caputo’s term as cb7 chair concludes

| 01 Nov 2016 | 04:56

Elizabeth Caputo, a member of Community Board 7 since 2010, saw her three-year term as chairwoman end earlier this week. She is up for reappointment to the board.

This week marked the end Elizabeth Caputo’s term as chairwoman of Community Board 7, with fellow board member Roberta Semer taking her place.

A board member since 2010, Caputo is the first chairperson to have termed out. Her time as board chair was marked with an abundance of proposals and projects, including the creation of a CB 7 Twitter feed and forming a public housing task force. She has also overseen the Bloomingdale playground task force and worked to implement the controversial bike lanes along Amsterdam, Columbus and West End Avenues. She is otherwise an associated director at the World Economic Forum.

“Elizabeth is very positive to have as an example of someone who can balance a volunteer career and working career,” said Mark Diller, whom Caputo succeeded as chairman. “That’s no small accomplishment.”

Caputo moved to the Upper West Side fresh out of college in 1995 and began working various jobs both in government and the private sector. By her mid-30s, she realized the Upper West Side had become her “constant,” as she likes to say, and wanted to invest in the neighborhood. She joined CB 7 in 2010.

“I’m one of the people who wanted to stay,” Caputo said, regarding her move to the neighborhood. “I want it to be a place where people from all different walks of life and all different income levels and professions and ethnicities and everything else can live, work, play and make it a great place.”

Caputo will stay on as a board member and will be up for reappointment by the Manhattan Borough president. She plans on remaining involved in concerns related to the Museum of Natural History expansion, as well as transportation issues.

“I hope she stays in touch,” new board member Manuel Casanova said. “She’s an asset to the community.”