Theresa 'Tish' & Guido Cianciotta

Theresa 'Tish' and Guido Cianciotta. . This building honors activists Theresa 'Tish' and Guido Cianciotta for their tireless commitment to the welfare of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint Community and their key role in the transformation of the buildings from the closed Greenpoint Hospital (GH) into a positive reuse for the neighborhood. Tish and Guido were married partners in life as well as advocacy. Lifelong Brooklyn residents, they were members of the National Congress of Neighborhood Women Women and the Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation (GREC). In 1978 they formed the Concerned Citizens of Withers Street and Area Block Association. When the empty buildings of the GH were converted by the city into a homeless shelter in 1983, they protested the city's intrusion for not consulting with the community, bypassing plans for a positive reuse already submitted. For 140 nights, the Withers Street Block Association and allies picketed the hospital for the release of the main building. They filled up by going to the courts and City Hall, which resulted in the release of four buildings for housing the GREC plan and the reduction of the homeless shelter. Tish was a member of Community Board 1 and worked as a community leader liaison to assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol. Guido, a world war two veteran, worked as a union delegate of Local 831 Sanitation Workers Union.