Community Corner

Find Out Who's On Your Wash Heights/Inwood Community Board This Year

Curious which of your uptown neighbors are serving on your local board? Patch has the exclusive on this year's new appointments.

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Curious who's voting on liquor license approvals, land-use actions, and other issues in Washington Heights and Inwood? The appointments to Manhattan's 12 community boards have been revealed, and some of your neighbors may be on the list.

The appointments were made Friday by Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine's office and shared exclusively with Patch.

Half of each board was up for reappointment this year, with each board's 50 members serving staggered two-year terms.

Find out what's happening in Washington Heights-Inwoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

(Scroll down to see the full membership list for each of Midtown's three boards.)

A total of 885 people applied to Manhattan community boards this year — the second-highest on record — for just 319 positions. This year's appointees include 91 first-time members, according to Levine's office.

Find out what's happening in Washington Heights-Inwoodfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Also, new this year, Levine's office asked applicants to say whether they owned cars — the first time that question has been asked. The result: 79 percent of first-time members say they don't have a car, which Levine's office says aligns more closely with Manhattan's demographics.

In a reflection of added outreach to underrepresented groups, 70 percent of first-time appointees identify as BIPOC, including an increased percentage of African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Asian American/Pacific Islander appointees.

Nearly 18 percent identify as LGBTQ, and 40 percent are renters, compared to 30 percent who say they have an ownership stake in their residence.

Washington Heights/Inwood, Community Board 12 Members

  • Hector Bonilla (new)
  • Daryl Cochrane
  • Nobles Crawford
  • Domingo Estevez
  • Jacob Banas (new)
  • Sally Fisher
  • Emily Marte
  • Carl Unegbu (new)
  • Elizabeth Lorris-Ritter
  • Bruce Robertson
  • Kimberly McCoy (new)
  • Steve Simon
  • Mansita Diawara (new)
  • Luiz Cruz (new)
  • Maria Del Valle (new)
  • Richard Allman
  • Robin Cruz
  • Jay Baez (new)
  • Fe Florimon
  • Jonathan Frometa (new)
  • Yosef Kalinsky
  • Jay Mazur
  • Isidro Medina
  • Deborah Nabavian
  • Angel Vasquez
  • Luana Ferriera (new)
  • James Bosley (new)
  • Osi Kaminer
  • Jumirna Alcober
  • Wayne Benjamin
  • Daniel Bonilla
  • Eleazar Bueno
  • Katherine Diaz
  • Gabriela Estrella
  • Mariam James
  • Leopoldo Jimenez
  • Michelle Lee
  • Maria Luna
  • Ayisha Oglivie
  • Tanya Bonner
  • Danielle Jettoo
  • Joelkys Abreu
  • Mary Anderson
  • James Berlin
  • Barbara Frazier
  • Cimary Hernandez
  • Francisco Lopez
  • Cindy Matos
  • Wendy Pena
  • Genesis Salas

"We need to ensure our community boards are composed of diverse local leaders so that we can recover from this pandemic equitably and stronger than we were before," Levine said in a statement, noting that he had served on a community board himself before entering politics himself.

"This new class of appointments is the culmination of our efforts to begin to transform Manhattan's Community Boards into a more fair and representative body that includes all the wonderful voices that together make Manhattan the most well-known community in the world."

Other statistics of note: 48 percent of first-time appointees identify as women, compared to 42 percent as men and 1 percent as gender nonconforming.

About 26 percent are under the age of 30, including six who are under the age of 20 — a "significant increase," according to Levine's office.


Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.

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