It's fame, not retirement, for former councilwoman

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She has worn many hats in the community — chairwoman of Community Board 8, city councilwoman. Now June Eisland will be known for something else — a member of the Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame. 

Eisland was among the inductees to the hall’s 2017 class as the Bronx Jewish Historical Initiative moved to recognize her public service career.

Past inductees include Eisland’s longtime friend Rob Abrams, the former Bronx borough president who originally appointed Eisland to CB8 in the late 1960s. 

Eisland, a grandmother of five, was joined at the recent induction ceremony by her 14-year-old granddaughter Charlotte, who learned of her grandmother’s long history of public service work for the first time that evening.

Eisland spent more than 20 years in public office serving the northwest Bronx, focusing on transportation and land use, leaving city council in 2002.

Mayor John Lindsay first appointed Eisland to run the Mayor’s Urban Action Task Force in the late1960s where she made a name for herself championing automated fare cards on trains and buses — a program which later became known as MetroCard. In fact, many still fondly refer to Eisland as the “Mother of the MetroCard.”

But even the MetroCard won’t last forever — the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced last October plans to start phasing out the card in 2019. Riders would pay using their smartphones or bank cards. 

Eisland also successfully led the effort to establish the first modern ferry service between New York City and New Jersey, known today as New York Waterway.

“Back in the day the federal government closed the area around 42nd Street to traffic because of terrible pollution,” Eisland said. “One of the big problems was driving their cars into work from Jersey. On my own I did some studies … and found the biggest users would be people who would leave their cars home in New Jersey, park on the Jersey side, and take the ferry service to New York. And the rest is history.” 

Marti Michael, the former executive director of The Riverdale Y, recalled Eisland’s “quiet support and presence” at events during her tenure at the nonprofit. 

“When our senior center was up running and the nursery school was up and running, there were many times she was at The Y and involved in our work,” Michael said, who also served as part of the hall of fame’s selection committee. She knows Eisland as someone committed to public service and giving a helping hand to the community. 

Eisland no longer holds public office, but she’s far from retired. 

She serves as the board vice president for the Bronx Chamber of Commerce. She also formed Eisland Strategies, a consulting firm providing marketing strategies, economic development programs and event planning for as real estate developers, colleges and conventions centers.

The Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame is still new — the 2017 class Eisland is part of marks just its third year.

“There was a time in the 1940s and ‘50s when the Bronx had more Jews living in it than Israel did,” Michael said. “It was the place to move to when the Jewish immigrant population left the Lower East Side. They all aspired to moving to the Bronx and living on the Grand Concourse.”

Other members of this year’s class included: 

• Former New York Yankees player Ron Bloomberg, the first designated hitter in Major League Baseball history and also known as the “great Jewish hope.” 

• Author Miriam Hoffman, who survived the Russian gulag and the Post-World War II Displaced Persons Camps. She has since worked to preserve the Yiddish language and culture.

• Artist Joel Iskowitz, whose work has been displayed at the Pentagon and the White House. His work documenting the space shuttle mission is on permanent display at the NASA Kennedy Space Center Museum.

• Architect Daniel Liebeskind, one of the lead planners for the World Trade Center redevelopment in lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 terror attack.

• Michael Miller, who has served as the executive vice president and chief executive of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

• Journalist Marvin Scott, who is member of the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame and an 11-time Emmy award winner. He is currently a senior reporter at WPIX and an anchor for the channel’s show “PIX11 News Close Up.”

• Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, who manages and provides investment advice, is a principal and financial advisor at Bernstein Private Wealth Management’s New York office.

“The ceremony is an emotional time where people look back,” Michael said, “remembering the Bronx for meaningful points in their lives like where they held their bar mitzvahs, where they visited their grandma, where they had their first date. 

“It gives honorees and guests a chance to reflect back on how their life’s story and (how it) intertwines with the borough’s history.”

June Eisland, Bronx Jewish Hall of Fame, Lisa Herndon

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