It's Queens Magazine
Emmanuel Lopez, center.
Lopez, a self-proclaimed “independent thinker,” is the first Hispanic and the youngest Tenants Association president that Atlantic Terminal has ever seen.
Much like his motivation, President Obama, Lopez ran on a campaign platform of change.
“The tenants, including myself, have had no say for the past ten years,” said Lopez, who referred to Atlantic Terminal as “a phoenix that needs to rise again.”
Lopez was raised in Downtown Brooklyn and spent most of his time as a youth with his father, a minister at a Pentecostal church in Brooklyn.
“I basically grew up in church,” said Lopez, who at a young age developed a passion for boxing, baseball, and, of course, the New York Yankees.
Now, in between his job as mail-clerk, listening to the problems of tenants, and religiously watching CNN and C-SPAN, Lopez enjoys playing his acoustic guitar and spending time with his two-year-old daughter Jazleen.
Although he has not yet been sworn in as president of the tallest housing project in Brooklyn, Lopez has not wasted any time reaching out to Atlantic Terminal’s 625 residents.
“I was elected to do a job,” said Lopez who vows to “put Atlantic Terminal back on the map.”
According to Lopez, the Tenants Association president is supposed to serve as a liaison, to bring the concerns of the tenants, such as faulty elevators, heating issues, cosmetic repairs, among many others, to the attention of the building’s management and local politicians.
His first order of business as president will be to assign two representatives to each of Atlantic Terminal’s 31 floors to keep tenants up to speed on important issues and dates.
“Everybody should always know what’s going on,” said Lopez, who intends to make Atlantic Terminal a democracy once again.
Lopez is undoubtedly energized to take office and begin bringing change to the development that he grew up in. “I’m from the building, and I’m for the building,” he said.
(Marc Taneatto)
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