in Place. She also served as a director of Bloomingdale Aging in Place and for many years co-chaired BAiP's activities committee overseeing nearly 100 volunteers who produced 1300 activities annually. She is a lover of local urban history. Contact Caitlin.
