Downtown loses biggest booster
Sandy Goldstein to retire as president of Stamford’s DSSD
STAMFORD — For the last 26 years, the name Sandy Goldstein has been synonymous with Stamford’s downtown.
The former president of the Stamford Board of Representatives and mayoral hopeful has spent the last two decades and a half advocating on behalf of downtown businesses, attracting retail and housing to the district, creating events to highlight the city’s strengths, all the while acting as Stamford’s biggest cheerleader.
It’s a role she’s relished from the start.
“This job was the best job any human being could ever have,” she said.
But even for a dream job, there comes a time to say goodbye.
For Goldstein, that time is Dec. 31, her last day as the president of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District.
She said it was a difficult decision to retire, but one that’s been about three years in the making.
“There are other things that I would like to experience in my life,” Goldstein said at the DSSD downtown office on Monday afternoon.
Among her list of accomplishments is the creation of multiple annual events in the city, including the Alive@Five concert series, the Thanksgiving Parade with inflatable cartoon characters and the summer outdoor arts series, to name a few.
Her biggest motivation, she said, was making downtown Stamford more “dynamic” and “vibrant,” two buzzwords you’re sure to hear Goldstein say whenever she’s talking about her work.
“I believe one of my legacies is having been part of creating a very dynamic downtown with great restaurants, with theater, with movies, with outdoor dining, with shopping, and with UConn,” she said.
On a broader scale, Goldstein worked to ensure that downtown would be Stamford’s only city center, converting it into the main hub of housing, major retail, theater, office development and hotels.
“That was important because had we not been vigilant, you would have had two or maybe even three downtowns in this city,” she said.
Goldstein feared that having more than one city center would have watered down each, weakening the city and its tax base.
“And it didn’t happen,” she said.
That hasn’t always made Goldstein popular with some businesses outside of the downtown district, but she always remained steadfast in her dedication to the city’s center.
Through zoning laws that restricted certain retail in other parts of the city, as well as a loosening of parking regulations on downtown retailers, Goldstein played her role in making downtown the hub she envisioned when she took on the role.
Her efforts, along with her staff, also helped create a housing boom in the city’s center.
Greg Caggainello, the chairman of the DSSD board, said Stamford has added thousands of housing units in downtown in the last few years.
“The amount of development activity is truly because of what she’s done in getting downtown owners together and all the activities she started,” he said.
And that wasn’t always the case. Stamford’s city center once was far from the busy district it is today.
“You could shoot a cannonball down the middle of Main Street and not hit anybody,” Caggainello said.
On Monday, Mayor David Martin praised Goldstein for her dedication to the city.
“Stamford is better because of Sandy Goldstein,” Martin wrote in an emailed statement. “There are few individuals who can claim they’ve done more for our city.”
Martin said Goldstein has been intimately involved in Stamford developments, not just in her role with the special district, but also as the president of the Board of Representatives for 10 years. “In no small way, Sandy has changed Stamford for the better,” he wrote.
Heather Cavanagh, president and CEO of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, said she’s always had a great relationship with Goldstein. The two women serve on each other’s boards.
“Sandy’s dedication and her tireless efforts have truly transformed Stamford downtown into a vibrant urban city,” she said.
She credited Goldstein with being an innovative, out-of-thebox thinker and resourceful in raising funds.
“She’s an example of how one’s commitment can make a difference,” she said.
Goldstein won’t be going anywhere soon. She is part of the search committee to find her replacement, but she has agreed to help the organization for an entire year after her retirement.
Recently, she said she was looking at old clips of stories written about her. In one, she’s quoted describing her position at DSSD as the “best job in the world.”
“I still feel that way,” she said. “I was blessed by God to have a job that was able to use my skills and able to make a difference and make me feel good about making that difference.”