Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco - Loretta and Gene Would Be So Proud

A part of the impetus for the change is due to the behind-the-scenes work of people like Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco, a small woman with fuchsia glasses.... Epoch Times

UPDATED: August 31, 2014

At last night's (Friday, Aug. 29) ICE meeting we talked over old times about Loretta and Gene, two education fighters for social justice for their entire lives. They had been founders of ICE and were sorely missed. (Oh what would they be doing over in Staten Island over the recent events - they would be in the  midst of the battle over  some of the open racist crap coming out of some teachers.)

We had to meet in Staten Island when Gabby was born in the summer of 1975, just before the major upheaval of the massive budget cuts and strike to come. I remember at a meeting at the Priscos in late Aug or early Sept, Loretta standing on the stairs and burping the 2 week old Gabby.

In elementary school, Horowitz-Prisco once advocated for her cafeteria to offer peanut butter and jelly as an alternative to hot lunch. Her parents were schoolteachers and political activists for equal opportunity in education. From a young age, Horowitz-Prisco realized that children are a silent group, in terms of political power.

Thus, Gabby came into the world in the midst of a very active period for her parents and their friends and she has never stopped.

By the way, Gabby went to NYU Law and was one of legendary constitutional scholar Derick Bell's favorite student, even co-teaching classes with him.

I had the honor of sitting next to Bell's widow at Gabby's wedding.

She was one of the honored speakers at the dedication of an edition of a New York University Annual Survey of American Law.

See video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMYUuBqpScg.

How lucky we are that Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco uses her legal skills in the interests of social justice.

Thanks to Jeff Kaufman for sending this.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/topic/this-is-new-york/

This Is New York: Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco, Director of Juvenile Justice Project on Protecting Children

By Amelia Pang, Epoch Times | August 30, 2014

Last Updated: August 29, 2014 9:07 pm

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Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco the Director of the Juvenile Justice Project in her office in Manhattan on Aug. 18, 2014. (Benjamin Chasteen/Epoch Times)

​NEW YORK—For 23 hours a day, and for more than 300 days, there was nothing. There was nothing except the screams from nearby cells. The screams that drove the teenaged Ismael Nazario to wail, and press himself against the solid door of a 6-foot-by-8-foot room where he was held in solitary confinement. 

There was no human contact sans the stench left behind by former Rikers Island inmates who had occupied that cell.
Nazario was one of the many minors in New York who are imprisoned with adults each year. In 2008, there were 3,570 youth under the age of 18 who were admitted to jails in New York City, according to government data.
New York is one of two states that prosecute 16- and 17-year-olds as adults. Around 100 teenagers are housed in solitary confinement at Rikers Island at any given time, reported the Center for Investigative Reporting.
Earlier this month, the United States attorney in Manhattan released a report documenting Rikers prison guards’ disturbing brutality, including an incident that resulted in the skull fracture of an inmate.
The crime and punishment discourse has shifted from the conventional wisdom that prisons are not supposed to be nice places. Media coverage of the issue has sparked a public outcry, leading to the recent resignation of Florence Finkle, a top investigator at the New York City Department of Correction.
A part of the impetus for the change is due to the behind-the-scenes work of people like Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco, a small woman with fuchsia glasses.

Art Therapist, Attorney, Reformer

Horowitz-Prisco is the director of the Juvenile Justice Project at the Correction Association (CA), an independent nonprofit that advocates for prison reform.
At dinner parties, she talks about children in solitary confinement.
“It’s not everyone’s favorite party conversation,” she said. “But I don’t stop. We need to talk about these things.”
Day in and day out, Horowitz-Prisco is speaking publicly, researching, analyzing bills, or testifying at City Council hearings.
The CA is the only private organization in New York that has unrestricted access to prisons.
The organization was one of the first to address the crisis of AIDS in prisons in the ’80s. In recent times, it was involved in the passing of legislation such as the Safe Harbor Law, which prevents sexually exploited children from incarceration for prostitution.
The walls in her office are plastered with drawings from children. A meditation crystal rests on her desk to balance the bleak nature of her work. One may wonder why this former aspiring art therapist from Staten Island, turned attorney, turned policy analyst, cares so deeply about prison reform?

