Si Monumentum Requiris Circumspice
Robert Simko, Broadsheet co-founder and 40-year resident of Battery Park City, died at age 68 on November 10, 2022, after a years-long battle with a cancer that has been linked to exposure to environmental toxins during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath.
An accomplished photographer and publisher, an avid musician, mechanic and watchmaker, Robert was a fixture of the Battery Park City community and a beloved husband, father, brother and uncle.
Born in 1954 in Bayonne, New Jersey, to John, a bus driver, and Florence, a nurse, Robert was the middle child of five siblings. Taught by nuns and known as “Bobby,” Robert took up the accordion at a young age, participating in state-wide competitions where he finished fourth twice in a row.
In high school, Robert developed two interests that would last the rest of his life—photography and working on cars. By the time he left Rutgers University after two years, he’d built a darkroom in his Bayonne basement—and rebuilt a Volkswagen engine there, too.
From Rutgers he went on to RISD, where he studied photography under Aaron Siskind, among others. While there, he also took his first piano lessons, igniting a life-long love for the instrument. Up until the end of his life, Robert would often sit down to play a mixture of Bach études, Thelonius Monk, Chopin concertos, and the entire Beatles playlist.
After college, Robert moved to New York City, settling first in Tribeca, and then in Battery Park City at the brand new Gateway Plaza, 30-pound accordion in tow. He worked as an assistant to Arnold Newman and Burt Glinn, cataloging and printing portraits of world leaders and celebrities.
In the 1980s, Robert was recruited by Clay Felker to work as a photographer at Adweek magazine, where he soon met a reporter named Alison.
“We began covering events and parties together in the fall of 1985,” Alison recalled. “We fell in love pretty fast. He was living here in Gateway. I hadn’t heard of Battery Park City before coming here. Back then, the only buildings here were Gateway Plaza. What is now Brookfield Place was under construction. And the rest was empty fields with fences around the edges, connected by a waterfront esplanade.”
“That February, we threw the first of our annual Say Yes to Love parties, where we would cram more than 100 guests into our studio. It was right after that first party that we decided to get married.”
They were married in 1987, Lucy was born in 1989, and Theo followed in 1997. Remembering his father, Theo said, “he was never restless, but he loved to work with his hands. He was happiest taking something apart and putting it back together, learning how it worked.”
Lucy added to Robert’s list of recreational challenges, “solving the Rubik’s Cube, and teaching himself how to pick locks. When Theo and I were young, we would sometimes complain about being bored. He would answer that he never got bored. I get from him my love of doing puzzles. He would say to me, ‘someone made this puzzle for you, and you get to be the person who works through it and comes up with an original strategy to figure it out.’ ”
Later in life, Robert became an amateur horologist: learning how to repair clocks, pocket and wrist watches under the tutelage of a friend and professional watchmaker at Tiffany. He developed a love of working under a loupe, disassembling a long-broken wristwatch in order to make it tick again. Careful Broadsheet readers may remember a perennial classified ad, “OLD WATCHES SOUGHT, PREFERRED NONWORKING,” that Robert ran to try to find any such machines that might be collecting dust in the neighborhood.
Among Robert’s most dedicated pursuits was the creation of the Broadsheet (née The Battery Park City Broadsheet), which he co-founded in 1997 with Alison.
“The Broadsheet was born the same year as Theo,” Alison said. “We were both freelancing at that point, and looking for something more stable. In the summer of 1997, he saw a homemade sign taped to the window of Chase Bank from somebody looking for an apartment. A light went off in Robert’s head: classified ads are the backbone of a newspaper. He said to me, ‘let’s start a newspaper.’ ”
“My reaction was that his idea was brilliant and we had to do it right away, before somebody else thought of it,” Alison said. “At that point, I was part of the fledgling Battery Park City Parents Association. And in those days, the biggest community event of the year for this neighborhood was Halloween. I knew if we could get the first issue out by late September, people would pick it up because we would have information about Halloween activities. We began this mad scramble, laying out an old-fashioned design on our Mac, picking fonts and choosing photos. It was hard work, but also great fun.”
