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Midtown's Community Board 5 Welcomes Newest Members

By DNAinfo Staff on April 7, 2011 6:50am  | Updated on April 7, 2011 6:59am

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MIDTOWN — Community Board 5, meet your newest members.

Eight new faces are set to join Midtown's CB5 this month, including a city planner, several attorneys and a local restaurateur.

Among the newest members is attorney Sylvia Di Pietro, who is no stranger to board work. Di Pietro, who lives and works near Union Square, currently serves on the New York County Lawyers Association's Board of Directors, and holds positions with the New York State and Women’s bar associations.

In addition to sharing her legal expertise, Di Pietro, 62, said she hopes to become a champion for the elderly as the population grows.

"They really suffer incredibly as they get older in terms of lack of attention," said Di Pietro, who listed medical, safety and housing issues, as well as financial abuse, among her top concerns.

Sylvia Di Pietro, one of Community Board 5's newest members.
Sylvia Di Pietro, one of Community Board 5's newest members.
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Courtesy of Sylvia E. Di Pietro

Also joining the board is Gramercy Park resident Jesse Bigelow, a senior vice president at the Maxim Group, who also serves as president of his condo board and a member of his local block association.

Though he's worked with the board on issues for years, Bigelow, 41, said he hopes being a member will give him greater say.

"There’s been a lot of changes that have been pushed through in our neighborhood that are really affecting our quality life and I feel that a lot of this is done arbitrarily," he said, pointing to traffic and liquor license concerns.

He hopes to "be a voice for my neighborhood and to try to have a dialogue with the various agencies to address these issues," he said.

City planner Raju Mann, a life-long New Yorker who recently began working at the Municipal Art Society after years at the City’s Department of Planning, has also stood on the other side of the table from the board.

Mann, 31, said he hopes his expertise in the field will come in handy as the board tackles questions having to do with housing, land use and transportation, including the redevelopment of Moynihan and Penn stations.

"It should be fun," he said.

The other new members are Neha Dewan, an attorney at the Department of Education, consultant Frederick Wasch, student Eric Stern, restaurant owner Evan Pappanicholas and Daly Reville, a retired consultant who is familiar to many on the board as a former public member.

Midtown resident Daly Reville, one of Community Board 5's newest members, at a forum seeking input on a new public plaza.
Midtown resident Daly Reville, one of Community Board 5's newest members, at a forum seeking input on a new public plaza.
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DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer announced the new picks last week after sifting through 508 applications for 310 slots across the borough.

District Manager Wally Rubin declined to comment on the new members until the board’s next scheduled meeting, which will take place next Thurs., April 14, at 6 p.m. at St. Xavier High School a 30 W. 16th St.

Community District 5 stretches from 59th Street to 14th Street, from Eighth Avenue to Lexington.