Carol Greitzer, a stalwart defender of Greenwich Village’s architectural heritage and a trailblazer for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights in New York politics, died April 14 at age 101. The former City Council member’s six-decade career was defined by successful battles against Robert Moses’ urban renewal projects and establishment of the city’s first historic districts.
Elected in 1969 as one of only three women on the 43-member Council, Greitzer co-sponsored the landmark 1973 gay rights bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. Preservationists credit her with saving Washington Square Park’s iconic arch and blocking Moses’ proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway through SoHo.
‘She understood that neighborhoods aren’t just buildings – they’re living communities,’ said urban historian Samuel Zipp in a 2025 NYU oral history interview. Greitzer’s 1989 rezoning of the Village became a national model for balancing development with community character preservation.
Current Council members propose renaming the Jefferson Market Library branch in her honor, though some business groups argue her strict zoning policies contributed to New York’s housing affordability crisis.