Tuesday, May 19, 2009
T&V community loses devopted activist, Jon Schachter
LOOKING AHEAD
By Wally Dobelis
The East Midtown community will be sad to hear of the passing of Jonathan Schachter, a community activist who for decades volunteered his expert knowledge in the bettering of the city’s police, transit and water supply services and in keeping the many local nightclubs under control. He died at 9:11 a.m. on December 22, 2007 in Bellevue Hospital, after several weeks of operations and care. The funeral services were private, and there will be a memorial service in February, to be announced. The bereaved include wife Carol, president of the Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association and former chair of Community Board 6; mother Miriam, sister Jill and niece Jody. Jon was 60 years old.
Jon, a graduate of Bayside High School, NY Institute of Technology with a BS in Accounting and graduate credits from St. John’s University. had an early career in corporate auditing and fraud investigation before turning to furniture manufacturing, upholstery. and most recently, upholstery leather brokerage. His work for NYC Human Resources Administration, Penn Railroad and major corporations built his interest and knowledge base in public transportation. As a member of the Committee For Better Transit and chair of its New York Task Force, he had worked on the subway map design, Limited bus stops methodology, and co-authored the Goodman-Siegel Bill.
As a consultant to the NY Transit Authority and PCAC (Permanent Citizens’ Advisory Committee to the MTA) he also had been responsible for having some 200 trains removed from service for mechanical failures, eliminating certain window blackouts on R-68 cars and stopping the expenditure of millions of dollars on marble tiles wasted because of incorrect water pressure .He was also vice president of Manhattan South CPAA, member of the 13th and 17th Precinct Community Councils, a CB5 and CB6 public member, and was active on the boards of Bellevue Hospital Advisory Board and Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association, also chairing the Planning Committee of the Midtown—East Stuyvesant Community Emergency Response Team (CERT.) Jon’s energy and enthusiasm for community affairs was boundless. I remember him walking around with a heavy suitcase telephone in the early days of portable communications, as much to be in touch with the transit people and police as for business reasons. He could always be counted on having the latest news on subway problems, Transit Authority failures, wasted expenditures and staff problems, and bus travel system improvements. I heard from him about proposed TA bus access speedup solutions, such as the doomed effort of holding areas ofprepaid passengers at major bus stops imagine doing that on busy 14th Street where boarding the crowded double buses can take several minutes at each stop. Then there was the closing of token booths at satellite entrances of major subway stations, with Union Square being a constant example. He spotted the tricksters who would break the MetroCard dispenser machines and stand at the turnstiles, offering the use of their unlimited day passes for a fee of two dollars, until the TA installed assistants at such entrances, which broughi up the next problem — how can such a redundant system save money?
Concerned about environment and safety on the streets, Jon raised the question of late-night noises and dangers of the bars and strip clubs abounding in the West 20s and other areas of our neighborhood. He and others reported violations and had stories of street crime that kept the police alert, raised licensing questions at the Community Boards and Liquor Authority and forced the owners to cut don on music, install sound-proofing and use guards to curb their patrons’ late night street activities. This neighborhood is going to miss our star activist, Jonathar Schachter.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jon may be sent to the Midtown East-Stuyvesant CERT, c/o Carol Schachter, 201 East 17th Street, Apartment 3B, New York NY 10003.
By Wally Dobelis
The East Midtown community will be sad to hear of the passing of Jonathan Schachter, a community activist who for decades volunteered his expert knowledge in the bettering of the city’s police, transit and water supply services and in keeping the many local nightclubs under control. He died at 9:11 a.m. on December 22, 2007 in Bellevue Hospital, after several weeks of operations and care. The funeral services were private, and there will be a memorial service in February, to be announced. The bereaved include wife Carol, president of the Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association and former chair of Community Board 6; mother Miriam, sister Jill and niece Jody. Jon was 60 years old.
Jon, a graduate of Bayside High School, NY Institute of Technology with a BS in Accounting and graduate credits from St. John’s University. had an early career in corporate auditing and fraud investigation before turning to furniture manufacturing, upholstery. and most recently, upholstery leather brokerage. His work for NYC Human Resources Administration, Penn Railroad and major corporations built his interest and knowledge base in public transportation. As a member of the Committee For Better Transit and chair of its New York Task Force, he had worked on the subway map design, Limited bus stops methodology, and co-authored the Goodman-Siegel Bill.
As a consultant to the NY Transit Authority and PCAC (Permanent Citizens’ Advisory Committee to the MTA) he also had been responsible for having some 200 trains removed from service for mechanical failures, eliminating certain window blackouts on R-68 cars and stopping the expenditure of millions of dollars on marble tiles wasted because of incorrect water pressure .He was also vice president of Manhattan South CPAA, member of the 13th and 17th Precinct Community Councils, a CB5 and CB6 public member, and was active on the boards of Bellevue Hospital Advisory Board and Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Association, also chairing the Planning Committee of the Midtown—East Stuyvesant Community Emergency Response Team (CERT.) Jon’s energy and enthusiasm for community affairs was boundless. I remember him walking around with a heavy suitcase telephone in the early days of portable communications, as much to be in touch with the transit people and police as for business reasons. He could always be counted on having the latest news on subway problems, Transit Authority failures, wasted expenditures and staff problems, and bus travel system improvements. I heard from him about proposed TA bus access speedup solutions, such as the doomed effort of holding areas ofprepaid passengers at major bus stops imagine doing that on busy 14th Street where boarding the crowded double buses can take several minutes at each stop. Then there was the closing of token booths at satellite entrances of major subway stations, with Union Square being a constant example. He spotted the tricksters who would break the MetroCard dispenser machines and stand at the turnstiles, offering the use of their unlimited day passes for a fee of two dollars, until the TA installed assistants at such entrances, which broughi up the next problem — how can such a redundant system save money?
Concerned about environment and safety on the streets, Jon raised the question of late-night noises and dangers of the bars and strip clubs abounding in the West 20s and other areas of our neighborhood. He and others reported violations and had stories of street crime that kept the police alert, raised licensing questions at the Community Boards and Liquor Authority and forced the owners to cut don on music, install sound-proofing and use guards to curb their patrons’ late night street activities. This neighborhood is going to miss our star activist, Jonathar Schachter.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Jon may be sent to the Midtown East-Stuyvesant CERT, c/o Carol Schachter, 201 East 17th Street, Apartment 3B, New York NY 10003.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 12:51 PM 
