STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Cynthia Mailman, an artist, feminist, preservationist and community champion hailed as a “force of nature” for her outspoken activism, died Friday night in Calvary Hospital, Brooklyn, two weeks shy of her 83rd birthday.
The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, her family said.
A longtime Stapleton resident, Ms. Mailman was a prolific artist known for figurative and landscape works done in a “cool, pared-down” style.
Born and raised in the Bronx, she graduated from the former School of Industrial Arts, now the High School of Art and Design, in Manhattan. She earned a bachelor’s degree in art and art education from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and later, an MFA at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
She taught in the New York City public school system, at the former Livingston College of Rutgers University and at Queensborough Community College of the City University of New York.
In 1979, Ms. Mailman was commissioned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to create a mural for the PATH concourse at the original World Trade Center station. Titled “Commuter Landscape,” the 54-foot painting was a view of the Pulaski Skyway through the train windows, seen by over 100,000 people a day.
The mural, which took a year to complete, was destroyed in the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on Feb. 26, 1993.
As a founder and president of the Mud Lane Society for the Renaissance of Stapleton, Ms. Mailman fought against projects that threatened the historic integrity of the area, including a coal pipeline, a NASCAR racetrack and a sugar refinery.
She was equally vocal about women’s rights and antisemitism.
“Cynthia set the gold standard for neighborhood preservation and civic responsibility,” said Kamillah Hanks, city Councilmember and a Stapleton neighbor who appreciated Ms. Mailman as a friend, mentor and supporter.
“Once you met her, you could never forget her,” said Staten Island artist Diane Matyas. “Cynthia was bigger than life, with a powerful personality. She casts a long shadow as an artist and community member on Staten Island, and will be sorely missed.”
Ms. Mailman’s survivors include her husband of 60 years, Silver Sullivan; her brother-in-law, Dr. Philip Rosen, and a nephew, Julian Rosen. She was predeceased by her sister, Pamela Rosen, and her parents, Julius Mailman and Clara Russler Mailman.
A funeral service will take place Sunday at noon in Menorah Chapels, New Springville. Burial will be in Mount Hebron Cemetery, Queens.
A complete profile will follow in the Advance/SILive.com.