Betsy Gotbaum was the New York City Public Advocate. She was elected as Public Advocate for New York City in 2001, and reelected in 2005. A longtime civic leader, she is the third woman elected to a citywide post in NYC history. Because she ran unopposed in the 2001 and 2005 elections, Betsy Gotbaum received more votes than any other candidate, including those for Mayor or Comptroller. She is a Democrat.
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A native New Yorker, Betsy Gotbaum attended The Brearley School and graduated from the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry in 1956. She then attended Connecticut College for 2 years, followed by Barnard College. She then received her B.A. from George Washington University in 1961. After graduation, she moved to Recife, Brazil, where she taught high school English and mastered Spanish and Portuguese. She returned to New York several years later and earned a Masters Degree in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Betsy Gotbaum became involved in civic affairs in the 1970s, while serving on the staff of former Mayor John Lindsay as District Manager for the Chelsea-Clinton (Manhattan West) Neighborhood, Assistant for Women's Issues, and Assistant for Education. Betsy Gotbaum continued her work in education with Mayor Abraham Beame, managing a training program for school security officers.
In the late 1970s, Betsy Gotbaum was recruited to run the New York Police Foundation. At the Police Foundation, she developed an innovative citywide health screening and work-site hypertension program with the New York City Police Department and facilitated an intensive training program for 911 operators. She also created a program engaging New York City in a campaign to purchase bulletproof vests for every police officer.
In 1990 newly elected Mayor David Dinkins appointed her the first female New York City Commissioner of the Department of Parks & Recreation. Gotbaum created a toll-free Parks hotline and successfully argued for a change in city policy allowing the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and other organizations to use Central Park for fundraising events.
After leaving the Parks Department in 1994, Gotbaum became President of the New-York Historical Society, a position she held until launching her campaign for Public Advocate in 2001. When she took over, the Historical Society was closed to the public and on the verge of bankruptcy after years of mismanagement. Betsy Gotbaum rescued the institution from financial collapse, renovated its landmark building, and recalled its collections from various warehouses. In November 2000, she opened the innovative Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture. She also instituted exhibitions, education and public programs for a diverse and ever-increasing audience, leaving the society with a $33 million endowment. Betsy Gotbaum resigned from the Historical Society to run for the Office of the Public Advocate.
In 2001, Gotbaum finished first in the Democratic primary and then defeated Norman Siegel in the Democratic runoff. She was unopposed in the general election. As Public Advocate she focused on education policy, along with women's issues, child welfare, affordable housing and senior services, and has been known to work with Mayor Michael Bloomberg on certain issues. She battled Bloomberg on mayoral succession issues. In return, Bloomberg sought to eliminate the office altogether in 2002 and reduced its budget.
Gotbaum focused on the ombudsman role of the office and specifically on the needs of children, the elderly, and people who are powerless. At the request of the New York State Legislature, Gotbaum created a Commission on School Governance to examine mayoral control before it expires in 2009.
In the September 13, 2005 Democratic primary, Gotbaum beat civil rights advocate Norman Siegel, as well as information technology and Wi-Fi advocate Andrew Rasiej, and the pro-business Queens-based dentist Jay Golub. She was unopposed in the general election. She took the oath of office for a second term on January 1, 2006.
Despite the extension of New York City term limits, which made Gotbaum eligible for a third term, she decided not to run for reelection.
Ms. Gotbaum was featured in this docudrama directed by Madeleine Sackler, in which she shared her views:
Upon taking office, she pledged to focus on five main policy areas—hunger, housing, child welfare, education, and women’s issues.
Throughout her career, Betsy Gotbaum has shown commitment to community service. She has served on the boards of innumerable not-for-profit organizations, including the Community Service Society; The Valley Recreation and Youth Development Program in Harlem; Goodwill Industries; and the Municipal Arts Society.
She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation and the Michael Stern Parkinson's Research Foundation. These organizations fund neuroscience research primarily at The Rockefeller University.
She has been married to former New York City labor leader Victor Gotbaum since 1977. Previously her name was Betsy Hogen, and she has one daughter from her first marriage. Her maiden name was Betsy Flower. She started an office blog, the Public Advocate's Corner, in September 2008.
On September 28, 2007, her daughter-in-law, Carol Gotbaum, died in custody shortly after she was arrested at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, after getting into a confrontation with gate crews who refused to allow her to board a plane to Tucson. In May 2008, the family filed a lawsuit against the City of Phoenix.
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