Celebrating Women’s History Month: Meet Polo Grounds Towers RA Leader Serena Chandler
When Serena Chandler first stepped onto the Upper Manhattan campus of Polo Grounds Towers, she felt an immediate affection.
Decades later, that love for the historic community she proudly calls home has not faded.
“The first day I came to the grounds I fell directly in love,” recalled Ms. Chandler, the development’s resident association (RA) president. “I’ve been having a 27-year love affair with the Polo Grounds; I absolutely love this place.”
After making her first visit to the development to meet with residents as a family advocate worker, she officially became a resident herself when she moved into an apartment two days before her birthday in March 1998. Her husband’s family, she notes, were among the first residents to move into the development in late 1967. Over the years, either through her work life or community advocacy, Ms. Chandler has fought for the wellbeing of Polo Grounds Towers and its 3,600 residents.
Currently in her first term as RA president, Ms. Chandler previously served as sergeant-at-arms for the board. While juggling her fair share of both compliments and criticisms throughout her time on the board, Ms. Chandler said she wears both hats proudly in her mission to improve the quality of life for fellow residents.
“It’s not just my honor, I feel like it is my duty to fight so that Polo Grounds and the people who live, work, and visit here can move about safely, move about proudly, and can see that somebody cares,” she stated. “If I could stay in this position forever I would, because I enjoy it so much.”
Whether helping to lead the charge for a local bicycle program, wellness circle, or free basic cable and wireless Internet services, Ms. Chandler finds fulfillment in seeing youth, seniors, and other neighbors take pride in where they live.
“When I see the children happy to get a bicycle, I’m proud of that,” she explained. “When I see our residents happy, that makes me happy. I thrive through their happiness.”
Serena Chandler has kept the Polo Grounds community’s wellbeing top of mind during her years as a resident leader.
In addition to the RA, her volunteer work has included chairing several committees and serving on the Neighborhood Opportunity Network (NeON) board and as the Polo Grounds team lead for the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP).
“I’m pretty busy all of the time with service to my community,” the longtime resident noted.
Ms. Chandler has also taken inspiration from her family and her own health challenges to leave a mark on the community. Seeking to change her diet and lifestyle after a diabetes diagnosis, she started a local walking club, the “Manhattan North Steppers,” and encouraged other residents to join. She has also promoted healthy living through a recipe exchange she initiated with neighbors, which led to her attending culinary school and earning the title of chef. Known as “Nanny’s Kitchen,” the program is a tribute to her grandmother, who inspired Ms. Chandler’s love of cooking as a young girl. The program, part of her Resident Action = Community Empowerment (RACE) initiative, supports young people who want to make healthier decisions about the food they buy and prepare for themselves and their families.
At her beloved Polo Grounds, much of Ms. Chandler’s work with resident leaders has been focused on various beautification projects such as neighborhood gardens, which she believes help to improve people’s esteem for their community. Polo Grounds Towers sits on a historic property that was a hallowed spot for American sports from the late 1800s through the early 1960s.
“I came into the presidency wanting to unite the people of the Polo Grounds,” she said. “I want us all to be united in our goal of achieving a beautiful 15.15 acres [so] that everyone should be proud to say that ‘I live in the Polo Grounds.’”
The development has welcomed a number of exciting improvement projects during her tenure, including a multisensory playground, upgraded recreation space and basketball court, and a soon-to-be fully launched pneumatic waste system, which she calls a “game-changer.”
“I’m happy that I’ll be the president when it’s completely up and running,” she said of the pneumatic system, which retrofits the existing garbage chute in each building to enable vacuum-based depositing of refuse and recyclables.
Among other achievements, Ms. Chandler is particularly proud of her work with an accountability task force, which convenes residents and representatives from NYCHA and the NYPD to address safety and other issues, helping to bring upgrades such as new security cameras.
The former Polo Grounds campuses carried a rich sports history, from hosting 16 baseball World Series, including the New York Yankees’ first championship, to being the birthplace of football’s New York Giants and baseball’s New York Mets. Many notable events occurred on the grounds, including a 1923 boxing match between heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and Argentinian challenger Luis Ángel Firpo, and Willie Mays’ legendary “The Catch” for the Giants in the 1954 World Series. While memorial plaques have been installed at Polo Grounds Towers to mark the approximate location of home plate on the old Giants field and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Dempsey-Firpo boxing match, Ms. Chandler envisions other tributes that can highlight its unique place in sports history.
“I would love to see a statue of Willie Mays somewhere on this campus,” she proposed. “People might learn the significance of where they now live and what it once was. Maybe if more people knew that a Black man made a very famous catch right here, it would increase their esteem.”
While there has been much to celebrate across the campus during her decades living at Polo Grounds, what’s been most gratifying for Ms. Chandler is the opportunity to uplift fellow residents and create a stronger sense of community.
“Just to be in service and to know that I am helping to make a difference in so many people’s lives, that’s good enough for me,” she said.
Since that first day she laid eyes on Polo Grounds, Ms. Chandler’s love has held strong for the community and she would be hard-pressed to ever look for a different home.
“I do not want to live anywhere else, I don’t want to be anywhere else, except here,” she stated. “I love this place with all of my heart. I am Polo Grounds ride or die.”