Editor’s Note: As part of a regular West Side Rag series, artist Michelle Hill interviews and draws Upper West Siders. This is the sixth installment in our Portrait of a Neighbor series.

By Michelle Hill

Eileen Marzola, born in Cleveland.

Why did you move to the Upper West Side? What have you been doing here?
I came to New York to attend Barnard College and in my freshman year I lived at Hewitt Hall, a dorm on West 116th and Broadway. I had a live-in babysitting job with the actor Avery Schreiber’s family for my sophomore and half of my junior year. Their apartment was at 161 West 75th. When Avery and his family went to the West coast so he could pursue his TV work, I moved to the Paris Hotel on 96th and West End where Barnard had rooms for students. My last year I moved into the new dorm on 120th and Amsterdam. My first apartment after college was a 4th floor walk-up on 107th and Amsterdam. I moved here to West 72nd Street 2-1/2 years later. The Upper West Side was love at first sight. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

I was an English major, art history minor in college and I fully expected one of those areas of interest would be my life’s work. I was fortunate enough to be able to pursue those ambitions while I was still in college. I worked with the Indian author, Ved Mehta, at the New Yorker Magazine for several years part time and then at Lear Levin Productions, where documentaries and commercials were written and filmed. I also worked at World Publishing Company in Cleveland doing editorial work. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to explore work in publishing while I was still in college. As I neared graduation, I decided publishing was not what I really wanted to do with my life, however.

During my last year at Barnard there was a city-wide teachers’ strike. I have always related well to children and just about every teacher I ever had in high school encouraged me to adopt teaching as my career. It never really interested me (I was going to write the great American novel!), but when I volunteered to teach some kids in a storefront in Harlem during the strike, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I really, really liked teaching! Who knew? So I returned to Cleveland after I graduated and took 9 credits in education at a local college there (Barnard did not offer education courses at that time). Those credits plus credits from one psychology course I had at Barnard entitled me to certification by the NYC Board of Education. I was an instant teacher! Of course I had no idea what I was doing! I had no student teaching and had never set foot in a NYC school in my life. I was very fortunate that my first assignment was in an elementary school in Central Harlem on 113th between 7th and 8th Avenue. Two “seasoned” teachers, Helen Gorelick and Gretel Zavelo, took me under their wings and basically taught me how to teach. I spent every lunch hour and free period I had with them. They really taught me about the importance of mentoring and I have never forgotten that lesson. I taught kindergarten, first, and fourth grades in that school, remaining there for 10 years.

When I was a classroom teacher, I was always frustrated by the fact that there were many children I could not help to reach their potential. I just didn’t have the tools I needed and the obstacles to success were huge. Crippling poverty, widespread family drug and alcohol use, and general instability of the home and family were rampant at that time. However, I have always been blessed to be in the right place at the right time, and in 1975 Public Law 94-142 “The Education for All Handicapped Children Act” was passed by Congress. Suddenly there was money available for people who wanted to pursue graduate study in special education. Teachers College at Columbia hosted one of the five Research Institutes for the Study of Learning Disabilities in the country and I was home! I went on to earn Master of Education and Doctor of Education degrees at T.C. in learning disabilities and taught there for 17 years at the same time I was working as a Learning Specialist/Resource Room Teacher at P.S. 6 on East 81st between Park and Madison.

I am NEVER bored! My first love is working with children and, since I left the school system, I have maintained a private practice working primarily with children who are both gifted and dyslexic. I also work as an educational consultant, advising parents and teaching professionals. My work is extremely diverse and I love that. I have done everything from testify in family court as an expert witness to consult on several films on dyslexia. I speak frequently at schools and conferences addressing the needs of children with dyslexia and related learning disabilities. I was just invited to speak at the first ever conference on dyslexia in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India in December of this year. One of my proudest moments, however, was when I was president of the NY Branch of the International Dyslexia Association. I helped establish the first free, supervised, high quality tutoring program for children in grades 4 and above who struggle with reading. That organization, now called Everyone Reading, continues to offer these services in the summer and after school.

How long have you been on the Upper West Side?
Yikes! It will be 50 years next year if you count my college years here!! I have been in this apartment on West 72nd since 1971!!

What was the WILD west like?
It was fine during the day, but I certainly had to be on hyper-alert during the evenings. Lots of people on the streets, more than a few quite menacing; many homeless; more visible drug and alcohol use. It was particularly tough for a young woman walking on the streets. I avoided walking alone late at night. As you moved uptown, Harlem was decimated at that time. It would be unrecognizable to those involved in the gentrification of that area today.

What do you miss about the old Upper West Side?
Probably the greater variety of residents and the ability of young people and those working in the arts to afford the rents. And I miss the old book stores (Shakespeare and Company) and movie theaters, especially the one that was right on 72nd and Broadway, the Embassy, and the Thalia where I immersed myself in foreign films (my Barnard senior thesis was on the political implications of the films of Jean Luc Godard).

What do you love about the Upper West Side?
The energy! You feel it the minute you return from trips anywhere else. The West Side has always been a politically active, culturally vibrant area and that hasn’t changed. People question, people think, people act when they see injustice and inequality. I love the parks, the river, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, general accessibility to film, theater, music, the wide range of restaurants, the accessibility of public transportation. I love the JCC and the amazing range of options they offer from viewing independent films to taking classes to engaging in stimulating discussions to indulging in the two pools and fitness area.

If you had a wish list for the new mayor what would it be?
In general, I wish the new mayor would spend more time exploring what our local residents really want and need. The congestion on the streets with all the new parking, bike lanes, and public seating drives me crazy. I know there are benefits for many with all of these changes, but I hate not being able to walk on the sidewalk in the theater district or navigate on the streets in a taxi after a show. I take public transportation when I can, but as I get older that gets more challenging. And, critically important for our future, I hope that the next mayor will be more conscientious about addressing the real needs of the schools in this city.

To read more from this series, click here.