Phil Reed (February 21, 1949 – November 6, 2008) was a

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

Member from 1998 to 2005, when term limits forced him out of office. He represented the 8th district, encompassing Manhattan neighborhoods of

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

and Manhattan Valley, and a portion of the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

, as well as Randall's Island, Wards Island and

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

. He was the first openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

African-American New York City Council Member. From 2002 to 2005 he was the chair of the Council's Committee on Consumer Affairs. Reed was born in New York on February 21, 1949. He dropped out of

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...

and received

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

status during the Vietnam War. Prior to joining the Council, Reed worked for ten years as a sales representative for

Otis Elevator Company Otis Worldwide Corporation (trade name, branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) styled as OTIS is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment. ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. After returning to New York City, he was the project director at the East New York HIV/AIDS Project, and as the Director of Public Affairs for the Hetrick-Martin Institute. In 1981, he first developed symptoms that were ultimately diagnosed as HIV. From mid-1995 to early 1997, he underwent 18 months of chemotherapy for

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

, a virulent form of bone marrow cancer.Lipsyte, Robert
"COPING; The Re-education of Philip Reed"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', February 22, 1998. Accessed November 9, 2008. In 2003, Reed completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett LGBTQ Victory Institute] Leadership Fellow. Reed had earlier run and lost bids for the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

and the City Council. In 1997, Adam Clayton Powell IV ran for Manhattan Borough President, and Reed won a five-way race in the Democratic Party primary to fill Powell's vacant seat. He won the 1997 general election with 75% of the vote, outpacing four challengers led by Republican George L. Espada who had 18% of the vote.Staff
"THE 1997 ELECTIONS: RESULTS; The Races for City Council"
''

'', November 5, 1997. Accessed November 9, 2008. While in office, Reed gained attention for his work to prevent childhood

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

, a serious problem in his district. He also concentrated on measures to increase affordable housing and refurbish neighborhood parks. Reed vigorously opposed Mayor

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

's plan to relocate the

Museum of the City of New York The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923Beard, Rick. "Museum of the City of New York" in to preserve and present the history ...

from its location in East Harlem to the

Tweed Courthouse The Tweed Courthouse (also known as the Old New York County Courthouse) is a historic courthouse building at 52 Chambers Street (Manhattan), Chambers Street in the Civic Center, Manhattan, Civic Center of Manhattan in New York City, New Y ...

in downtown Manhattan. Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

ultimately scrapped this plan, moving the

New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (more commonly known as New York City Publ ...

to the Tweed Courthouse instead. Reed lived on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

and died at age 59 on November 6, 2008, of complications of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

that resulted from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

.Chan, Sewell
"Philip Reed, Councilman Who Fought for Health Issues, Dies at 59"
''

'', November 7, 2008. Accessed November 9, 2008.

References

External links

New York City Council Information PageGotham GazetteCorruption Is Not Dead At the Tweed Courthouse

Bloomberg Scuttles Museum's move to Tweed Courthouse
Dead link]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Phil African-American people in New York (state) politics AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) Deaths from leukemia in New York (state) American gay politicians Deaths from pneumonia in New York City African-American LGBTQ people New York City Council members Ohio Wesleyan University alumni 1949 births 2008 deaths Deaths from multiple myeloma in the United States American LGBTQ city council members LGBTQ people from New York (state) 20th-century New York (state) politicians People from the Upper West Side American conscientious objectors 20th-century American LGBTQ people African-American New York City Council members

See also

References

External links