Westbeth is a New York not-for-profit corporation and qualifies under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3). It is governed by a board of directors, whose members volunteer their time and expertise to ensure that Westbeth's mission as a center for the arts and a source of affordable housing for artists is met. The corporation has retained Phipps Housing Services to help it run the day-to-day operations and ensure that the needs of its 384 residential households as well as of its commercial tenants are met.
Westbeth Board of Directors
Susan Binet
Susan is a registered nurse and a trained first responder in the New York City Medical Reserve Corps. In that capacity, she assists some of the elderly residents at Westbeth. Prior to 1970, when Susan moved to Westbeth, she had a background in theatre and dance in Ohio. She appeared in productions at the Kettering Oakwood Theatre and the Dayton Theatre Guild and on local television in dance performances. Early on at Westbeth, she served on the board under the leadership of Joan Kaplan. She participated in the "Women's Collective," a literary and performing arts venue and performed in "Global Groove," a creation of video pioneer and artist Nam June Paik. She executed costumes for a dance company and fabrications for a visual artist's presentation. Currently the corporation's secretary, she has devoted many years of service to Westbeth, including a stint as president of the Westbeth Artists-Residents Council.
Carmi Bee
Carmi is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a graduate of The Cooper Union and Princeton University, and is president of RKT&B, an architecture and design firm based in New York City. He is also emeritus professor of architectural design at the City College of New York. He has received many awards, including grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Institute for Architectural Education, Princeton's Center for Urban and Environmental Studies, and The Cooper Union, as well as numerous design awards, including a First Honor Award for Design Excellence from the national AIA and the Andrew J. Thomas Award from the AIA's New York chapter.
Christina Brown
Currently the vice president for develoment and strategic relations of the New York City Charter School Center, Christina has more than 15 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining the Charter School Center, Christina was director of the Union Square Partnership, a local development corporation driving the revitalization of Manhattan's 14th Street-Union Square district. In addition to her fundraising duties, Christina was responsible for bringing residents, property owners and retailers together to create a shared vision for the area's development. Before moving to New York, Christina worked for two of Long Island's leading arts venues, the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts and the Staller Center for the Arts, developing arts-in-education programs, fundraising and managing theaters and galleries.
Ronni Denes
Ronni Denes is vice president for external affairs of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, responsible for institutional advancement, public affairs, communications, alumni relations, continuing education and public programs. With the college since 2000, Denes leads the $250 million Campaign for Cooper Union, the most ambitious in the institution's history, which has now passed the 65 percent mark. A contributor to research and practice in minority education, Denes spent 15 years at NACME, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation established at the National Academy of Engineering to increase access to careers in the scientific enterprise. As chief operating officer, she managed the organization's research and public policy agenda, academic programs, institutional advancement and public information.
Carol Feinman
Carol is an administrative law judge with the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. She currently serves as vice president of the corporation and has been a member of the board since 1995. A former chair of Community Board 2 and present chair of The Federation to Preserve the Greenwich Village Waterfront & Great Port, Carol is committed to the preservation of Greenwich Village as an historic community and to keeping as much of its low rise heritage as possible.
Michael Haberman
Michael is the president of PENCIL, a New York City-based nonprofit organization that develops customized relationships between business leaders and public school principals. He has a long history in the Village, having worked as the assistant editor of The Villager for two years and at New York University for five years. He has served on many non-profit boards, including The Caring Community, the Washington Square Association and the Greenwich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce.
Lisa Megeaski
Lisa has more than 20 years of experience in risk management and finance in the financial services industry. Now the chief credit officer for American Underwriters International, she was previously a senior credit officer at ABN AMRO Bank NV with responsibility for a wide range of businesses both domestically and internationally. Lisa brings a high appreciation of the arts and has served as a consultant to arts organizations within the City of New York. Lisa is treasurer of the corporation and sits on the audit-finance and real estate committees.
Barbara Prete
Barbara is a painter and writer who has lived in Westbeth since 1977. She raised three children here, one of whom, Allison, is now an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Barbara also has a background in finance; she attended the Harvard Business School and was director of Program Finance at the Empire State Development Corporation. She served as director of the National Book Awards for 10 years and as a development officer for several arts-related nonprofit organizations. Barbara was president of WARC for six years.
Merble Harrington Reagon
Merble is executive director of the Women's Center for Education and Career Advancement in New York City. She has worked for more than 35 years to create greater opportunities for low-wage workers and low-income women in the business and public sectors. Current community involvement includes board membership at Wider Opportunities for Women, the New York State Defenders Association, the Justice Fund, the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, and the Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund. Previous board memberships include Grace Church School, NYC Private Industry Council, and the Support Center for Nonprofit Management. She has received numerous awards including the Ellen Lurie Award from the Community Service Society in recognition of her efforts on behalf of the poor; the Woman of Color Award from the NY Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Clubs; and, the Susan B. Anthony Award from NOW NYC. She is a graduate of Smith College and the New York University School of Law.
Marc Rosen
Born in New York City, Marc grew up in and around Chicago, returning to New York to attend college. He is an honors graduate of Columbia College and Harvard Law School and has a master's degree in American History from Harvard. Following law school, Marc worked for 15 years for New York City including positions with the Planning Department and the Mayor's Office before serving as executive director of the Board of Correction and, later, deputy commissioner and general counsel of the City's Correction Department. He then moved to Connecticut where he was deputy secretary of state. In the second half of his career, he helped direct government relations activities for Southern New England Telephone Company and later AT&T. He has had a lifelong interest in both the visual and performing arts serving on the boards of a number of arts and other non-profit organizations, mostly in the Boston area where he lived during his years with AT&T. These included, among others, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Huntington Theater, the Dance Umbrella and the AT&T Foundation. Marc is now semi-retired and lives in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
BC Vermeersch
A native of the east side of Detroit, Michigan, BC Vermeersch recently retired as the director of Greenwich House Music School in the West Village. He also is on the board of the Friends of Washington Square Park and Washington Square Association. He has lived in Community Board 2 as long as he has been in NYC. His experience includes taxi driving, restaurant management, sales, philanthropy, teaching and concert productions. He has been a Board member for two years.
Arnold S. Warwick
Arnold Warwick has been a member of the board of directors since 2004. As a child, he attended the Center Academy, in Brooklyn, where his art teacher was Mark Rothko and the cantor was Richard Tucker. After Army service, he attended Bard College before going to work as an assistant manager at the Cherry Lane Theater. He has lived in Greenwich Village since 1955, where he raised three children with his wife, Jane. He founded Arnold S. Warwick, Ltd., a real estate management and brokerage company in Greenwich Village, in 1963, and is still its chief executive.