The Broadsheet was a success from its first issue. “We printed 3,000 copies for our first run, and put stacks in lobbies,” Alison said. “Robert and I hid behind a column in a Gateway lobby to see if anybody would pick it up. Each time somebody took one, we would do a little victory dance. After that, the Broadsheet took off—the second print run was double the first, and then we went from two pages to four, and then we went from once a month to bi-weekly.”
The Broadsheet quickly became more than just a job for both Robert and Alison, influencing how they raised their two children in the growing community of Lower Manhattan. “A really wonderful part of growing up with parents who ran the local newspaper is that we almost never had a babysitter,” Theo said. “We would be brought along to Community Board meetings and stories they were covering. We were involved in our parents’ lives and got to watch them do what they did in a way that most kids don’t.”
“It wasn’t until sixth or seventh grade that I fully understood that not every parent had the flexibility to pick their kids up from school every day, take them to the playground, go to Art in the Park a few times each week, and attend soccer practice,” he added.
“We had to work weekends, but we got to go to the playground almost every afternoon,” Alison said.
This idyll was brought to a crashing halt, Lucy remembered, a few days after she had started middle school at I.S. 289 in September of 2001. “We heard an explosion. The teacher told us there had been an accident, but then my mother came to get me.”
Alison took Lucy and Theo (then in pre-kindergarten at P.S. 150) to the home of a friend in Tribeca. “I was wondering where Dad was, but I was sure he was okay,” Lucy said. “I had this sense of calm that whatever he was doing, he could take care of himself, and he would find us eventually.”
Alison added, “I was worried because I knew Robert would run toward the danger to take pictures. And then I couldn’t reach him for hours. I kept trying to figure out how to slip back into Battery Park City, to look for him. But by that time, everything was blocked by police and military personnel.”
Robert stayed in Battery Park City until late afternoon that day, reuniting with his family by chance around 5pm. His photographs, taken from the sidewalks near Gateway Plaza, capture the second plane’s fireball, the burning towers, and the ash-covered neighborhood after the towers’ collapse.
The family left the city the next day. “But we were back within a week,” Alison said. “The first community meeting was led by Bob Townley, at a basketball court on Canal Street. We felt a sense of mission about coming back and resuming publication. We weren’t covering Halloween celebrations anymore—we were writing stories about the quality of the air we were all breathing, and the future of the community, and whether it even had a future.”
“At that point, the Broadsheet delivery people couldn’t get into Battery Park City, but I had identification, which meant I could enter the neighborhood,” Alison said. “So I would hop on my bike, with a bag of papers slung over my shoulder, and deliver them to lobbies. People cried when they saw the first issue of the paper after September 11, and told us that they felt like the Broadsheet was confirmation that the neighborhood was still going to be okay.”
The Broadsheet has always been defined, in large measure, by Robert’s skill as a photographer. “His pictures are an amazing body of work,” Alison said. “His technique was to hover around the edge of a scene and patiently let it unfold and then began taking pictures. These are all portraits of a moment that tell a story, but they also amount to a mosaic that sketches the biography of this community. He was always able to see things that the rest of us don’t—reflections within reflections, or small details that convey a larger message.”
That was one of Robert’s special skills: identifying, understanding, and building the mosaic of a community. He loved Lower Manhattan: the esplanade and parks of Battery Park City, the winding streets of the Financial District, his favorite dumpling restaurant in Chinatown, and the cobblestones of Tribeca. He believed the best of the city was located downtown. When tourists asked him for directions, he would always suggest they make time for a ride on the Staten Island Ferry. “The best way to see the harbor,” he would say. “And free, too!”
Lucy summed up her father’s life by saying, “he was the person who would argue with me to the extent that I needed to argue with somebody, and then stop. That’s a rare talent in a father. I want to talk to him about the rest of my life. But I don’t know what to ask.”
A few days after Robert’s passing, family members gathered in his childhood home, in Bayonne, where he grew up with three brothers and a sister, and lived above his grandparents.
His youngest brother Paul said, “I really admired how Robert followed his own path. I mean, how many people do you know who played the accordion, moved to Lower Manhattan, and started a newspaper?”
Robert will be remembered as someone who loved to build community as much as he loved to build watches, car engines, and a delicious pot of spaghetti and meatballs.
