[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 9523-9524]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      IN RECOGNITION OF THE 23RD STREET ASSOCIATION AND ITS 2007 
      DISTINGUISHED CITIZEN, MR. JOSEPH ROBERTO OF NORTH FORK BANK

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 19, 2007

  Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the 
23rd Street Association, Inc., of New York City, its President, Sharon 
L. Ullman, and its honoree Joseph Roberto on the occasion of its annual 
Distinguished Citizen Award Luncheon. This year, the Association is 
bestowing its Distinguished Citizen Award upon Mr. Joseph Roberto, 
Divisional Senior Vice President of North Fork Bank, for his 
outstanding service to the community.
  The 23rd Street Association was formed in 1929 by 22 local business 
leaders to improve environmental conditions and promote economic 
development in Manhattan. Since that time, the 23rd Street Association 
and its civic-minded members have devoted themselves to maintaining and 
improving the quality of life for both businesses and residents of the 
vital and thriving area of Lower Manhattan between 18th and 28th 
Streets. Today, the Association plays an active role in the development 
and growth of the 23rd Street area, including the Gramercy Park and 
Flatiron neighborhoods and the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village 
middle-income housing developments.
  The Association also addresses a broad range of citizen complaints 
and concerns by working closely with local community boards as well as 
city, state and federal government agencies. Whether forming a 
partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation to 
ameliorate traffic congestion in Lower Manhattan or purchasing and 
planting hundreds of trees in conjunction with the City Parks 
Department, the Association's commitment to improving the neighborhoods 
and communities it serves has been truly remarkable. In recent years, 
the 23rd Street Association worked to block a plant to substitute a 
nearby women's shelter with a facility for high-risk men, a proposal 
forcefully fought by many local businesses and residents.
  This year, the 23rd Street Association is honoring Mr. Joseph Roberto 
of North Fork Bank with its Distinguished Citizen Award. A veteran of 
New York's business community, Joseph Roberto began his career by 
working in his family business, a chain of retail stores known as Pzaz, 
from 1979 through 1998. In 1998, Mr. Roberto joined North Fork Bank, 
where he currently serves as the Divisional Senior Vice President for 
Manhattan. Overseeing the bank's 45 Manhattan locations, Mr. Roberto 
has still found time and boundless energy to devote to his community 
and to countless worthy causes ranging from the American Cancer Society 
to United Cerebral Palsy to the Special Olympics.
  The 23rd Street Association's president, Sharon L. Ullman, has 
compiled an exceptional record of service to the community. She

[[Page 9524]]

spearheaded the establishment of the new Flatiron/23rd Street 
Partnership Business Improvement District, working tirelessly for 5 
years planning the project, raising the funding needed to bring it to 
fruition, and inspiring the will and energy to make it such an 
outstanding success for local businesses and residents alike. She has 
also dedicated herself to the community by serving as the Warden of 
Madison Square Park and as a longtime board member of worthwhile 
organizations like the Associated Blind, Inc. Ms. Ullman was also named 
one of the top 100 New Yorkers by New York Resident magazine.
  Madam Speaker, I request that my colleagues join me in paying tribute 
to the 23rd Street Association, its president, Sharon L. Ullman, and 
its honoree, Joseph Roberto, for their outstanding service and 
dedication to the civic life of our nation's greatest metropolis.

                          ____________________