JHW: I know you're concerned with the state of public education and have tried to make it better. Tell me about that experience.
RWW: As an executive with Alliance Capital Management, I encouraged partnerships between Alliance Capital and both Manhattan's Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities and the High School for Art and Business. At Bayard Rustin High School, we at Alliance Capital donated computers to the high school and raised money for a state-of-the-art scoreboard in the gym, and initiated major renovations to the library, the principal's office and the teacher's lounge.
JHW: I'm told the impact of your initiatives has gone beyond improvements to the school building.
RWW: Through Alliance we enabled students to meet with business leaders in an effort to foster their growth, learning and career aspirations.

JHW: The condition of the Seventh Regiment Armory has greatly deteriorated. I know you're concerned.
RWW: I most certainly am. Built between 1877 and 1880, the Seventh Regiment Armory occupies an entire City block between Park and Lexington Avenues, 66th and 67th Streets. This is an historic landmark and it is crumbling. It is underutilized because it is not air conditioned and cannot be used for several months of the year. Priceless rooms have suffered water damage.

Its interior rooms are considered the single most important collection of nineteenth century interiors to survive intact in one building. The Drill Shed, with its soaring, column-free space, is significant in the history of American engineering.

JHW: You have a reputation as a leader in the struggle to protect the East Side from overdevelopment.
RWW: I made the recent motion which put Community Board 8 on record opposing the Trump World Tower on First Avenue, between 47th and 48th streets. My resolution asked the Board of Standards and Appeals to reverse a zoning decision favorable to Trump World Tower and to revoke the project's Building Department permit.
JHW: Can you explain to me why you're so opposed to this Trump project?
RWW: I oppose the project because the residential skyscraper will tower over the nearby United Nation's building and its neighbors. It will cast a huge shadow over the surrounding neighborhood, blocking fresh air and sunlight. I'm also working to preserve our residential mid-blocks. Developers want to build a 31 story tower on the mid block of East 76th Street near the East River. Developers seek to overturn the principal of low-rise mid block zoning and rezone the industrial property to R8 zoning to permit a high rise tower.
JHW: What are you doing in terms of this zoning issue?
RWW: As a member of Community Board 8, I voted to oppose R8 rezoning on East 76th Street. I voted to rezone the block instead to the traditional R8B low-rise classification. And I offered testimony to the City Planning Commission in favor of low-rise zoning for the site and helped mobilize community participation in the Planning Commission hearing.
JHW: While we're on this topic, I understand Con Edison may be courting developers to buy some of its property.
RWW: Yes, at Con Ed's 40th Street site, for one. As you may know, Con Edison is preparing to sell the property that now houses its mammoth steam plant at 40th Street and the East River as well as related properties on First Avenue at 36th, 40th and 42nd Streets.

We haven't yet touched on Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village and Waterside. I'll fight perpetual MCI rent increases and lobby Albany to strengthen tenant protections. I'll also seek funding to complete and maintain the waterfront park at Stuyvesant Cove, which eventually would be part of a continuous East River Promenade stretching from Gracie Mansion to the Battery. I'll also work to bring corporate resources to PS. 40 and J.H.S. 104, and continue the funding stream Council Member Eristoff arranged for "Operation Escort," which helps area senior citizens.