ROGER HERZ

HERZ--Roger Jacques, was born 90 minutes after Prohibition was repealed on December 5, 1933 in New York, NY and the whole country celebrated. He passed away on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. Throughout his life he remained loyal to his city. He graduated from Bronx High School of Science and Syracuse University with a degree in political science and journalism. He then attended graduate school at Columbia University where he focused on public law and government. Roger was the ultimate adversary of the Status-Quo. He actively and passionately fought to change every encounter that he had with injustice in areas that were meaningful to him. He was an activist/advocate for bicycle transportation, city planning, women's equality and reproductive rights, Ethiopian Jewry, and later on, congestion pricing. He was a founder of the New York Hall of Science, an active member of Mensa and founder of TIME/To Improve Municipal Efficiency. Roger's interest in biking began in 1966 when he purchased his first adult bike to use as transportation during the transit strike. This led him to founding and acting as executive director of Bicycle Transportation Action as well as being one of five founders of Transportation Alternatives. His motto: "better futile than passive", led Roger to accomplish what others would not even attempt. He almost single-handedly compelled the City Council to pass a non-binding resolution against Mayor Koch's 1987 Midtown Manhattan Bicycle Ban, which eventually led to its repeal. He was a municipal gadfly. All New York Mayors knew Roger by name and when he showed up at a meeting, he would occupy a front row seat with a list of difficult questions to which he was relentless in demanding answers (even when he couldn't read his own scribbled handwriting). He is survived by his sister Carol Joan Herz Brull, niece Jacalyn Brull (Michael Held), nephew Howard Brull and grandnephews Jakob and Lukas Brull. Predeceased by his parents Alfred E. Herz and Lydia Feinsod Herz.