Saying Goodbye to
Two Friends
of GVSHP –
Romana Raffetto and Elaine Young
(l) Romana Rafetto with her son, Andrew Raffetto. (r) GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman with Zack Winestine and Elaine Young of Save Gansevoort
Last week GVSHP and Greenwich Village lost two good friends and two wonderful women – Romana Raffetto and Elaine Young. Both were proud stalwarts of their community, and both will be greatly missed.
Romana Raffetto was the proprietor of the beloved Raffetto’s at 144 West Houston Street, a culinary institution in Greenwich Village since 1906. Romana supported efforts to preserve the rich heritage of the South Village, of which her family was an integral part, and generously contributed an oral history to GVSHP’s collection along with her son Andrew, in which they discussed Raffetto’s history and Greenwich Village – read or listen to it here.
Elaine Young lived in the West Village for decades and was a true crusader for preserving and protecting her neighborhood. She was a member of GVSHP’s Save Gansevoort Market Task Force, which spearheaded the successful drive for landmark status for the Meatpacking District in the early 2000s, and co-formed the community group ‘Save Gansevoort’ to fight a planned oversized development on Gansevoort Street. In 2016 Elaine and Save Gansevoort co-founder Zack Winestine were co-recipients of a GVSHP Village Award for their work – see the video of the award here (starts at 1:18:45). At Elaine’s friends’ and family’s request, we have set up a special page for donations to GVSHP to be made in her memory, to continue her work to fight to preserve and protect the West Village and Meatpacking District – that can be found here.
Romana Raffetto and Elaine Young each in their own way contributed immeasurably to their communities and worked tirelessly to support them. Their loss will certainly be felt, but their contributions to their neighborhoods will long be remembered.
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