It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Victor J. Papa, our beloved figure in the Two Bridges neighborhood, who served as the President of Two Bridges Neighborhood Council for nearly 30 years. He was well known for his fiery personality, great sense of humor, and advocacy work for residents in the Lower East Side. He was surrounded by his loved ones at the time of his passing. Thank you for all of the love and support that has been expressed by community members, residents, and community partners during this very difficult time. We will share more details for his funeral arrangements once it is shared by his family via our website.
–Two Bridges Neighborhood Council Board and Staff
“Victor Papa was an avid President of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council for several decades. I worked closely with him in developing seven sites in the Two Bridges Urban Renewal Area. Victor was passionate about community and about assuring the developments served the needs of the residents. He also cared deeply about diversity, good management and safety. He worked hard to assure that the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council would thrive.” –Carol Lamberg, Board Chair
UPDATED 1.26.2024
THE PAPA FAMILY IS SADDENED TO ANNOUNCE THE PASSING OF
Victor J. Papa
• A lifetime activist who served low‐income families of the Lower East Side as Director of the Lower East Side Catholic Area Conference and as President of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council.
• A member of the parish of St. James and most recently The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.
•A resident of Southbridge Towers since 1971 and served as the President of the Board of Directors from the early 90s to 1999.
•A member of the Boards of Hamilton‐Madison House, Carroll Gardens Association (Brooklyn), Southbridge Adult and Senior Citizen Center and SEBCO Development (Bronx).
•A member of the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy, Lt. Joseph Petrosino Lodge 285.
•A Knight of Columbus.
VIEWING
Provenzano Lanza Funeral Home
43 2nd Ave
New York, NY
Saturday, January 27th 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Sunday, January 28th 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm
MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL
The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral
263 Mulberry Street, New York NY
(corner of Prince & Mott Streets)
Monday, January 29th 10:30 am
INTERNMENT
Victor’s wishes were to be cremated and interred in
the catacombs of The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.
This will be a private, family service on Tuesday, February 6th.
VICTOR J. PAPA OBITUARY
The son of Italian immigrants who settled on the Lower East Side in the early part of the last century, Victor Papa was born on James Street on the Lower East Side two days after VE day in May 1945 He and his extended family were all born and raised there belonging to the parish of St. James. He had two sons: Justin and the late Christopher, who passed on in 2021.
After attending St. James grammar school, he attended Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, then onto St. Francis Seminary in Lowell, Massachusetts to study for the priesthood. He then attended Fordham University. He has lived and worked on the Lower East Side all of his life.
His most recent tenure was as President of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council. This organization is the proud sponsor of over 1500 units of affordable housing of the Two Bridges Urban Renewal Area. Victor has been part of the organization since the early 1980’s. As a board member during those years, he participated in the guidance of the development of the urban development of the site, which includes a senior residence of 101 units, a mixed income residential tower of 200 units, a major mental health clinic operated by Hamilton-Madison House, and the ushering in of the first Manhattan Pathmark Supermarket, which has since been replaced by a 72-story private residential tower. He also spearheaded Two Bridges’ sponsorship of the official designation of the Chinatown Little Italy Historic District.
Before Two Bridges he served as the Executive Director of Immigrant Social Services (ISS), Inc., a social service organization dedicated to serving Asian immigrant families settling in Manhattan’s Chinatown community.
He is the former Executive Director of the Lower East Side Catholic Area Conference (LESAC), a position he held from 1989 to 1996. One notable achievement as an activist in that position was that he brought light to the plight of the Golden Venture refugee-survivors stranded June 6, 1993 when their ship ran aground on a Rockaway beach in Queens, New York. He soon helped to form a national inter-faith coalition which eventually led to the release of some of the refugees from INS custody. Through his role as Executive Director of the Conference, LESAC also built affordable housing through sweat equity programs and tenant cooperatives. He brought the Conference to a prominent leadership role on the Lower East Side by making its advocacy voice present and accounted for throughout the years. In one instance he was instrumental in bringing striking workers of a large Chinatown restaurant and its owners to the table for an eventual settlement.
One of his notable grassroots activist achievements was a victory against Sloans Supermarket in 1988 which, as a means to cut out competition at the time, was warehousing valuable NYC Housing Authority commercial property across the street from one of their stores on Madison Street. His grass-roots organizing efforts led to a court decision in which Sloans lost the lease to the NYCHA property.
Mr. Papa completed a 7-year tenure as president of the board of directors of Southbridge Towers, Inc, a 1650-unit Mitchell-Lama Coop located in Lower Manhattan. He was also a Vice President of the board of Hamilton-Madison House, a member of the Greater Chinatown Community Association, a former member of Community Planning Board #1 in Lower Manhattan, and a board member of SEBCO Development in the South Bronx and the Carroll Gardens Association in Brooklyn.