Carol Greitzer

Carol Greitzer
Member of the New York City Council from the 3rd district
In office
January 1, 1975 – December 31, 1991
Preceded by Miriam Friedlander
Succeeded by Thomas Duane
Member of the New York City Council from the 2nd district
In office
January 28, 1969 – December 31, 1974
Preceded by Ed Koch
Succeeded by Miriam Friedlander
Personal details
Born (1925-01-03) January 3, 1925
New York City, New York
Political party Democratic

Carol Greitzer (born January 3, 1925) is an American politician who served in the New York City Council from 1969 to 1991 and was the first president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Personal life and education

Carol Greitzer was born on January 3, 1925, in Manhattan.[1] She grew up in the north Bronx, and credits her love of New York City to her native New Yorker father, Harry Hutter,[2] who enjoyed learning about the history of the city and often took her sightseeing.[1] Greitzer attended Hunter College and then went on to receive a master's in English Literature from NYU.[2]

Greitzer later moved to New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood with her first husband.[1] They divorced and she later married lawyer Joshua S. Vogel in November 1990.[2] She still resides in Greenwich Village today.[1]

Political career

Greitzer claims that her move to Greenwich Village played a large role in her becoming politically active.[1] She joined the Greenwich Village Association, and after assisting with a campaign for Adlai Stevenson II, became a member of the Village Independent Democrats in 1956.[1] In 1960, she ran for president of the Village Independent Democrats against Ed Koch and won.[1] In 1961, Greitzer decided to run for district leader, which at the time was separated into two roles, district leader male and district leader female.[1]

Preservation

Greitzer became increasingly involved with preservation and community organizing. One of her first major successes was saving the Jefferson Market Courthouse.[1] Greitzer worked alongside Philip Wittenberg and Margot Gayle to organize local leaders and children from the community to campaign for the courthouse to be turned into a library.[1] Their campaign was successful, and the building was spared from demolition and still stands today as the Jefferson Market Library.[1]

Greitzer was also heavily involved in a plan to remove car and bus traffic from Washington Square Park.[1] In 1963 she worked with Shirley Hayes and Ed Koch to complete the plan, arguing that it would provide better outdoor space for children in the community as well as cut down on air pollution.[1] Their efforts worked, and she joined Koch to symbolically push the final bus out of Washington Square Park.[1]

New York City Council

When Ed Koch left his New York City Council position in 1969 to run for Congress, Greitzer decided to run for the newly vacant Council seat.[1] Greitzer won and was a New York City Councilwoman, representing Greenwich Village and other downtown areas.[3] Greitzer served as a Councilwoman for 22 years, beginning with her win in 1969 and ending in 1991 when she lost her Council seat to Republican Charles Millard.[3]

Following the nearby Stonewall Riots that had occurred months earlier, Greitzer met twice with members of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) in May 1970.[4] Members were petitioning her to consider sponsoring an employment discrimination bill, but GAA member Jim Owles spoke with Greitzer and claimed she refused to sponsor the proposed bill.[4]

Feminist activism

NARAL

Greitzer's activism continued throughout her time on the Council, and she became increasingly involved with feminist issues. Greitzer's became active in New York's pro-choice movement, and began working with NARAL, which at the time stood for National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws.[5] Greitzer worked closely with politician Percy Sutton, a pro-choice advocate, to push for pro-choice legislation in New York state.[5]

NARAL's Board of Directors voted Greitzer president of the organization on September 27, 1969.[6] As president, she worked alongside other feminist activists including Shirley Chisholm, Lana Clark Phelan, Lee Gidding, and Lucinda Cisler.[6] In 1972, Greitzer attended the Democratic National Convention as a representative for George McGovern.[6][7] At the convention, Greitzer worked with other feminists to argue that women and their reproductive rights needed to be a prominent issue for the Democratic party.[6]

First women's bank

In addition to her activist work, Greitzer helped found the New York First Women's Bank. In 1973, Greitzer worked with Evelyn Lehman, Jane Trahey, Eileen Preiss, Sarah Kovner, Carol Opton, Betty Friedan, Sheldon Goldstein, and Philip Sills to establish the bank and provide funds.[8] The bank inspired groups in cities all over the country to open up their own women's banks, providing financial guidance, seminars, and employment to women.[8]

In 1989, the First Women's Bank changed its name to the First New York Bank for Business, claiming that over time, there was less of a need for gender-specific banking.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Carol Greitzer". www.nypap.org. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  2. 1 2 3 "J. S. Vogel, Lawyer, and Carol Greitzer, New York City Councilwoman, Marry". Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  3. 1 2 Jr., James C. McKinley. "New York City Council Results Show Ripples of Change". Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  4. 1 2 David., Carter, (2013). Stonewall : the riots that sparked the gay revolution. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 1429939397. OCLC 865096291.
  5. 1 2 Kaevan,, Gazdar,. Feminism's founding fathers : the men who fought for women's rights. Alresford, Hants. ISBN 1780991614. OCLC 960446621.
  6. 1 2 3 4 1968-, Self, Robert O.,. All in the family : the realignment of American democracy since the 1960s (First ed.). New York. ISBN 0809095025. OCLC 768728945.
  7. ↑ "Democrats convene in Miami Beach, July 10, 1972". POLITICO. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  8. 1 2 Warren, Virginia Lee (1975-09-17). "When a Bank Run by Women Opens, The Reason Is Not Always Feminism". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  9. ↑ "Bank Given New Name: The First Women's Bank said it has..." Los Angeles Times. 1989-04-25. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
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