[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12081-12082]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  CELEBRATING HOW STANLEY MICHELS GAVE NORTHERN MANHATTAN A POWERFUL 
                         VOICE IN CITY POLITICS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 10, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a champion of 
environmental health and a stellar legislator, Stanley Michels, a 24-
year New York City Council member whose birthday we honor today. Three 
decades ago, he set for himself an ambitious task: to render visible 
the invisible, to--as he put it--``convince City Hall that there is 
life in Manhattan above 96th Street.'' A lifelong resident of northern 
Manhattan, he felt it imperative that he and his neighbors in West 
Harlem, in Washington Heights, in Inwood, in Morningside Heights, in 
Central Harlem, be given a voice. After an illustrious career on the 
Council, it's safe to say he has succeeded, and then some. The litany 
of legislative achievement attached to his name speaks to his political 
and personal philosophies: Prioritize the quality of life of everyday 
people. Hold steadfast to the guiding principles of fairness and 
pragmatism. And always, always stand by those who need most defending.
  An environmentalist at heart whose driving motivation was 
consistently the health and well-being of his constituency, Michels led 
the charge for cleaner air and the protection of the area's water 
supply. He advanced a precedent-setting law aiming to protect children 
from lead poisoning in apartments. He spearheaded an expansion of the 
city's recycling and waste-reduction programs, requiring the weekly 
collection of recyclables and granting the Council the power to approve 
the city's Solid Waste Management Plan. He railed against smoking and 
excessive noise in public places, limiting both in his time on the 
Council.
  Two short months after the attacks of Sept. 11, he held the first 
public hearings on air

[[Page 12082]]

quality and the environmental impact of the World Trade Center 
collapse. For nearly a decade, he chaired the Committee on 
Environmental Protection, early in his tenure bringing together at-odds 
parties in the battle over the city's watershed and succeeded in 
creating the dialogue that led to the Watershed Memorandum of 
Agreement, still effectively safeguarding the city's water-supply 
system today. A master of both policy and relationships, he is as good 
at legislating as he is at bringing people together.
  He fought then--and continues to fight--for the little guy. He 
required that there be public hearings before annual increases to rent-
stabilized apartments. He was the motivating force behind a provision 
that exempted seniors from certain rent increases. He closed loopholes 
in the deregulation of apartments, allowed the city to foreclose on 
individual properties in tax arrears, and eliminated the parking garage 
surtax for Manhattan residents.
  For a quarter of a century, he served tirelessly for the public. His 
home--too often forgotten, overlooked, disregarded--had finally a voice 
in city government. And what a powerful and distinct voice he gave 
them. He optimistically noted that his tenure sent the city a clear 
message: that ``no city agency can ignore us'' ever again.

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