Rabbit - we're still carrying on your work, efforts & spirit here on the Lower East Side. Although things change over the years, we still remember the lessons you taught us to save and renovate our homes, buildings and neighborhood, and how to come together to support and love one other through work and community. Your work and spirit will never be forgotten.  It is in all we do and all we continue to work on for those who live and grew up here.

Harriet Cohen

To the memory of Rabbit, who inspired a movement for the revival of the spirit and the physical condition of Loisiada!  A neighborhood that he and Bimbo Rivas named, and whose soul could not be extinguished no matter how many fires and police raids threatened its  strong Nuyorican heritage.   Thank you Rabbit - you are not forgotten here.   

Rabbit was  an unforgettable pioneer in leading the early efforts to take back  housing for the people,  in Loisaida and across  NYC -  turning abandoned buildings into opportunities for sweat equity ownership  or tenant management.  He helped  provide the  model that showed it  could be done!   Begun on the Lower East Side, East Harlem and the South Bronx,  11th Street would not have happened without his leadership.  He provided the spark that made it possible.    

We were comrades in arms.   I especially remember him at  times of crisis, - and there were many -  when he rose to the occasion:  more often than not he provided the vision  and inspiration to keep going.   He has left  us with indelible memories.  RIP.

Rabbit on 11th St after 519 had been completed and 509 was the next sweat equity project. There was  a  morale issue with the homesteaders, related to the collapse of the rear wall, and Rabbit called a meeting.  He commanded total respect and got everyone to re-commit themselves. (not that easy to do with a group of young men and women who loved to joke and wisecrack)

One of the amazing Loisaida activists, with visionary ideas, and warm, open hearts.  Puerto Ricans who welcomed those of all backgrounds to join their struggle, knowing it was everyone's struggle.  I remember when Rabbit expounded on the visions and hope of the Loisaida movement, there was a determination in his voice, and a gleam in his eye. 

Roberto, or Rabbit as I knew him, was a never-ending inspiration! He was a brother to me and my husband in every sense! A joy in the lives of so many! From the streets of NYC in Loisaida, to the hills of Mayaguez and throughout Boriken, to the halls of Congress in WDC, to the inner city of Baltimore, and in hundreds and hundreds of communities throughout the U.S., Roberto was a catalyst of change and a champion of justice. His determination and persistence will never be forgotten. Most of all he loved his family and he loved being Puerto Rican! My heartfelt sympathy! RIP!

It isn’t often that you meet someone who brightens your day every single time you see them. I’ll miss having a soda and talking about life outside the building. In times of happiness and sorrow, Roberto always provided a listening ear and usually some words of wisdom. A genuinely good man. I am lucky to be able to call him a friend. 

I was inspired by and loved the way Rabbit could analyze and adapt to any situation and population. He could hang in the neighborhood, talk to the wait staff in the kitchen to make right some event he was managing in a big hotel, "clean up" to lobby Congress or earnestly make the case for the community at a big foundation. He was never a showboat but unrelenting, always with an eye on the good of the larger Puerto Rican and low-income communities of color. We who know him closely and love him, miss him dearly. People in the communities he worked so hard for won't even know it but they are already missing his impact.

Robert,
I will miss the times we shared when I came to the east coast for my annual DC rotations. We always made each other laugh and I will always remember that. I pray you are at peace now and walking with Jesus in his glorious kingdom. We will miss you.
Love, 
John, Lisa, Brandon, and Addison

OBITUARY

Roberto Nazario

12 October, 1947 – 2 December, 2020

Burgee-Henss-Seitz Funeral Home Inc.

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