Sara Lee McWhite Park: Marlboro Houses Community Space Renamed in Honor of Late Resident

August 18, 2022August 17, 2022 LaToya

An outdoor community space at Brooklyn’s Marlboro Houses was recently renamed the “Sara Lee McWhite Park” in honor of the late Marlboro Houses resident who was a community and education advocate, resident association president, and NYCHA employee.

Assemblymembers Steve Cymbrowitz and Bill Colton, in partnership with the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, funded a $2 million revitalization of the area known as the “skatepark,” located at the corner of West 11 Street and Avenue X. Last August, during the development’s Family Day, the assemblymembers joined residents and other elected officials for a ribbon-cutting unveiling the improved space, which received new benches, trees, fencing, pavement, and barbeque pits. Though it has not been used as a skatepark for many years, it remains an important recreation area for residents and is the designated Family Day site.

“Sara Lee McWhite loved Marlboro Houses and believed deeply in the power of community to make the world a better place,” said Assemblymember Steven Cymbrowitz. “She would be pleased that this newly-renovated space will serve as a gathering place for people of all generations to share conversations, relax, play games and enjoy experiences that bring them closer together.”

“This grant reflects something that the Marlboro residents needed, and I am glad that we were able to make it happen,” said Assemblymember William Colton. “I am gratified that working together with the State Dormitory Authority and NYCHA, these improvements were provided to the residents of Marlboro Housing. Sara Lee McWhite was a longtime resident who always dreamed of such a facility, which Marlboro families will be able to enjoy and remember her.”

Residents were so happy with the improvements made to the skatepark that they contacted the assemblymembers for additional help with renaming it. The renaming efforts were led by Marlboro Houses Resident Association President Amarilys Herrera and were supported by residents through a unanimous vote at a resident association meeting; it’s also supported by Ms. McWhite’s two sons and other elected officials.

group of people standing in front of park — Assemblymember Steve Cymbrowitz (far right) with the family of Sara Lee McWhite at the ribbon-cutting for the re-named park.

“The renaming of this area in Sara Lee McWhite’s honor is the fulfillment of months of dedication to making sure that a woman who almost single-handedly helped revitalize Marlboro Houses is able to get her proper due,” Ms. Herrera said. “She was a great person, a very strong woman. Anyone who needed help in the community, she would help them out. She helped a lot of people to make sure they got a GED and accomplish things.”

Sara Lee McWhite lived at Marlboro Houses from 1984 until her death in 2008. She raised her two sons at the development and, according to her youngest son Nicholas McWhite, she helped organize the first Marlboro Houses Family Day and countless block parties, partnering with the Guardian Angels, NYPD, and Kiss FM radio; set up a summer camp for kids in the neighborhood; created the first Marlboro Houses Roving Patrol, serving as its director; and gave out free turkeys on Thanksgiving (her favorite thing to do, according to Mr. McWhite).

She was widowed when her sons were 10 and 13; while the community helped her raise her boys, she helped raise her community. In 1988, she founded Marlboro Prep, the first-ever high school diploma and general equivalency program in a public housing development. During its first year, 36 students enrolled in the program – all students of color between the ages of 17 and 21, many of them already parents themselves. “There’s no reason they can’t achieve the dreams they have,” Ms. McWhite told Newsday in May 1989.

“One thing my mom used to say to me and my brother a lot, as well as the kids in the neighborhood: ‘You don’t want to look for a job, you want to look for a career. A job is temporary, a career could last for a lifetime,’” Mr. McWhite said.

two men holding a framed proclamation — Jonathan McWhite (left) and his brother Nicholas McWhite attended the event to honor their mother and helped cut the ribbon at the upgraded park they enjoyed as children.

It is unclear on how long the program lasted, but Mildred Mitchell, a longtime Marlboro Houses resident, believes it was open for approximately a decade. “She was a very hard worker,” Ms. Mitchell said. “Always helping somebody that needed help. It didn’t matter who you were, she wouldn’t stop.”

Ms. McWhite fought against redistricting that would have split Marlboro Houses in two, served as the Chair of the Education and Library Committee for Community Board 13, ran for the school board, and was politically active in her community, often testifying at government-sponsored hearings in favor of issues that benefited Marlboro Houses and her neighbors. She also earned the first neighborhood Martin Luther King Peace Award for her work “promoting peace and interracial harmony in the Marlboro-Bensonhurst community.”

Ms. McWhite didn’t just live in a NYCHA development, she worked for NYCHA as well. She began her career in 1984 as a Tenant Patrol Coordinator and concluded her career more than 20 years later as Director of Youth Services, where she focused on programs that helped young substance abusers and pregnant teens and encouraged kids to stay in school.

“She was a changemaker,” her son Mr. McWhite said. “She wanted to be described as someone who loved her family, loved her community, and loved to serve others.”