(Benjamin Chasteen/Epoch Times)
In elementary school, Horowitz-Prisco once advocated for her cafeteria to offer peanut butter and jelly as an alternative to hot lunch.
Her parents were schoolteachers and political activists for equal opportunity in education. From a young age, Horowitz-Prisco realized that children are a silent group, in terms of political power.
“Children don’t vote or have a lot of spending power. They don’t lobby. They don’t always have advocates for them the way other groups do. But I really think humanity rests on this. The cost of not caring for children is our collective well-being, the fate of a planet, a society, our ability to be happy,” she said.
She decided to become an attorney during an experience in college, when she volunteered at a shelter for runaway and homeless teenagers.

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There, she felt that lawyers and judges were in power.
“I felt that decisions made about their lives were not consistent with their own sense of where they would be safe,” she said.
So she became a lawyer. She worked for the Legal Aid Society and also the American Civil Liberties Union, where she worked to expose the FBI’s surveillance of religious, political, and ethnic groups.
In the end, she decided to come to the CA to work on policy reform, where she met Nazario.

(Benjamin Chasteen/Epoch Times)

The Human Capacity to Change

After Nazario was released from prison, he became a case manager for the Raise the Age campaign, which argues that psychologically, adolescents are still children, and placing them in the adult criminal justice system has perverse effects.
“He’s a young man that I now work with as a peer,” Horowitz-Prisco said. “Just because a child or an adult makes a mistake, it doesn’t mean that we should perpetually punish them for the rest of their lives.”
For two years, Nazario worked with at-risk youth from ages 12 to 17. He is currently doing similar work with Fortune Society, a nonprofit that provides resources for youth and formerly incarcerated people.
“No one is solely the worst thing they have ever done,” she said.

Video: Why are New York’s youth being lockeup like adults?

Warning: Some images may be disturbing.
This Is New York is a weekly feature that delves into the life of an inspiring individual in New York City. Read a new feature every Saturday online, and every Friday in print. See all our TINYs here: epochtim.es/TINY

Gene Prisco Memorial, Today, January 5, 2014, 2-4PM

I still can't come to grips with Gene being gone. We spent New Years Eve at Loretta's house in Staten Island with some of the crew who have been together socially and politically since the early 70s, the crew that founded the Coalitions of NYC School Workers in the 70s and ICE a decade ago. Paul Baizerman, another core member, died 2 years ago.

This will be quite an event -- if you knew Gene or knew of the work he did there is plenty of room.

There is a bus running from the ferry. 

From Loretta Prisco:

Sometimes we win one at the DOE!

We will be celebrating Gene's life on Sunday, January 5, 2:00-4:00 PM at IS 61.

The school is located at 445 Castleton Avenue, corner of Brighton Avenue on Staten Island.  It is the school that Gene served kids, parents and staff for most of his career.  Both of our daughters graduated there and I served on the Executive Board of the PTA for many years.  Needless to say, it is close to all of our hearts.

It will be held in the auditorium which is on the second floor and wheelchair accessible.  Our daughters performed so many times in that auditorium!

I do not have email addresses for so many people who said that they wanted to come.  Please pass the invitation to those that knew Gene and would like to attend.

Love, Loretta 

A Bittersweet Weekend

How to even begin to describe the levels of inspiration that Gene and Loretta provided? Committed educators, representative of the best of NYC and it's radical traditions, wonderful friends offering help and comfort to those around them, people full of humor and the life force... Farewell, brother: you lit the path before us and made it a little easier to go forward... Michael Fiorillo

Over 40 years ago I met a group of people when I became an education activist -- read "real reformer" -- in the community I taught in and in the UFT. A bunch of us have remained friends over these years. Losing one of the core members is a big blow. So today's (and tomorrow's) wake for Gene Prisco is a very sad affair. Our little group is heading over this afternoon and it is still hard to believe.

It was over 10 years ago when I had a party at my house, inviting the 70s group and a newer group of people I met though Ed Notes -- people like Michael and John Lawhead -- and later on, Jeff Kaufman and James Eterno and Lisa North and Gloria Brandman --- the old guard and the newer guard bonded very easily -- with many of the same views -- and that is what made the formation of ICE feasible.  And since Gene had already retired, it gave him a forum and an opportunity to introduce his strong voice to a larger audience.