A public celebration of Robert Simko’s life and legacy will be announced in the coming months. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Robert’s name to the South Street Seaport Museum.
We got to know Robert, Alison, Theo and Lucy during the 9/11 year. Our kids Theo and Hannah both started Pre-K at PS 150 and after a day or two the twin towers fell. Once the kids returned to school their class went from 16 children to 5. We soon became a very close band of children and parents. I was always in awe of how present Robert and Alison were with their kids. I also remember Robert being so happy to print ads for my fledgling cake business as well as helping me promote a local craft fair. He also printed so many big moments for my family such as the birth of my children, a memorial piece for their dad when he passed away and lots of happy photos of the kids graduating from school right up to college. Robert was also so happy to run over and take photos when something was going on at the Nursery where I work. So many special moments caught on camera and taken by someone who was so talented and truly understood the meaning of these moments. I will miss Robert forever and BPC will never be the same without him. I will forever see him bustling around BPC on deadline, under pressure but always with a kind word and a smile. Alison, Lucy and Theo I love you all so very much.
That was very beautiful.
I am so sorry to hear of Robert’s passing. He was a treasure to the community. As a neighbor living on the floor, I most remember Robert hanging out with his children, and the love the family shared for each other. I hope that Allson, Lucy and Theo will in time be comforted by the sweet memories they have of him. May his memory be a blessing.
Since 1997 The Broadsheet has been the voice of our neighborhood. Robert, along with Alison, have been a beacon of light in our darkest hours. They created a permanent legacy to the resisliance of a community and the rising of our BPC phoenix. My late husband, Bill, and I were fortunate to be a part of those early Broadsheet days and I cherish the memories. Rest well, my friend. And love to Alison, Lucy and Theo.
Robert Simko was an amazingly lovely human being who gave so much to our community. What a loss for us all. Thank you, Simko Family for sharing your memories of him with us here.
Wonderfully warm remembrance of a great guy.
🙏May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest🙏
Dear Alison–
We are all so sorry for your loss– and for the whole community’s loss.
I loved when Robert came to photograph us at Purgatory Pie Press when it was on Hudson St–so beautiful to see how he saw light.
Deepest condolences.
Love,
Esther
—
Esther K Smith
http://www.estherksmith.com
http://www.purgatorypiepress.com
My thoughts are with
Alison and her family
and
with a grateful heart
for your work for NYC.
Margaret Stocker
What a perfectly written tribute about a wonderful person. Thank you, Broadsheet, for carrying on the work of a great community minded neighbor.
And thank you, Matt Fenton, for your excellent reporting I always look forward to reading.
What a beautiful description of Robert’s life. I remember him so well, as a parent of his daughter Lucy, in my 2nd/3rd grade class at PS234.
Robert led our class on a Bird Study, a curriculum I continued for many years. I am thankful to him for his knowledge and enthusiasm and for the wonderful memories of him that remain with me. So much love to you Allison, Lucy and Theo. You are in my heart. Sheila Browning
Thank you for giving us a better picture of this true friend to the neighborhood and PS 150 where I first got to know Robert and Alison many years ago. It brought a tear to my eye. What a lovely couple and family. So very very sorry to read the sad news. Please share when a celebration of Robert’s life will take place. I know the place will be packed with forever fans like me. RIP
Robert, such a beautiful being, generous of heart and deed. he will be missed, our condolences
Brian, Abby & Meghan
I placed an ad for my proposed building (before I formed a company) with Robert Simko. We spoke on the phone and he enthusiastically said “This would make a great story too!” And so he assigned it to Matthew Fenton, who conducted a longer interview. The story is still part of our pitch, here: http://bit.ly/BroadsheetRA1
It may never happen, but I’ll always remember Robert for thinking outside the box and letting the world know too.
A true Journalist.
Robert and Alison were pioneers in BPC and I am so glad that I got to know them and work with them through the BPC Parents Association. It was a magical time! Robert was so kind and so talented. Much Iove and my deepest condolences to Alison, Lucy and Theo.
