New center unveiled at Henry St. Settlement
BY GABE HERMAN
The Henry Street Settlement held
an Oct. 23 ribbon cutting on the
Lower East Side for its newest
building, the Dale Jones Burch Neighborhood
Center.
The center is the 18th program site
for the nonprofi t social services agency.
It’s at 269 Henry St., a couple of doors
down from the organization’s headquarters.
Free services to be offered at the
new center include legal and fi nancial
counseling, employment services, parenting
support and connections to food
stamps and health insurance.
The restored building, empty since
9/11, was originally a fi rehouse and
dates back to 1883. The former tenant
was FDNY Engine Company No. 15,
which moved to Pitt Street post-9/11
when their new fi re trucks didn’t fi t in
the building.
The building was saved from the auction
block in the mid-2000s by local offi
cials, and then in 2017 was bought by
the nonprofi t for $1.
Members of Engine 15 and the
NYPD’s Precinct 7 attended the festive
outdoor ceremony, which included free
doughnuts and apple cider from Doughnuttery,
and a chorus of 4-year-olds
leading the crowd in singing “You’ve
Got a Friend in Me.”
“Today we open our doors and our
The Oct. 23 ribbon cutting was attended by board and staff members,
officials and local residents.
hearts to all of you,” said David Garza,
CEO of Henry Street Settlement, which
was founded in 1893.
Garza thanked the staff in attendance.
“You are the lifeblood of Henry
Street and really defi ne who we are,” he
said.
The building’s namesake, Dale
Jones Burch, is a Henry Street Settlement
board member and lead capital
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
campaign donor. Her family has been
involved with and supported the organization
for generations.
“After my family, Henry Street is
what I care most about,” Burch said
at the ceremony. “It is my privilege to
serve this life-changing institution.”
Ian Highet, co-chair of the organization’s
board, thanked Dale and her husband
Bob for their contributions. “They
are the key that has not only allowed
us to acquire this fi rehouse, but give it
back to the community,” he said.
Local resident Michael Rivera expressed
gratitude for the Henry Street
Settlement in providing services and
helping people through all the gentrifi -
cation that the area has experienced. “I
want to thank the Henry Street Settlement
from the bottom of my heart,”
Rivera said.
Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul
also spoke, noting that the state had
contributed over $1 million for the
new center, which she said was a truly
important cause. “It’s not about the
fl ashy buildings, it’s about what you do
to build up the human spirit,” Hochul
said.
“It’s wonderful, it’s many years in
the making,” Ashley Young, program
director at the center, told The Villager
after the ceremony. She noted all of the
services that the new building will provide,
and that staff can give referrals
to other services within the nonprofi t.
“We’re a point of entry to all 17 Henry
Street programs,” Young said.
The newly renovated building has
four fl oors, with the top one for administrative
use. The fi rst fl oor has consultation
and community rooms, and the
third fl oor has a Parent Center. The second
fl oor includes a Resource Center
with health insurance enrollment and
legal, fi nancial and housing assistance.
Westbeth’s fi rst prez honoring past & expanding future
BY GABE HERMAN
With Westbeth approaching its 50th anniversary
in 2020, the West Village arts institution
has named its fi rst president and
CEO.
Ellen F. Salpeter was named to the position by the
Westbeth Board of Directors. Salpeter was previously
Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami,
where she led the completion and opening of a new
permanent facility for the museum.
Salpeter’s other previous positions include Deputy
Director, External Affairs for the Jewish Museum in
New York, and Founding Director of Heart of Brooklyn,
a partnership of Brooklyn cultural institutions.
Salpeter said her vision includes a mix of honoring
the past and looking to the future of Westbeth, which
has been an affordable live-work space for artists at 55
Bethune St. since 1970.
“It’s an enormous opportunity with a 50-year-old
organization,” said Salpeter, “with what we love about
its history and how we might change to stay relevant
to future generations of artists. I consider myself an
institution builder, and Westbeth has an extraordinary
fi ve decades to build on. And the future is right ahead
of us in a changing community.”
Salpeter does not have specifi c plans just yet for
Westbeth, but emphasized the importance of keeping
affordable housing and studio space, along with arts
programming at low or no cost, to prevent barriers of
cost when it comes to arts. “Making sure every community
PHOTO BY GRACE ROSELLI
Ellen Salpeter, above, has been appointed the
first president and CEO of Wesbeth.
has access to the arts,” she said. “It’s important
to place Westbeth as a model to keep cultural producers
in the community.”
Salpeter has started doing outreach to get to know
the Westbeth community, including a recent open
house. “I think that’s an evolutionary process for me,”
she said.
Of her early impressions of the community, she said,
“I think they want to be respected as artists.” That includes
places to show work, recognition and reaching
bigger audiences. “I don’t think they want anything
different than what other people want,” Salpeter said.
The upcoming 50th anniversary was a big infl uence
in deciding to name Westbeth’s fi rst president and
CEO, according to Joe Versace, Chair of the Board of
Directors. He echoed the importance of keeping affordable
housing for artists, along with expanding the
mission. “We really looked at the campus of Westbeth
and were thinking of the future, with an anchor of the
past,” he said.
“Ellen brings a remarkable combination of the skills
we need,” said Versace, citing Salpeter’s deep background
in the arts, respect in the industry and her
experience working in New York. He said she has an
“enthusiastic and informed vision of what could be,
and her experience in the past has demonstrated she is
a big but thoughtful thinker.”
The city has changed rapidly, as has the West Village,
Versace said, but he noted that the artists’ role
in society continues to be vital. He said he hopes
Westbeth and the Village community can benefi t each
other through open engagement.
“We want Westbeth to be a vital neighbor, and a
destination in Greenwich Village and New York City,”
Versace said. He added that he wants Westbeth to be
a place fi lled with artistic energy, and that it “can be
a leader and model for how the notion of providing
housing and space and place for art can be accomplished.”
4 October 31, 2019 Schneps Media