A life well lived — Village legend Doris Deither
Doris Deither stops to hear some of the parks musicians.
BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Over 550 Christmas cards
won’t be going out this
Christmas. These cards
would have been sent to people on
Doris Deither’s holiday mailing
list to whom she’d begin addressing
envelopes by hand right after
Halloween.
If there was a movement to
save the postal service, Doris
Deither was by example in the
forefront with her hundreds of
posts mailed on friends’ birthdays
and other holidays. These cards
always included some sort of
kitchen-tested casserole recipe.
Greenwich Village icon Doris
Deither, zoning maven, Grand
Dame of land use, and the Queen
of Washington Square Park
passed away in her Waverly Place
apartment on Thursday. Sept. 16.
She was 92.
Just blocks away from Washington
Square Park, which served
as her front yard, Doris lived in
a ground-fl oor apartment for 63
years. She moved in when she
married music critic and musicologist
Jack Deither in 1958. He
died in 1987.
In 1959 Doris entered public
life, successfully fi ghting Robert
Moses’ plan to stop free Shakespeare
in the Park.
A year later, accompanied by a
hefty sow on a lease, she’s known
for this antic in May 1960 of protesting
at Governor Rockefeller’s
54th St. the “piggish greed” of
relaxed rent-controlled laws. An
interesting note, she later worked
for Rockefeller and was very
proud that she collected a pension
from him, even until last week.
A contemporary and fellow
traveler of Jane Jacobs, they supported
the same issues including
fi ghting Robert Moses’ urban renewal
plan. One strategy included
four women, of whom she was
one, dividing up the Village into
sections, (she handled the central
Village) who could quickly rally
troops from their sector when
bodies were needed for a protest.
Another issue she took on,
when there were proposals to stop
live music in Washington Square
Park she attended hearings and
rallied friends to get the votes to
squash the idea.
Serving on the Community
Board since it was established
in 1977 and on the Community
Planning Board that preceded it,
for a total of 57 years, she was
the longest-serving Community
Board member in Manhattan and
vehemently opposed term limits.
(Voters approved term limits in
2018. One can now serve four
consecutive two-year terms, and
after a two-year hiatus can be
reappointed.)
A zoning specialist
As the New York Observer
reported: “When Save the Village
decided in 1960 to draft an alternate
plan to the city’s overhaul of
the zoning code, Doris joined a
team of architects that included
Robert Jacobs, Jane’s husband.”
PHOTOS BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Picking up valuable information
along the way, zoning
became Doris’ specialty—she
became an expert in the fi eld.
Subsequently, Doris taught a class
at the Municipal Art Society, and
later a fi ve-part course at CUNY.
Former Community Board
Chair and Vice Chair of the Land
Use Committee Terri Cude served
with Doris on the Land Use Committee
for ten years. State Senator
Brad Hoylman who also served
with Doris on the Community
Board says, “ She knew the intricacies
of zoning that even the
lawyers don’t know.”
Current CB Chair Jeannine
Kiely says, “She read every application
and resolution and showed
up at committee and full-board
meetings prepared with questions
and comments. She is an example
of how every Community Board
member should participate.”
In this last decade or so,
many a member of the Community
Board would accompany her
home after each meeting.
Even during this last year,
when Doris was in and out
of rehab and the hospital, CB
District Manager Bob Gormley
would take papers to her to
review. When meetings went
remote after March 2020, Doris
attended by phone. Kiely reports,
“The last meeting she attended
was in August— it was on open
restaurants.”
Truly moved when he heard of
her passing, Doug Sheer recounts
knowing Doris for more than 50
years—primarily in the beginning
within the community housing
lens and issues of protection
of artists housing in and around
SoHo.
Sheer saw her every month
for over a decade at the Arsenal
Building near the zoo in Central
Park. “She was a fellow board
member at the NYC Department
of Cultural Affairs Artists Certifi -
cation Committee,” he said.
Summing his remembrances
up, Sheer continues, “She
inspired many, many people.”
“She was a fi erce defender of
artists housing and more broadly
of preservation in Greenwich
Village…where I grew up. She
embodied everything I like about
political involvement at its grass
roots.”
Doris is an example of a way to
live life. Kiely often thinks: What
would Doris do? “Doris gave it
her all; she didn’t live her life on
‘slow mode’. She loved New York
and took advantage of what it
had to offer. And (especially) she
loved the spectacle of Washington
Square Park.”
Doris’ 90th birthday
Two and half years ago the
community came together at Judson
Memorial Church (she was a
Doris Deither
Sunday regular for years and found
like-minded kindred at Judson) to
celebrate Doris’ 90th birthday.
Local restaurants donated food
and booze, Washington Square
Park musicians provided the
entertainment, and all the downtown
politicians paying homage,
attended and presented her with
certifi cates and proclamations.
Dressed in her favorite color
red, with a crown on her head,
she reigned over the festivities
accepting with delight the muchdeserved
praises.
The party also provided two
opportunities for donating, either
to the elevator fund, which would
be of use to Doris, or the postage
stamp fund— attendees knowing
how much she supports the postal
service.
A life well lived
When you think of Doris, you
can think of the nine Cs-cats, cards
(particularly Christmas), chocolate,
chardonnay, community, coffee,
champagne and charm.
And when it comes to describing
her a string of descriptive
words are conjured: an inspiration,
a gem, spunk, color, action, style,
commitment, remarkable, good
will, activism, joy, engaged, and
that impish smile. But these words
only begin to describe the life force
of this Villager and what and who
will be missing from Village life.
As to her wishes, she will not
be laid out. A commemorative
memorial will be planned soon.
The Judson bulletin paid tribute
to their devoted member his
week. “Her life was a wonderful
example of civic action, responsibility,
building community,
and friendship. She was at home
surrounded by love, including
her cats, as she transitioned.We
are grateful not just for Doris’
life, but for the lives of those who
cared for her. Life in Washington
Square Park will not be the same.”
4 September 23, 2021 Schneps Media