Henry J Stern

A native New Yorker, Henry J. Stern has served in various capacities in New York City government. In 1973, and again in 1977, he was elected to the City Council as a member-at-large from Manhattan, a position he held for nine years before being appointed commissioner of parks and recreation by Mayor Koch on February 14, 1983. He served seven years in the Koch administration, until the end of the mayor’s term, during which he founded the Natural Resources Group, an environmental watchdog for New York City. In 1994, he was re-appointed parks commissioner by Mayor Giuliani and served in that position until 2002. As commissioner, Mr. Stern was credited with improving the cleanliness and safety of New York City’s 1,700 parks and playgrounds. Most notably, Central Park was largely restored, in partnership with the Central Park Conservancy. He also acquired several thousand acres of new parkland for the city, created over 2,000 "Greenstreets" at traffic intersections, erected 2,500 historic signs,and built over a billion dollars worth of park improvements as part of the capital construction program of Mayor Koch and Mayor Giuliani. Mr. Stern has received numerous honors in recognition of his environmental protection efforts, including the National Audubon Society Lifetime Achievement Award and the City Club Earthling Award for Environmental Excellence. In February 2002, in an effort to improve the quality of life for New York City residents, Mr. Stern, along with Alan M. Moss, former first deputy parks commissioner, co-founded New York Civic. Mr. Stern first served on the Board as an ex-officio member appointed by the NYC Mayor. He was reappointed in his individual capacity by the NYC Mayor in April 2003.