Longtime Resident Devotes Nearly Half a Century to NYCHA Service 

For nearly 50 years, Birdie Glenn has been looking out for her fellow residents of Robinson Houses in Harlem.  

Whether as the supervisor of the local Resident Watch or the longtime president of the resident association, Ms. Glenn has built a reputation as a voice for the community. A resident of Robinson Houses since 1973, Ms. Glenn was one of the first to join what was then the Tenant Patrol when it was formed under NYCHA a year later. It was an opportunity to work part-time as a NYCHA employee while assisting her neighbors with various issues and helping to improve safety at the development.  

“I like helping people if I could,” she said of her interest in serving on the patrol, which later became Resident Watch. 

This past November, shortly before entering her fifth decade in the role, Ms. Glenn decided it was time to retire as Resident Watch Supervisor within the Authority’s Office of Safety and Security. However, she notes she is hardly done serving the NYCHA community, as she continues to lead the Robinson Houses Resident Association as president, a title she has held since 1976.  

“If I’m still RA president I’m still helping people,” said Ms. Glenn, a South Carolina native who lived at Taft Houses for three years before moving with her family to Robinson Houses.  

Ms. Glenn and her husband Roosevelt (a former Caretaker at King Towers) raised five sons at Robinson Houses. Two of them also worked at the Authority, one as a Maintenance Worker at Taft Houses and the other as a Caretaker at Clinton Houses.  

In addition to her service with the Resident Watch for 10 hours in the evenings each week, Ms. Glenn worked as a Board of Education paraprofessional assisting local students and parents for 34 years. Through her decades with the Resident Watch, Ms. Glenn and resident volunteers patrolled the lobby and other building areas, helping to ensure a safe environment and assisting fellow residents.  

“We help each other, that’s what we do around here,” she noted. 

Over the years, residents of all ages came to know and respect the passionate Ms. Glenn, whom they would also rely on for getting any number of issues resolved, from elevators to maintenance and security.  

“I’m like the elevator lady, the plumber, and the police too; you name it I’m it,” she quipped. “I know most of the people who live in my building and they know me.” 

Resident Watch Coordinator Johnny Mae Robinson also pointed to Ms. Glenn’s influence and notoriety among her neighbors at Robinson Houses.   

“If you go to her building, everybody knows Ms. Birdie and everybody listens to her,” said Ms. Robinson, who supervised Ms. Glenn for several years. “She has plenty of wisdom and knows a lot about NYCHA. She takes care of her people, and she’s been there for that community as a whole.”  

Remarking on Ms. Glenn’s commitment to serving residents for the past five decades, Ms. Robinson described the former veteran employee as someone who has enriched her community.  

“She took her job seriously; she was always on time and I don’t think she ever missed a day,” Ms. Robinson said.  

In reflecting on her nearly half a century as a NYCHA staff member, Ms. Glenn noted it was her passion for helping others that kept her on the job for so long, and she is grateful for the people she has worked with as well as the relationships she developed.  

“I’m proud of it,” she said of her career at NYCHA. “Over the years I liked what I was doing. I learned a lot and learned a lot about people.”

Photo caption: Robinson Houses Resident Association President Birdie Glenn (left) with City Councilmembers Gale Brewer and Diana Ayala at a past Family Day event. (courtesy of Councilmember Brewer’s office)