Mel Wymore has lived three different lives on the Upper West Side.
This month, Wymore, who has been a neighborhood resident for 22 years, assumed the position of Community Board 7 chair. Reflecting recently on her life in the city, she said that the Upper West Side has grounded her in two major identity transformations—both of which have helped her create a sense of self.
Wymore has gone from being married with two children to being an open lesbian, and is now in the midst of a transgender transformation. She said that through these transitions, she has always had her family and the neighborhood as a dependable backbone.
Wymore moved to the city from Arizona at age 26 and found her new home to be a place of progressive change. “I have gone through three lives of my own since I’ve been here,” Wymore said. “I came here, got married, and had two children. We lived as a nuclear family on the Upper West Side. Then we divorced, and I came out as a lesbian,” she continued, adding, “Then I realized, ‘transgender,’ and I’m now in a different stage of life.”
As a transgender, which she personally defines as “non-conforming” to any societal gender norms, Wymore said she is constantly uncovering layers of herself and “shifting gears” to reach a real identity underneath. She added that she even prefers male pronouns, though at this point will be temporarily sticking with “she” for practical reasons.
Wymore said she is also very open to sharing the experience of her transformations. She said her willingness to publicly discuss her personal life—for example, immediately announcing her gender transition her first full board meeting—makes a difference. “By being open and vulnerable, there is a lot of freedom and power, even if it is scary,” she said.
Wymore, stepping up to chair in an uncontested race after running in the ’90s and losing, hopes to look past the daily grind of resolutions and liquor licenses that often consume community board meetings and develop ways residents can play an active role in shaping the future of their community.
“What do we want our lives to look like in the urban environment? There is a lot of talk about sustainability, overcrowding of schools, overdevelopment, the rich-poor gap, small businesses going out of business, large businesses coming in, transportation congestion. No single one of them represents an earth-shattering crisis. But put together, there are a lot of shifts that are occurring,” she said.
Wymore said she wants the neighborhood to take matters into its own hands, forgoing chitchat for action. She is considering participating in one organization in particular called Future Search, which would bring together 64 carefully selected residents for a three-day event in which they would identify both personal and community issues. Through interaction in this workshop, organizers hope to identify patterns and produce a workable draft that outlines legitimate neighborhood priorities and a vision for addressing the issues.
These ideals of community engagement harken back to her grassroots origins, Wymore said.
The first day she moved into her apartment on 70th Street, a man living in a single-room occupancy across the street jumped to his death from the fifth floor.
Most of her new neighbors said that they knew nothing about it. She and a few others went to the building, surveyed tenants, and discovered that there were many mentally ill residents lacking proper nursing and psychiatric care.
Though she had only been on the block for a week, she confronted a pattern of local neglect and worked to eventually develop a food program and nursing program for the building. “We organized the block and raised a little money,” she said.
This is one of the less obvious, but most important roles of CB7, she noted. “We are the conduit for grassroots organizations, and that is one of the biggest reasons for community boards to exist.”
Sheldon Fine, a past chair and the CB7 member who nominated Wymore, said he was thrilled to see her step up to the plate, but also acknowledged that she has a difficult road ahead. Along with the Riverside South project—a residential development with commercial and public space—and ongoing community concerns, Fine spoke of the importance of focusing on development in the southern and northern ends of the district.
But while praising her wider goals for the future, he added, “The challenge is to stay on target with her vision.”
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