Council member Miriam Friedlander, undated portrait. Miriam Friedlander Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the NYC Department of Records and Information Services recently presented a panel discussion honoring the life and legacy of former Council member and trailblazer Miriam Friedlander. Panelists included Miriam’s close friends and colleagues Tommy Loeb, Lisa Kaplan, Frieda Bradlow and Margarita Lopez. Commissioner Pauline Toole moderated the discussion that highlighted Friedlander’s lasting impact on NYC municipal government and local communities.
The program took place on the evening of March 16, 2023, in the public reading room at DORIS’ 31 Chambers Street headquarters.
Miriam Sigel Friedlander was born in Pittsburg, in April 1914, and moved with her family to the Bronx and then Manhattan. Her brother Paul Sigel died in 1938 fighting for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. She married Mark E. Friedlander in 1939. Ms. Friedlander studied at New York University, and in 1973 she won a seat on the City Council representing the Second Council District, which then included Stuyvesant Town, SoHo, Chinatown, the East Village and the Lower East Side.
Miriam Friedlander and constituents, ca. 1980. Miriam Friedlander Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
During her nearly two decades on the City Council, Ms. Friedlander advanced the diverse and sometimes conflicting reform and leftist traditions of her district. In 1974 she urged the Council to change what members of the Council should be called noting that four of the 43 members are women: “We can no longer go along with the concept of Councilman.” Eventually the Council agreed to change the designation from Councilman to Council Member. Ms. Friedlander’s advocacy on behalf of women, tenants, and the LGBTQ community were hallmarks of her service on the City Council. She was narrowly defeated in 1991. She died on October 4, 2009, in Manhattan, at age 95.
The Municipal Archives collection also includes film and video of Miriam Friedlander participating in televised Channel L programs, accessible at Manhattan at Large: Honoring Miriam Friedlander.
Left to right: Carol Greitzer, Alair Townsend, Carolyn Maloney, Miriam Friedlander. Miriam Friedlander Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Miriam Friedlander with constituents in the Chinatown neighborhood, ca. 1975. Miriam Friedlander Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives
Bella Abzug and Miriam Friedlander, 1974. Miriam Friedlander Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives
Mayor David N. Dinkins greets Miriam Friedlander, City Hall, 1990. Miriam Friedlander Photograph Collection. NYC Municipal Archives