Two Bridges Neighborhood Council (TBNC) has announced the appointment of a new associate director.
She’s July Yang, who previously ran the Lower East Side non-profit’s music program. Yang, raised in Shenyang, China, received her MBA from Pace University in 2017. She’s worked at TBNC since 2013. Yang replaces Kerri Culhane, who served nearly five years in the job before departing in the spring of 2016 to do independent consulting work.
There’s been a lot of turnover in the staff at Two Bridges in the past year or two. By our count, eight staff members have moved on, including: Roxana Archer (community programs manager); Elisa Espiritu (director of development and communications); Hannah Fleisher (planning projects manager); Christine Keefe (director of community programs); Dan Ping (program manager); Michael Tsang (program manager); and Wilson Soo (program manager). Some have left to pursue advanced degrees (like Soo); others have gone on to realize longtime dreams (Tsang, for example opened an ice cream shop on Allen Street).
TBNC recently posted on its website news of four new hires, including Yang.
It’s a sensitive time for the organization. Along with its development partner, Settlement Housing Fund, Two Bridges Neighborhood Council revealed last year that it was selling a Cherry Street parcel to JDS Development Group for a 77-story residential tower. TBNC President Victor Papa said the project would create new affordable apartments (a portion of the units are designated for low- and middle-income households) and help pay for critical resiliency improvements in the neighborhood. The project, along with two additional large-scale towers now in-the-works, are widely unpopular in the community.
Two Bridges co-sponsored construction of more than 1500 affordable apartments beginning in the 1970s. It also runs a variety of community programs.
