NEW YORK, May 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
On May 20 at 4:30 p.m., Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) will host a private naming ceremony of the Herbert and Audrey Rosenfield Lobby on the first floor of Miles and Shirley Fiterman Hall at 245 Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan. The ceremony will highlight the Rosenfield legacy and acknowledge a $1 million gift from the Rosenfield family to BMCC. A reception in the Fiterman Conference Center will follow.
The Herbert and Audrey Rosenfield Lobby will memorialize the legacy of the Rosenfield family and their impact on the vibrant, evolving neighborhoods of lower Manhattan — as well as their support to BMCC students, including those who receive the Abner B. Rosenfield Memorial Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Citizenship, which Mr. Rosenfield founded in 1987 in honor of his father.
For both Herbert Rosenfield and his wife Audrey, civic work was their passion.
Audrey Rosenfield was a trained graphologist and quintessential modern woman who combined raising a family with her writing and many service activities. These included The New York School for the Deaf, The Girl Scouts of New York and the Gramercy Park Flower Show. She also found time to manage a cement parts trading company, Coronado Trading Corporation.
Herbert Rosenfield, along with his wife Audrey, was an important voice in the development of lower Manhattan during its critical expansion in the sixties and beyond. As part of those efforts, he was a key supporter of BMCC’s move in 1983 from its original space on two floors of an office building in midtown Manhattan, to its current Chambers Street campus in Tribeca. He was also a founder of the BMCC Foundation, then called the BMCC Fund.
Now with the largest undergraduate enrollment in New York City — 68 percent of whom are first in their family to attend college and 53 percent of whom are from families with incomes at $20,000 a year — BMCC has grown to serve more than 26,000 students, an expansion made possible by this move downtown.
In a 2015 interview with BMCC News, Herbert recalled the events of the time: “We welcomed the school with open arms, because we knew that having the college was important for the future of the neighborhood. Look at it now.”
In addition to his dedication to the students and mission of BMCC, Herbert galvanized and led many efforts that had a positive impact on quality of life in New York City and in particular, lower Manhattan.
Together,Herbert and Audrey Rosenfield — along with their colleagues and friends — worked founded the Chambers-Canal Civic Association to maintain the mixed business, residential, creative and corporate life that characterizes lower Manhattan.
Under the auspices of the Association, Herbert traveled to Albany to argue in favor of the Loft Law, which enables artists to live in their lofts. He worked with Traffic Commissioner Sam Schwartz to re-direct traffic patterns in lower Manhattan, in order to reduce congestion. He advocated successfully with the city to maintain Community Boards for the area. As Board Trustee for then-called New York Downtown Hospital, he helped to develop programs that served and engaged with all the communities in downtown Manhattan.
Ever mindful of the critical role of shared public space, Herbert even organized in the mid-1960s, the first community clean-up in Gramercy Park, a tradition that continues to this day. He helped to pass the Pooper Scooper Law — and much more.
The efforts and vision of the Rosenfield family reverberate today in the thriving communities of lower Manhattan. The Rosenfields’ dedication to bridging the economic divide is reflected in their support of BMCC students who earn degrees and become vibrant contributors to the economy of New York City.
Audrey Rosenfield passed away in June 2001, and Herbert Rosenfield passed away in July 2016 at the age of 97. They leave behind their children Dr. Patricia L. Rosenfield, Thomas Priest Rosenfield and Nelson Chang.
On May 20, BMCC Interim President Karrin Wilks and BMCC Foundation Board Chair Tony Portannese will lead the naming of the Herbert and Audrey Rosenfield Lobby in the Miles and Shirley Fiterman Hall.
Members of the press who would like to attend the private naming ceremony of the Herbert and Audrey Rosenfield Lobby, and join a reception in the Fiterman Conference Center, may call Lynn McGee at (212) 346-8523; Cody Lyon at (212) 346-8503 or Manny Romero at (212) 220-1238.
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Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) and enrolls over 26,000 degree-seeking and 10,000 continuing education students a year, awarding associate degrees in more than 50 fields. BMCC ranks #5 among community colleges nationwide in granting associate degrees to minority students, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. Visit: http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu.