By Connor Adams Sheets
Robert LoPinto, one of the longest-serving members of Community Board 7, has stepped down from the board, giving up his seat as second vice president and taking decades of environmental engineering and community service expertise with him.
During his more than 20 years on the board, the Whitestone resident, who most know simply as “Bob,” has worked on a wide range of issues and for many years chaired its Environmental and Sanitation Committee.
But he is moving from Queens to Long Island and is president of Shapiro Engineering in Valley Stream, so he will no longer be eligible to participate on CB 7, so his tenure there is drawing to an early close.
“Despite the fact that we get very loud here and boisterous at times in our discussions, every member of the board has the community’s interest at heart,” he said after the June 13 CB 7 meeting, during which he announced his impending departure. “Because of that we’ve been able to do things to benefit the community and to be one of the best boards in the city.”
A U.S. Army veteran, LoPinto returned to the United States 21 years ago from military service in Europe, moving to northeast Queens and joining a local engineers’ society chapter. The president of the chapter recommended he take his knowledge to CB 7, and he has had an important role there ever since.
CB 7 Chairman Eugene Kelty said it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find someone with the dedication and specific talents LoPinto has.
“It will be very hard to replace him because he’s an environmental engineer, and also when Bob first came onto the board he was a little more practical than some environmental people. He realized there are impacts from some of the things we need to do,” Kelty said.
LoPinto often took the lead on major projects that came before the board, such as the North Shore Marine Transfer Station in College Point and the combined sewer overflow at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. But he also helped with the day-to-day demands of the board.
“I didn’t have to worry about one thing for environmental. Bob took care of that. He stepped up,” Kelty said. “He was my second vice chair, which meant that he filled in whenever I wasn’t here to run the meeting or [Vice Chairman] Chuck [Apelian] was not around.”
Borough President Helen Marshall and City Councilmen Peter Koo (R-Flushing) and Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) — who represent the areas under CB 7’s purview — will decide on a replacement to fill LoPinto’s seat.
Reach reporter Connor Adams Sheets by e-mail at csheets@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
