The next time you see a city truck driver check his convex mirror for passing pedestrians, thank Joan Millman.
The retired Carroll Gardens assemblywoman introduced the law requiring big buckets of bolts in the city to mount the curved looking glasses on their front cabs to eliminate blind spots, after a trucker killed two Gowanus boys coming home from PS 124.
It was one of her 58 bills that became law in the 18 years she spent in Albany championing children, seniors, and handicapped people before retiring last year at the age of 73.
“I believe we judge a society by how we treat our kids, our old people, and our people with disabilities,” says Millman, who authored the bill holding out-of-state facilities serving New York’s developmentally disabled children accountable.
Her legislations have made it possible to fine people posting junk mail on cars, established mentoring programs at small businesses owned by women and minorities, and connected colleges with charities to recycle old dorm furniture.
The former chairwoman of the Aging Committee also helped New Yorkers breathe a little easier in their golden years when she raised the income levels of seniors enrolled in New York’s discount prescription and rent-increase exemption programs to $50,000.
“That helped a lot of people because pills and rent are expensive,” says Millman, who brought in the National Guard after Hurricane Sandy, installed a T.K.T.S. discount ticket booth in Downtown, and helped renovate a library at PS 58 in Carroll Gardens. She also spurred initial funding for Brooklyn Bridge Park and helped the Brooklyn Academy of Music buy an abandoned building for a buck to house an international dance company, while launching free movie screenings and marketing trips for seniors, and aiding pint-sized philanthropists with their sock drives.
Former colleagues salute her industry.
“Joan is a class act and she will always remain a true champion for what is right,” says state Sen. Marty Golden (R–Bay Ridge), who co-sponsored the convex mirror bill with her.
Millman, currently weighing her options for a job in city administration, was a public servant long before winning a special election in 1997. She taught for 20 years at PS 10 in Park Slope where she was also the librarian responsible for creating a new mobile library system. Later, as Democratic district leader she moved a polling site from St. Charles Borromeo Church in Brooklyn Heights to the handicapped-accessible Cadman Towers co-op where disabled voters still cast their ballots today.
Supporters flooded her Facebook page after she announced her retirement with such well wishes as: “Thank you for your leadership and amazing heart, Joan!” and “Thanks to Joan for so much hard work and dedication, always with a smile and a willingness to listen.”
Millman was all ears when an upstate college drop-out from Brooklyn sought her advice, embarrassed he had let his family down. She contacted the president of a local learning institute, enabling him to complete his studies near home and earning herself a spot on his guest list.
“He invited me to his graduation,” she says proudly.
OCCUPATION: Retired assemblywoman.
CLAIM TO FAME: Helping to improve the quality of people’s lives.
FAVORITE PLACE: Brooklyn Bridge Park.
WOMAN I ADMIRE: Late Assemblywoman Eileen Dugan because she was a mentor and a teacher.
MOTTO: Tomorrow is another day.