It was hard to not talk about Gene and Loretta though I  pretty much kept saying, "oy vey." I am truly devoid of eloquence. Unfortunately I can't make the funeral on Tuesday morning as I have an important appointment with my dentist to fix a broken tooth.

Gene's wake will be today and tomorrow at Harmon's funeral home on Forest Ave in Staten Island from 4-7.

Purely due to coincidence, since we ordered the tickets a long time ago, last night 5 of us went out to see Garrison Keillor's "Prairie Home Companion" at Town Hall, the first of 4 New York live radio performances. (It will be rebroadcast today at 11 AM on NPR 820am radio. I recommend going to this if you can get tickets.)

We enjoyed 2 hours of laughter and a fine meal at a Thai place on 8th Ave off 42nd St. Now back to reality.

If you want some eloquence, here are some great comments at the ICE blog.

Jeff Kaufman said...

Thanks, James and to all of you who have known Gene and have been touched by his compassion, strength and lust for life. Gene's gift of making everyone feel special and important extended to those that totally disagreed with his strong views. While it is a huge loss he has left a legacy which will live on through all of us.

 

 John Lawhead said...

We loved you, Gene Prisco. You were a wise and charming fellow. You always had an open heart and timely words to make us feel we're part of something larger.

 

Mike MORE said...

May God Bless Loretta and the family, my deepest sympathies

 

Gloria said...

Although I didn't know Gene that well, I learned quickly at ICE meetings that when Gene was about to speak, it was in all of our best interests to listen very carefully! His words, his analysis, his advise always gave the energy and wisdom needed to move our goals towards building an activist, strong and member centric union forward! Gene, Presente !

James Eterno Tribute to Gene Prisco

Gene Prisco's activism proves that you can make a difference in the world by living up to your ideals. Our condolences go to Loretta and the entire family... James Eterno

James posted this at the ICE blog. He makes the important point that Gene and Loretta were an activist couple -- that activism was built into the fabric of their daily lives. Was there anyone on Staten Island who did not know them or of them? We rarely said "Gene" or "Loretta" - it was always "Gene 'n Loretta."

The loss of Paul Baizerman just about 2 years ago and now, Gene Prisco, is enormous for our small core of over 40-year education activists who always have had a rather unique point of view of work in and out of the union. One thing that tied us together was the fundamental belief in local - neighborhood - organizing as a way to build a movement. The uniting of parents and teachers and in the 70s we really tried to do that kind of work. Caucuses within the UFT don't really do that and I believe that is a root cause of their lack of traction. In fact ICE never did that because many of the leaders had already retired and no longer had a base in the schools. And ICE never attracted enough new recruits to make that happen.

Gene and Loretta were not very active in MORE but when ICE had to decide whether to basically end its existence as a caucus and enter into a new venture with groups and individuals whose political points of view we did not always agree with, they were both optimistic that over the long term consensus could be built.

This is an opportunity to point out that over the time we have been working together - in Another View in District 14, The Coalition of NYC School Workers (in the 70s) and the Independent Community of Educators (the past 10 years), we have ALWAYS been a consensus group -- meaning everyone had to agree before we moved forward -- no voting unless in the most extreme conditions -- and I can remember only 2 times we did vote and both turned into disasters.

I know, I know, that in essence opens us up to the filibuster. But we have always worked with reasonable people.

Now that is not the most optimal way to get things done and ICE was often stuck -- and we have tried to learn the lessons of what worked and didn't -- but we have pushed consistently that MORE be as consensus as feasible. We have always believed that democracy is not a matter of majority vote but of talking to each other to search for points of agreement with voting as a last resort. Gene Prisco had that fundamental view of what democracy is all about.

