Emily Rafferty used to roller skate by the Metropolitan Museum, where she is now president.

By Paulette Safdieh

Visitors come to the Upper East Side from all over the world for a bite to eat at Serendipity 3 or a carriage ride through Central Park, but most of all to spend some time visiting Museum Mile. Our famed museums along 5th Avenue keep our neighborhood bustling with culture and give our children some of the greatest educational opportunities outside of the classroom. Our biggest museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, dates back to 1866.
Current president and OTTY Award winner Emily Rafferty makes sure The Met continues to thrive and contribute to our community.
Raised on Park Avenue, Rafferty, 63, developed a love for The Met at a young age.
“I would roller skate by it on my way home and it was a part of my life to come to the museum,” said Rafferty. “I remember going to The Cloisters for the first time and being overwhelmed by its beauty. It was part of my neighborhood and I definitely embraced it.”
Rafferty attended grade school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart on East 91st Street, where she later served on the board for 15 years, four of those as chairwoman. While there, she fundraised and worked with city agencies to have the building’s façade restored. She attended high school at the Chapin School on East 84th Street and graduated from Boston University in 1971. During her college years in Massachusetts, she returned for a summer to work at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. She moved back to Manhattan for good in 1975.
“I’ve been very involved in the community,” said Rafferty. “My siblings and I are all very, very tied to the neighborhood.”
Rafferty started working at The Met at just 25 years old as an assistant director in the development office. Museum executives noticed her hard work and knack for fundraising and she continued to gain responsibilities. She became the first female vice president of the museum in 1984 and became president 20 years later. She now manages the over 2,000 employees and volunteers who serve 5.6 million annual visitors and take care of 2 million pieces of artwork.
“The greatest challenges are just the scope of what goes on at the museum on a day-to-day basis—everything from activities to visitors and what happens beyond the walls of The Met,” Rafferty said about her job. “It’s establishing priorities and making sure that problems get solved.”
Beyond her work at The Met, Rafferty chairs NYC & Company, the city’s tourism office, and serves as a member of the board of directors of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.
To get some breathing space, Rafferty walks through Central Park each morning to get to the museum from her West 77th Street apartment, where she lives with husband of 25 years, John Rafferty, a partner at Ernst & Young.
Since she moved from the Upper East Side over 20 years ago, Rafferty said the area has changed greatly with regard to its popularity and increased tourism industry. However, she said that the same core values of family and community from her childhood still characterize the neighborhood.
“There were a lot of very qualified people nominated for this award and I feel honored to receive it,” said Rafferty. “I don’t quite know why I emerged out of everyone else.” n

Tapped In: Notes from the Neighborhood

CAR WASH WORKERS TARGET UES OWNER

Last Friday, a group of car wash workers rallied at LMC Car Wash on East 109th Street to protest what they claim is its mistreatment of workers and to campaign for better working conditions. The car wash is one of about 20 in New York City operated by Lage Management Company; owner John Lage was ordered to pay over $3 million in back wages to workers in 2009 after the U.S. Department of Labor found that he had violated labor laws. Now, workers claim that conditions at Lage’s car washes are still unfair, that workers sometimes don’t make minimum wage and often work unpaid overtime.

Photo Credit: Andrew Schwartz

Sharing Titanic History

On the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, great grandson of Isidor and Ida Straus, Paul Kurzman, speaks with students at P.S. 198 the Isidor and Ida Straus School about the history of his family. The Strauses were founders and owners of the Macy’s department store. (INSET) Kurzman shared with students a locket recovered from Isidor Straus’ body.
DIABETES AND HEARING LOSS

Local audiologist group Audio Help Associates of Manhattan is offering free hearing screenings March 21-27 at their Upper East Side location, 186 E. 76th St. Hearing loss is about twice as common in adults with diabetes as in those who do not have the disease, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Doctors conducting the screenings will also be available to explain the connection between diabetes and hearing loss. To make an appointment, call 212-774-1971 and refer to code ADA SCREEN.
LAPPIN WANTS COMMUNITY BOARDS ONLINE

City Council Member Jessica Lappin introduced legislation last week that would require community board meetings to be broadcast live on the web. The bill would also mandate that recordings be archived and made available to the public within five days of meeting
dates. Community Board 6, which covers Turtle Bay, Murray Hill, Kips Bay and Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, may be launching a pilot program later this year, and Lappin hopes that other boards will soon follow suit. “New Yorkers are always on the go, and with technology, we can bring community board meetings to them,” Lappin said in a statement. “With live webcasting, we can connect New Yorkers and make government more accessible and transparent.”
CENTRAL PARK GETS HISTORIC NOD

Last week, the preservation advocacy group Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts presented the Central Park Conservancy with its
Distinctive Achievement Award for the restoration of the park’s East Meadow. The last of
seven major lawns to be restored by the Conservancy, the 6-acre stretch of East Meadow was revamped over the course of a year and reopened to the public in September 2011.

Drainage was improved and paths reconstructed and an automatic irrigation system was installed on the landscape. “With this project, the Central Park Conservancy has once again proven their determination to invest in this exceptional scenic landmark, which the Upper East Side is lucky to call our backyard,” said Matthew Coody, a Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts associate. The East Meadow will reopen to the public for passive recreation, following its fall/winter closure, in April.

Photo Credit: Andrew Schwartz

Some Fine Tuning

A high school student recieves some free instruction from Classical guitarist Ben Verdery, chair of the guitar department at the Yale School of Music, during the 92nd Street Y’s High School Guitar Day on March 18. The free day of guitar instruction for New York City teens of all playing levels, included workshops on Beginner Afro-Cuban; Hawaiian Slack Key; Classical Guitar; and Solo Flamenco Guitar Art and Technique. Visit our website at www.ourtownny.com for more photos from Guitar Day.
HELP PLAN BIKESHARE

The Department of Transportation is holding a community planning session to get input from local residents on how to develop the BikeShare program for the Upper East Side. The program, which will be funded by sponsorships and user fees, will place bike rental stations around the city, allowing members to rent bikes 24 hours a day and return them
to docking points at any station. One of the program’s aims is to connect people to other forms of public transit in areas where subways and buses aren’t accessible.

Representatives from Community Board 8, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Members Dan Garodnick and Jessica Lappin and Assembly Members Micah Kellner and Dan Quart will be at the session to hear community ideas and feedback about where to place BikeShare stations and how the program should be implemented. There will be two sessions Monday, March 26, at 6 and 7 p.m. at The Lighthouse, 111 E. 59th St., BV Hall, on the second floor. For information prior to the sessions, contact Josh Orzeck at jorzeck@dot.nyc.gov or call 212-839-6218.
FREE MAMMOGRAMS

Assembly Member Micah Kellner is coordinating with Project Renewal to provide free mammograms for the community Friday, April 20. Screenings will be conducted by appointment from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, 331 E. 70th St. Call Kellner’s office at 212-860-4906 to schedule an appointment in advance; all are eligible for the free service.