Street named for activist, Margaret Mack

Street named for activist, Margaret Mack
Photo by Edwin Soto

Outside Tracy Towers, a tribute to a tenant leader was recently installed.

West Mosholu Parkway South at Jerome Avenue was named the ‘Margaret Mack Triangle’ in a ceremony hosted by Councilman Andrew Cohen on Saturday, May 2.

Mack was a life-long resident of the Bronx with a passion for civic engagement.

A longtime tenant at Tracy Towers, she was heavily involved in the tenant’s association and acted as the corresponding secretary.

Mack championed many of her fellow residents’ causes over the years, including bringing attention to heat and hot water problems, roof leakage, dirty hallways, faulty elevators, and other health and safety issues.

She was also instrumental in organizing tenants in 2011 to fight a 77 percent rent hike over three years, said tenant association president Jean Hill.

Mack was invaluable in helping the tenants bring the issue to court, where a judge trimmed the hike for the many elderly and fixed income tenants who live there.

“She was like my right hand,” said Hill.

Mack also served alongside Hill on Community Board 7, where she was a longtime member, serving as the chair of the Parks and Recreation Committee, as well as on the Transportation Committee.

In this role, she advocated on matters related to local schools, educational centers, libraries and senior related issues in the Norwood neighborhood, according to Councilman Cohen’s office.

While Mack was mild mannered, beneath that lay a fighter and a fierce advocate for what she believed in, said Hill. But above all, Mack was always there to help out other tenants in any way she could.

“She was a neighbor in the true sense of the word,” said Hill. “She will be truly missed in this building, and by me personally.”

The tenants association and CB 7 supported the proposal to dedicate the street to Mack, which was brought to fruition by Councilman Cohen’s office.

“I am happy to be able to honor her memory by renaming West Mosholu Parkway ‘Margaret Mack Triangle,’” said Cohen. “Ms. Mack’s achievements convey a stabilizing force within her community, a legacy which still remains and likely will for many years to come.”

Reach Reporter Jaime Williams at 718-260-4591. E-mail her at jwilliams@cnglocal.com.