Rest in Peace, Robert Schneck (1948–2023)

Lower Manhattan community leader Robert Schneck passed away earlier this month, according to Monday’s edition of the Broadsheet. A poet and photographer who advocated for issues ranging from rent reform to the preservation of Rector Street’s pedestrian bridge, Schneck was also determined to bring solar electricity to underdeveloped regions in Africa as well as other ways to live energy-efficiently. He was 75.

A member of Community Board 1 since 2011, Schneck began his background in grassroots advocacy decades ago — working at the Teacher Corps in Washington, D.C., in addition to building schools overseas with the Peace Corps. He had eventually turned his focus to developing eco-friendly homes with his “passive house” innovation, a residential unit that “uses 90 percent less energy than a traditional home,” according to the Broadsheet, and “generates itself what little power it uses, and was constructed for less than the cost of similarly sized ordinary homes.”

More from the Broadsheet: 

He leveraged this into advocacy for adopting the passive house standard for new construction in New York, which was eventually incorporated into designs for the Bloomberg Center, the Cornell University outpost on Roosevelt Island.

“Bob Schneck was a man on a mission,” friend Robin Forst told Broadsheet. “Whether he was fighting to preserve the Rector Street Bridge or bringing the passive house standard to New York, he was a tireless advocate. He, along with his partner, Cora, was a regular at all things community . . . We applaud his energy and dedication to making Battery Park City the wonderful place it is.”

You can read more about Schneck and his life at the Broadsheet. 

photo: Broadsheet Daily