Former CB1 Chair Anthony Notaro Left an 'Indelible Mark' on Downtown

Anthony Notaro joined Community Board 1 in 2000, not long after moving to Battery Park City, and soon took on many other volunteer leadership roles. Photo: Robert Schneck

Anthony F. Notaro, Jr., the former chair of Community Board 1 and a longtime Lower Manhattan community leader and Battery Park City resident, died on Dec. 30 after a long bout with cancer. He was 69. 

Before leading CB1, from 2016 to June 2020, Notaro served as the board’s vice chair and chair of its Battery Park City Committee. From helping to found Battery Park City's Community Emergency Response Team and the charity BPC Cares to his work on behalf of Battery Park City homeowners, Notaro’s volunteerism on behalf of his neighborhood was nearly boundless.

Until his death, Notaro, whose day job was sales and marketing, was the longstanding president of the 1st Precinct Community Council, where he presided over monthly meetings with local residents and business people and the NYPD. 

“Anthony served our community for decades and left an indelible mark on Lower Manhattan and those he worked with on behalf of CB1 and the First Precinct Community Council,” CB1 chair Tammy Meltzer wrote in an email to board members announcing Notaro’s death.

“Anthony had a remarkable tenure as the 1st Precinct Community Council President,” said Elizabeth Williams, who served with Notaro as the Precinct Council’s vice president. “His commitment and service, over many years, will be missed.” 

One of his earliest acts of community service in Lower Manhattan was a big one: along with Rosalie Joseph, Notaro launched the Battery Park City Block Party as a spirit raising event in the wake of 9/11. The annual party was a staple of the neighborhood for 15 years. “It wasn’t the square dancing, pie eating contest, kiddie rides, arts and crafts or music that made it special,” the Trib said back in September 2002, in its report on the first party. “It was the coming together of a community in celebration of its own survival.”

Joseph worked with Notaro on many community projects, but she called the block party “our labor of love.”

“It would be impossible to measure the tremendous impact of Anthony’s tireless work for all downtown residents and businesses,” Joseph said in an email to the Trib. “He spent years in service to others and continually gave of himself to his family, his friends and his community.”

Notaro is survived by his wife, Susan Nitahara, stepchildren Lauren and Christopher, his brother Ken, and a niece and nephew. The funeral service, at 11 p.m., Friday, Jan. 8, will be livestreamed here [1]. An obituary written by the family can be found here [2].