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Claire Shulman

Claire Shulman (née Kantoff; February 23, 1926 – August 16, 2020) was an American politician and registered nurse from New York City. She served as director of community boards and deputy president of Queens Borough, before becoming interim borough president in 1986 when her predecessor resigned due to scandal. Shulman proceeded to serve in the role full-time and won four elections between 1986 and 2002. She was the first woman to hold the position.

Claire Shulman
Shulman in 2012
17th Borough President of Queens
In office
February 11, 1986[1] – January 1, 2002
Preceded byDonald Manes
Succeeded byHelen M. Marshall
Personal details
Born
Claire Kantoff[2]

(1926-02-23)February 23, 1926
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 16, 2020(2020-08-16) (aged 94)
Queens, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMelvin Shulman
Children3; including Ellen S. Baker
Residence(s)Beechhurst, Queens, New York
Alma materAdelphi University
OccupationNurse, politician

Early life

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Shulman was born in Brooklyn on February 23, 1926. She graduated from Adelphi University and was a registered nurse before getting into politics.[2] She met her future husband, Mel Shulman, a doctor, while both were working at Queens Hospital Center. [3]

Career

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Shulman first became involved in community life when she joined the Bayside Mother's Club in 1955.[4] She was active in Queens community affairs and was appointed to a community board in 1966, eventually going on to become its chairwomen.[2] She subsequently became Queens borough president Donald Manes' director of community boards in 1972 and his deputy in 1980. She took office initially as acting Borough President on February 11, 1986, after the scandal-tarred Manes, who later committed suicide, resigned.[1] She was elected Borough President by a unanimous vote of the nine New York City Council members from Queens on March 12.[5] She was then elected by popular vote to the remaining three years of Manes' term later that year[6] and to four-year terms again in 1989,[7] 1993, and 1997. She was unable to run for re-election in 2001 because of term limits,[8] and was succeeded by Helen Marshall on January 3, 2002.[9]

Shulman was noted for her passionate advocacy on issues including economic development, airport disputes, and the environment. For instance, she secured funding for the construction of Queens Hospital Center, as well as for 30,000 more school places for students. She also mediated a compromise with the board in 1987, when it voted in favor of a key city rezoning proposal that would spur the construction of middle-income apartment blocks. Neighborhoods made up of mostly single-family detached homes were against the proposal, and Shulman obtained an exemption for twelve such areas in Queens.[2]

Affiliations

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Shulman served as a member of the boards of directors of New York Hospital Queens and St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children.[10] She also assisted the Queens Zoo in obtaining its first bald eagle. The zoo's current bald eagles, Mel and Claire II, are named after Shulman and her husband.[11]

Later life

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Shulman established Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation,[12] and served as its president and CEO when it aggressively lobbied the New York City Council[13] in 2007 and 2008 to approve controversial legislation[14] that would remove all of the existing private property owners and 250 industrial businesses from the neighborhood of Willets Point, Queens, for redevelopment.[15] She was found to have conducted the lobbying for more than one year without filing any of the required public disclosures. An investigation by the City Clerk's Lobbying Bureau led to it imposing a fine of $59,090 against Shulman's LDC, which was a then-record penalty on a New York City lobbyist.[16] However, Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to her defense, characterizing this as a "cheap shot" against her and adding that "these groups are designed to lobby. I don’t know if they technically broke the law".[17] On a state level, then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and his successor, Eric Schneiderman investigated Shulman's lobbying campaign over a three-year period.[18] Schneiderman eventually found that Shulman's LDC indeed “flouted the law by lobbying elected officials, both directly and through third parties, to win approval of … favored projects”.[19]

Personal life

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During the last years of her life, she and her husband, Melvin Shulman, lived in Beechhurst, Queens, New York. They had one daughter, Ellen S. Baker, an astronaut [20] and a veteran of three Space Shuttle voyages, including one that docked with the Russian space station Mir. Their son, Lawrence Shulman, a medical oncologist, is chief medical officer at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Their adopted son, Kim Shulman, who worked as an assistant director on television series including Party of Five and films including Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, died from a cerebral hemorrhage on June 2, 2001.[21]

Health and death

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Shulman survived breast cancer[22] and lost both her breasts in separate mastectomies.[23] She died on August 16, 2020, at her home in Beechhurst, Queens.[2] She was 94 and suffered from lung cancer and pancreatic cancer in the time leading up to her death.[24][25] Before her death, she endorsed Donovan Richards for the 2020 Queens Borough presidency.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Oreskes, Michael (February 12, 1986). "Manes Resigns 2 Queens Posts, Citing 'Burden'". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e Fried, Joseph P. (August 17, 2020). "Claire Shulman, First Woman to Lead Queens, Dies at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  3. ^ "Claire Shulman Queens Borough President". QNS.com. TimesLedger Newspapers. September 2, 1999. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "'She was a trailblazer': Queens mourns loss of former Borough President Claire Shulman". QNS.com. August 17, 2020. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  5. ^ Lynn, Frank (March 13, 1986). "Shulman Elected to Succeed Manes". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  6. ^ James, George (November 5, 1986). "The Elections: A Challenge Is Rebuffed, a Comeback Fails; Shulman Victor in Queens Race For Manes Post". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  7. ^ Purdum, Todd S. (November 8, 1989). "The 1989 Elections: Board of Estimate — A Generation Of Ex-Critics Gains Power". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  8. ^ Bronck (March 4, 2017). "Former Queens Borough President Helen Marshall Passes At 87". The Bronx Daily. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  9. ^ Gentilviso, Richard (February 27, 2002). "Schools, Budget Are Marshall's Primary Issues". Queens Gazette. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  10. ^ "Claire Shulman Joins MMI Board Of Trustees". Queens Gazette. August 16, 2006. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  11. ^ New York Zoos and Aquarium website Archived October 15, 2008, at archive.today
  12. ^ Rivera, Ray (August 20, 2009). "New York Paid to Lobby Itself, Group Claims". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  13. ^ "Shulman lobbying machine goes full-steam". Iron Triangle Tracker. October 1, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  14. ^ "Showdown at Willets Point". Observer. October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  15. ^ "Willets Point Redevelopment: Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement; Executive Summary" (PDF). New York City Economic Development Corporation. November 2008. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  16. ^ Kemp, Joe (September 2009). "Property owners ask federal prosecutors to probe Flushing Willets Point Corona Land Development Corp". nydailynews.com. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  17. ^ "Odds And Ends". Daily News. New York. December 18, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  18. ^ Saul, Michael Howard (July 3, 2012). "City Agency Admits Illegal Lobby Effort". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  19. ^ "A.G. Schneiderman Ends Illegal Lobbying Of NYC Officials By Three Local Development Corporations | New York State Attorney General". ag.ny.gov. July 3, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  20. ^ ""A Vision for Education": Speech by New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, The Wharton Club, August 11, 1995". Archived from the original on October 18, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
  21. ^ Scheinbart, Betsy; Warren, Jennifer (June 6, 2001). "Claire Shulman's son dies in California at age 45". QNS.com. TimesLedger Newspapers. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  22. ^ Delatiner, Barbara (October 11, 1998). "The Guide". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  23. ^ "Shulman To Receive Award From NYHQ". Queens Gazette. September 28, 2005. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  24. ^ Chasan, Aliza (August 16, 2020). "Former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman dies". WPIX. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  25. ^ Gewelb, Zach (August 16, 2020). "Claire Shulman, who served Queens as borough president for 16 years, dead at 94". AM New York Metro. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
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Political offices
Preceded by Borough President of Queens
1986–2002 		Succeeded by
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