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Thank You To Ron­ay Menschel

Feb 15, 2017 4:09 pm

After more than a decade of extra­or­di­nary ser­vice, Ron­ay Men­schel is step­ping down as Chair of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. Ron­ay has offered her stead­fast lead­er­ship in the Island’s trans­for­ma­tion from a for­got­ten for­mer mil­i­tary base to the beloved resource it is today since serv­ing on the Board of the Gov­er­nors Island Preser­va­tion and Edu­ca­tion Cor­po­ra­tion, formed in 2003. In 2010 she was appoint­ed by May­or Michael R. Bloomberg as the first Chair of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. 

Through­out her ser­vice to Gov­er­nors Island, Ron­ay has made a sig­nif­i­cant mark in expand­ing access to the arts in New York City. From numer­ous on-Island pub­lic art instal­la­tions, includ­ing Cab­in, Rachel Whiteread­’s first per­ma­nent site spe­cif­ic sculp­ture in the US, to spear­head­ing the acti­va­tion of the Island through free pub­lic pro­grams from New York City arts and cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions, Ron­ay’s com­mit­ment to the arts has shaped the spir­it of Gov­er­nors Island as a hub for cre­ativ­i­ty. Her lead­er­ship also deliv­ered the Island’s spec­tac­u­lar new park spaces, giv­ing New York­ers a new and unfor­get­table rela­tion­ship with the Har­bor, Stat­ue of Lib­er­ty and City skyline. 

At the Trust’s Jan­u­ary meet­ing of it’s Board of Direc­tors, Ron­ay was pre­sent­ed with a Procla­ma­tion from May­or Bill de Bla­sio com­mem­o­rat­ing her ever­last­ing con­tri­bu­tions to the City of New York. It reads: 

Where­as: Our city has always been a place where any­one with the vision and deter­mi­na­tion to improve the five bor­oughs has the chance to make their mark. So many New York­ers have been inspired to serve their fel­low res­i­dents and cre­ate last­ing, pos­i­tive change that sets us on the path to a brighter future. Ded­i­cat­ing her career to strength­en­ing our com­mu­ni­ties and improv­ing the qual­i­ty of life through­out our city, Ron­ay Men­schel stands out as one of these remark­able lead­ers. Today, togeth­er with the mem­bers of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, I join in cel­e­brat­ing all that she has achieved as she steps down from her posi­tion as Chairman.

Where­as: Through­out the course of her dis­tin­guished career, Ron­ay has played many roles and accom­plished many feats. As a Deputy May­or in the Koch Admin­is­tra­tion and as a board mem­ber of the Met­ro­pol­i­tan Trans­porta­tion Author­i­ty, she demon­strat­ed great ded­i­ca­tion to improv­ing qual­i­ty of life through­out the five bor­oughs. At the MTA she found­ed what is now MTA Arts & Design, cham­pi­oning pub­lic art and our City’s cre­ative spir­it. Ron­ay cur­rent­ly is the Chair­man of Phipps Hous­es that has made an indeli­ble mark on the com­mu­ni­ties it serves through afford­able hous­ing ini­tia­tives. In 2010, her mis­sion to improve our city con­tin­ued when she was appoint­ed Chair­man of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island, help­ing to trans­form Gov­er­nors Island into an extra­or­di­nary des­ti­na­tion for all to enjoy.

Where­as: Thanks to Ronay’s vision­ary lead­er­ship, Gov­er­nors Island is poised to become both a year-round des­ti­na­tion and a hub of inno­va­tion, edu­ca­tion, and cre­ativ­i­ty. With efforts under­way to restore the His­toric Dis­trict and cre­ate new space that com­bines edu­ca­tion­al, non-prof­it, and com­mer­cial uses, the future of Gov­er­nors Island has nev­er looked brighter. None of this would be pos­si­ble with­out Ronay’s stead­fast com­mit­ment to shape the future of our city into a place where all peo­ple can rise. I applaud all she has accom­plished as Chair­man of the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island and togeth­er with those gath­ered, extend my grat­i­tude for all that she con­tin­ues to do for our great city.

Now there­fore, I, Bill de Bla­sio, May­or of the City of New York, do here­by pro­claim Jan­u­ary 17^th, 2017 in the City of New York as:

​“Ron­ay Men­schel Day”.

From the Gov­er­nors Island com­mu­ni­ty, thank you to Ronay!