After years of service, it’s his turn to be honored

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Robert Rubinstein peered down a table heaped with steaming pasta at Silvio’s Italian Restaurant in Yonkers and reminded fellow Kiwanis Club members there was a lot to be done for their November Art Auction fund raiser. 

“This is not just going to happen. We have to push this and work together,” Mr. Rubinstein, 80, said, waving a fork in his hand. 

He dished out details at a June 7 meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Riverdale, the local branch of an international organization that raises money to assist children worldwide, seeks to offer local programs and volunteer opportunities for youth and fosters good fellowship among businesses and professionals. He has served as president of the Riverdale Kiwanis and lieutenant governor of the Bronx-South Westchester Kiwanis Division. 

Munching on chicken penne and discussing how to get the Art League and a client who runs a gallery involved, he urged members to follow his lead and get busy networking.

For his part, Mr. Rubinstein has been busy making things happen in Riverdale for more than half a century and has helped several of the neighborhood’s firsts take root.

The real estate attorney helped establish the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, the first political club to take on the entrenched boss of the Bronx, Rep. Charles A. Buckley. He introduced many Riverdalians to a campaign bus. And in 1962, Mr. Rubinstein organized picketers outside Skyview-on-Hudson until the cooperative welcomed its first black family.

Over the decades, Mr. Rubinstein’s dedication to his community has led him to leadership in a wide range of organizations, including Riverdale Senior Services Center, Kiwanis, and the Johnson Avenue Merchants Association. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said it’s rare that he doesn’t run into the “community activist” while making rounds at benefits, annual parties and other local events. 

In fact, Mr. Dinowitz plans to help Riverdale Senior Services honor Mr. Rubinstein for nearly 35 years of assisting with the center’s lease and two decades on its board at the RSS annual spring celebration on Thursday, June 14.

Sarina Trangle, Robert Rubinstein, Silvio's Italian Restaurant, Kiwanis Club, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Mitchell Rutkin,
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