GENE PRISCO'S PASSING A BIG LOSS

I was aware that he was not well but I am still stunned by the passing of a founding member of ICE: Gene Prisco.  Tributes are starting to pour in.  Please read the Staten Island Advance obituary or the brief introduction to the Advance piece over at Ed Notes from Norm Scott. We are also reprinting in its entirety the message from the Democratic Party of Staten Island (see below).
Gene was truly a wonderful human being. My wife Camille and I both feel honored that we were able to know him and his wife Loretta.  What a truly inspiring couple who are kind of role models to us on how to be a politically active family.
When people like me would be rambling on at ICE meetings about some great injustice by Randi Weingarten or Bloomberg or anyone else, Gene would respond by acknowledging in no uncertain terms that the job of a union was primarily to protect its members and that the UFT should be criticized if they don't live up to their main mission. What was unique about Gene is he could make these points in a way that would make us roll over laughing. 
He had an amazing sense of humor and no matter how bad the conditions in the schools have worsened for teachers, his outlook at ICE meetings remained optimistic that we could make our issues (for example lower class sizes) part of the union's agenda. 
Gene and Loretta were in attendance regularly to support Jeff Kaufman, Barbara Kaplan Halper and me when we were on the UFT Executive Board. He knew that the UFT had the potential to be a positive force to make the education system a better place for teachers, parents and students.  He felt the same way about the promise of the Democratic Party. That is why he ran for Congress in 1998.
My wife is reminding me of Gene's commitment to assisting African refugees.  Some of these refugees were kids who were involved in war at very young ages. Gene took enormous pride in his commitment to the African Refuge organization.  Nothing made him happier than helping people get a better life.
Gene Prisco's activism proves that you can make a difference in the world by living up to your ideals. Our condolences go to Loretta and the entire family.

Staten Island Advance: Gene Prisco, liberal lion of Staten Island, educator, and activist for the disenfranchised, dies at 70

Excellent obit on Gene. Though I knew this was coming for the past month - and probably longer than that, I'm still having trouble breathing. Just last January we all celebrated Gene and Loretta's 70th birthday - I have some really bad video and so sorry I didn't bring the good camera -- dumb, dumb, dumb. Glad the old crew got to see him a few times since things went downhill starting in August. What could go wrong, did go wrong. We will tell the entire medical story as we know it soon. Many lessons for all of us with the main one being: if you can stay out of a hospital, do so. And I swear, when I saw Gene last Tuesday he didn't look much worse than he looks in this great photo. Astounding that Gene's mom died about a year ago with him taking extraordinary care of her. I keep smacking myself in the head over the entire story.

One of the ironies is that if Gene were well there was going to be a push for him to be the Staten Island rep on the PEP. How much fun would that have been?

If I haven't made it clear to people, Gene and Loretta were part of our hard-core activist crew from the early 70s. He was a founding member of the Coalition of NYC School Workers and of ICE -- I think it was Gene at ICE's first meeting on Oct. 30, 2003 who got up and said we had to run in the 2004 UFT elections and we all cheered in affirmation. Always funny and sharp and with brilliant insights into general politics and the UFT. 

By Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance

November 27, 2013 at 6:28 PM, updated November 27, 2013 at 6:37 PM

http://www.silive.com/obituaries/index.ssf/2013/11/gene_prisco_liberal_lion_of_st.html

 
Members of the political, education and activist communities are mourning the loss of Randall Manor resident Gene Prisco, shown here in 2012. 
 

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Eugene (Gene) Vincent Prisco, 70, of Randall Manor, a liberal lion of Staten Island politics and a longtime educator who also aided immigrants and refugees through his work with the African Refuge organization, died of complications from surgery on Monday in the Villanova, Pa., home of his daughter and son-in-law.

Mr. Prisco, a stalwart Democrat who made runs for U.S. Congress and state Senate and also helped generations of Island students as a school guidance and substance abuse counselor, was born in Queens and raised in the Bronx.
He moved to Grymes Hill in 1967, to Sunnyside in 1971, and to Randall Manor in 1974.

Vexed that the Democrats had long endorsed GOP state Sen. John Marchi, Prisco in 1994 launched a primary against Marchi for the Democratic nomination. Marchi prevailed, but Prisco successfully aired the issue of cross-endorsements.

In 1998, Prisco ran against GOP Rep. Vito Fossella. Though Fossella won the election, Prisco was praised for raising the issues of gun control and campaign finance reform during the race.

A proud liberal known also for his larger-than-life personality and sense of humor, Mr. Prisco was a longtime member of the Staten Island Democratic Association and belonged to the party's county committee.