Sharyn Lawall
The Broadsheet was such an important part of the BPC community. I eagerly looked for each addition to stay up-to-date on the neighborhood as well as plan for upcoming events. While I did not personally know Robert, he still had a very positive impact on my life.
Robert & Alison are definitely stalwart’s & backbones of our Battery Park City community & have been for decades. The BROADSHEET is true testament of their love & concern for all of us that have called BPC home. As you so aptly stated (as always) Matthew, just look around & you will see the fruits of Robert’s labors… He so professionally & proudly catalogued our lives downtown both the good & not so good especially after 9/11…
We will all miss Robert for his wit & humor as well & his wonderful eye & photos!
David & Lesa Cohen
My deepest condolences to Robert’s friends and family. What a wonderful full life he led and he and his wife left us a living legacy in the Broadsheet.
I too moved to Gateway in Sept 1986 and I well remember the first Broadsheet. I moved to SC 15 years ago and still receive the Broadsheet enabling me to stay connected to my former home.
Thank you for all you have done for us!
Thank you Allison, Lucy and Theo for sharing Robert with all of us for all these many years. His work and his vision were one and the same and he always tried to do his very best for the Battery Park City Community. The Broadsheet was such a great supporter of the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy and its work during its existence. I valued his friendship greatly and appreciated his honesty, always.
He will be greatly missed!
Tessa Huxley
What a beautiful and touching tribute to our neighbor, our friend. I’ve known Robert and Alison for over 30 years, then Lucy and Theo as they grew up, and never realized how multi-talented and gifted Robert was. It goes hand in hand with his stoic demeanor. He will be missed and I remain grateful for his immeasurable contributions to our community.
Andie Chester
A wonderful tribute to a great guy. I served on the Executive Committee of the Student Council at Prep with Bob. A wonderful year where we had our own office to hang out in. I always enjoyed our time together.
Robert was the go to guy for years whenever the story concerned lower Manhattan,. I truly enjoyed our phone and texts over the years , especially when I was District Leader and events affected Battery Park. My heart and prayers go to Alison and his family. We have suffered a huge loss with his passing.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful tribute to an amazing, talented, generous person, devoted family man, neighbor, business and community leader; Robert Simko! I especially like the description of he created his photography. That’s what I loved most about the Broadsheet was the sweeping photo at the top of the paper…often capturing the ever changing river vistas and beautiful sunny days. So inspiring and peaceful. My heart goes out to Alison, Lucy and Theo and all of Robert’s family. May he Rest in peace and have endless sunny days.
Much love from Lucy K.
I just read about Robert passing away and I am sadden and in shock. I meet him through Frank Duffy, who photographed ships in the port and used Robert as a backup photographer if he had an assignment he couldn’t do. Robert and I talked on the phone now and again as I would keep him informed of ship happenings in the harbour or questions on things he saw out his window as I work at the Maritime Association. My condolences to his family.
My sincere condolences, I worked with Robert and Alison at Adweek.
Warmest Regards,
Addie
Was saddened last week to learn of Robert’s passing.
We met several times as neighbours and I often emailed him compliments on his Broadsheet photography,,which was a shared passion.
Knowing much more of who he was from this tribute I only wish I’d had the good fortune to have known him better.
He was a very, very good man.
Robert was a lighthouse for our community, always giving direction to all who knew him. His legacy is the caring family and friends that will continue his good works.
Our condolences from your way uptown friends at the Ear Inn,.
The Broadsheet has been an absolutely first class publication from the start, and altogether distinctive. And over the years, Robert was always extremely courteous and responsive to my communications, which mostly were to compliment some particularly fine piece of writing or photograph. My sincere condolences to his family.
Dear Alison, Lucy, and Theo,
we are so deeply sorry for your loss – it has been many years since we met but we remember you all fondly.
And yes, I will never ever forget the Broadsheet issued shortly after 9/11 and what it meant to me – I remember walking up to the area from South Cove to see the BPC Conservancy folks tending the garden beds and then spotting the Broadsheet issue. It lifted our spirits and confirmed that things would be alright. Thanks to Robert and Alison for that beacon of hope – you both made the BPC neighborhood complete with it – our local paper.
You are in our thoughts – sending you all love and comfort, Nish, Deepa, Nikhil, and Nicole