More than five hundred people filled Riverside Memorial Chapel's largest chamber and its balcony Sunday morning at the funeral of Stanley E. Michels, councilmember for upper Manhattan from 1978 to 2001, when he retired due to term limits. Michels passed away Friday morning, August 1. Link to our article about him on that day.

Michels was eulogized by his wife, Molly, his three children, Jeffrey, Shari and Karen, and his brother-in-law and sister, Dr.Alfred and Ellen Grant.  Congressman Charles B. Rangel, a friend of the family, spoke, as did Stanley's successor on the Council, Robert Jackson, and Michels' chief of staff for 23 years and 11 months, Steve Simon, who is now chief of staff to Manhattan Borough Parks Commissioner Bill Castro, spoke of the Councilmember's honesty, integrity and commitment to his word.. Rabbi Mordecai Schnaidman, of the Mount Sinai Jewish Center, chaplain at Presbyterian Hospital, spoke and said prayers for the departed.

A New York Times obituary was published Saturday.  You can link to it here. The obit, by Dennis Hevesi, emphasized Michels' legislative accomplishments, which were numerous but not widely known outside the Council.

 

We have received many messages from our readers about Stanley.  If you wish to tell about any experiences you enjoyed with him, or anything he said or did that you remember and value, just respond to this e-mail and your comments will be posted on our blog.  We will also do that for the messages already received. We will use your name, unless you ask us not to. We will give the blogs to the family.

 

Among the attendees Sunday were Congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Charles Rangel, many of Stanley's Council colleagues, including Speaker Christine Quinn, Michael Abel , Herb Berman, Gale  Brewer, Fred Cerullo,  Noach Dear, Ronnie Eldridge, Ken Fisher, Jim Gennaro, Carol Greitzer, Oliver Koppell, Judge Kathryn Freed, Robert Jackson, Miguel Martinez, Bill Perkins, Henry Stern, Jane Trichter, Ed Wallace and reputed Council candidate Denny Farrell.  If any member or former member was omitted, that was unintentional -- please let us know and the oversight will be corrected.

But by far the largest number of those present were people from the neighborhoods, not political figures but civilians who Stanley had helped, and men and women who knew him and liked him. Considering it was a Sunday morning in August, the turnout was exceptionally large, and showed the high regard in which Stanley was held by many of his colleagues, constituents, and friends from all over the city.

Stanley's park name, which he chose years ago, is Falcon. The name will be retired.