"Gene was one of the most passionate and articulate voices on behalf of the Democratic Party that I have ever known," said borough Democratic chairman John Gulino. "He was a man of principle, a man of vision and a man with a deep and abiding love for his family, Staten Island and the Democratic Party. With Gene's passing, we have lost a champion for the values of the Democratic Party and it is a loss we all feel deeply."

Members of the North Shore Democratic Club observed a moment of silence in Mr. Prisco's honor before their meeting on Tuesday.

Sadness at Mr. Prisco's passing crossed party lines.
"Our politics never jibed, but we always got along," said GOP Borough President-elect James Oddo. "We always appreciated each other's candor. He was very passionate about education and teaching. I'm sorry to hear of his loss."

Mr. Prisco spent 33 years in the city public school system, most of it at Morris Intermediate School, Brighton Heights, where he was a social studies teacher and guidance and substance abuse counselor. Mr. Prisco also ran a bereavement group for students at Morris.

He also taught 6th grade at PS 18, where he started a free breakfast program, and was a substance abuse and guidance counselor at numerous Island elementary schools.

Mr. Prisco retired in 1999, but served as a teaching mentor at the College of Staten Island and Pace University.

Mr. Prisco belonged to the Community School Board for five years, and was a United Federation of Teachers delegate.

He also belonged to the Staten Island Alliance for Responsible Education , the Independent Community of Educators, the Coalition of New York City School Workers, the Staten Island Teacher's Action Committee, and Communities United for Respect and Trust.

Mr. Prisco was a member of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

Mr. Prisco earned a bachelor's degree in history from Iona College. He received a master's degree in Asian Studies from St. John's University, Queens, and an All But Dissertation degree in Asian and Russian Studies from New York University.

Mr. Prisco was chairman of the board of directors of the African Refuge organization, which runs an after-school center in Clifton and numerous other programs.

Mr. Prisco's family said it was that work he was most proud of. He was honored by the group in May as part of the African Refuge's 10th anniversary celebration.

The Rev. Judy Brown, executive director of African Refuge, said Mr. Prisco was "an inspiration in my life."
"He was a source of hope for many communities here on Staten Island," she said. "Gene had a unique personality full of warmth and humor, was genuinely concerned about disenfranchised people, and worked for justice and equality for all humankind. African Refuge and many other organizations on Staten Island will greatly miss him."

Mr. Prisco was vice president Neighborhood Housing Services and worked tirelessly on behalf of group clients right up until the time of his death.

Mr. Prisco had a rich and fulfilling family life.

Mr. Prisco and his wife of 47 years, the former Loretta Gallo, also a public school teacher, were an inseparable pair.

"Ours was an almost 50-year love affair," she said. "We did everything as a team, from working together to advocacy to haircut appointments."

Mr. Prisco was a pioneer when in 1975 he took child-care leave in order to stay home and care for his daughter, Gabrielle Horowitz-Prisco.

Daughter Francesca Molinari remembered Mr. Prisco as a hands-on father at a time when many dads were typically less demonstrative.

He doted on his granddaughter, Isabelle Molinari, and the two frequently visited the Staten Island Zoo, West Brighton, to see the porcupines. They also enjoyed visiting The Corner Book Store in Manhattan.

Mr. Prisco loved to read, and would often quip that his two favorite things were naps and novels.

An exceptional cook, Mr. Prisco was known for his Italian dishes.

He had a deep love and encyclopedia knowledge of jazz music, and was a film buff, enjoying foreign films in particular. He regularly attended the Montreal Film Festival.

World travelers, the Priscos took many trips aboard old-school ocean liners with the Cunard Cruise Line.
Toward the end of his life, with friends and family gathered at his bedside, Mr. Prisco said, "What I have come to see is that at the core, it is about love; it is the most important thing. It is the only thing. Without love, there is nothing."

Mr. Prisco was also close to his children's spouses, Steven Molinari and Re Horowitz-Prisco.

In addition to his wife, Loretta; his daughters, Gabrielle and Francesca, and his granddaughter, Mr. Prisco is survived by a brother, Peter Prisco.

Funeral arrangements, which are pending, are being handled by the Harmon Home for Funerals in West Brighton.