ST. GEORGE — A St. George intersection was renamed after the former executive director of the Downtown Staten Island Council, Roberta "Bobbie" Jacobowitz, who helped bring a popular greenmarket to the spot.
St. Mark's Place and Hyatt Place was co-named the "Roberta 'Bobbie' Jacobowitz Way" in memory of the longtime Westerleigh resident who worked to tackle quality-of-life issues for businesses and residents in the North Shore, said Councilwoman Debi Rose, who sponsored the street renaming.
"Although Ms. Jacobowitz has passed, her incredible legacy of service endures," Rose said in a statement.
"It can be seen in all corners of our community, including one of her most beloved achievements — St. George’s Greenmarket, which has become a place not only for fresh produce but for socializing and community-building."
Jacobowitz, née Persky, was born in the Bronx and moved to Westerleigh in 1955, Rose said. She then moved to Sunnyside, Queens, a year later but returned to Westerleigh in 1987, where she stayed until she passed in 2014, the Staten Island Advance reported.
She co-owned a woman's clothing store in various neighborhoods from 1955 to 1976 with her husband, Robert, worked as a real estate agent in Castleton Corners and in sales for furniture store Quatrelle, Rose said.
In the late 1980s, Jacobowitz was appointed the executive director of the non-profit Downtown Staten Island Council, then called the St. George/Tompkinsville Improvement Corps, until she retired in 2007, the Advance reported.
During her tenure, she organized volunteers to remove graffiti and clean streets, added signs identifying the neighborhood as "Downtown Staten Island," worked with the city to enhance Tompkinsville Park and pushed to start the St. George Greenmarket at St. Mark's Place and Hyatt Street, Rose said.
