Roots Run Deep at the UWS Community Reunion

By Stephan Russo

Councilmember Gale Brewer was called to the microphone last Saturday at the 13th Annual “UWS Roots Run Deep” Community Reunion on West 92nd Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue.

Brewer, who manages to be everywhere on the Upper West Side at all times, shouted to the throngs who had gathered for an afternoon of fun and reunion. “You are here BECAUSE you grew up on the Upper West Side and are so fabulous BECAUSE you grew up on the Upper West Side,” she said.

There was no better place to be on a hot July day if you wanted to get a feel for what was and continues to be special about the Upper West Side. The music was blasting, the food was plentiful, and the block was filled with a line of tables representing local agencies, including a tent set up by the NYPD 24th Precinct community council to highlight the value of neighborhood policing. The atmosphere was a wonderful antidote to the usual focus on the city’s problems and “crises.”

They came from all over — Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Long Island, and the other New York City boroughs. Many had not seen each other in years. A majority had grown up in public housing or the neighborhood’s middle-income Mitchell Lama buildings. Some had stayed, some had moved away to pursue their careers and raise their families. Some have parents and other relatives who continue to live here. Now in their 50s and 60s, they returned to see old friends and reminisce about the impact the Upper West Side had on them as they ventured into adulthood. This was the neighborhood’s “old timers’ game.”

This was a special day for me as well since so many of those returning had attended Goddard Riverside Community Center (one of the event’s sponsors) as kids, and were vocal about how important it was in keeping them safe and involved during their critical teenage years. (Full disclosure: I knew many of the attendees from the nearly four decades I worked at Goddard Riverside, serving as executive director from 1998-2017).

Barbara Felder was one of those “kids” who still lives in the neighborhood. She is about to retire from the city’s Department of Corrections after 36 years and is part of the reunion’s organizing committee. She said she couldn’t think of a better place to raise her own children. “It was wonderful growing up here. We had the best childhood in any area of New York City. We didn’t have any fear of violence. We knew how to settle our differences peacefully. There is nothing like being part of the Upper West Side,” she added.

The reunion was the brainchild of Walter Battiste, a longtime resident of the Stephen Wise Towers public housing development on West 90th Street and Columbus Avenue.

“I decided to organize this in 2010 to bring the neighborhood together,” Battiste, a retired stage handler  explained. “We couldn’t do it during the pandemic, but now are back in full force. We received a lot of support from the local elected officials and community groups. This is the biggest reunion we’ve had in years.”

Joe Cifone is one of the neighborhood’s success stories. Cifone is a basketball coach at Riverdale Country School, one of the city’s prestigious private schools. He grew up on West 91st Street. I remember him being one of the best local basketball players. He comes back to the neighborhood every week to visit his mother.

Cifone is a firm believer in giving back. Every summer he runs the youth basketball league in the PS 84 playground adjacent to West 92nd Street. “It’s what I do to keep kids off the streets,” Cifone said. “When I was growing up in this neighborhood, I played a lot of basketball. It helped keep me out of trouble.” Cifone now lives in the Bronx and has also worked as a manager at the New York Post for over 34 years. “It’s not easy living in the city and I have a family to take care of,” he said.

Battiste and company are already planning for next year’s reunion.  “We have to keep this going for the generations that follow,” he added, proudly.