Judy Mage

Judy Mage (born 1935) is an American activist known for her militant labor activism as a New York City welfare caseworker in the Social Service Employee Union (SSEU) in the 1960s. She served in leadership roles including vice president and president. She organized strikes and other work disruptions to pressure the city to raise salaries and improve working conditions. A longtime resident of New Paltz, New York, she successfully lobbied the state to expand the swimming area in the Minnewaska State Park Preserve in the early 2000s.

Early life and education Born in 1935 in the Bronx, New York, She attended public schools in New York City, including City College. At Antioch College, and led a socialist student group. She graduated with a sociology degree in 1957. Her worksite, Amsterdam Center, was located near Pennsylvania Station. She joined the SSEU, where she gained a reputation for outspokenness and progressive ideas As a result of the strike, the workers gained a contract with salary raises and caseload limits; That October, she organized a "live-in" at the office of the Labor Commissioner because of a dispute over which union would represent the welfare workers. Mage and a group of workers brought food, a clothesline, air mattresses, and a sign that said: "Mary Poppins is a junkie" to the commissioners' office. They slept there for a week until they were arrested. and a Trotskyite. In the 1968 presidential election, Mage ran for vice president with Eldridge Cleaver as part of the Peace and Freedom Party. She was on the ballot in New York, while various candidates ran as Cleaver's vice president in other states. They were interviewed on WBAI about their platform.

Hudson Valley

Mage participated in protests against a proposed Marriott resort near Lake Minnewaska in New York in the late 1970s. Ultimately, the resort was not built, and the state later created the Minnewaska State Park Preserve. Mage, an avid swimmer, was disappointed that her access to the lake had decreased. In 2000, she co-founded a group called Swim Without Interference at Minnewaska (SWIM) to lobby park officials to change their policies. Specifically, Mage proposed opening a larger area to anyone who could pass a swimming test. By 2002, the state agreed to open a larger area for swimming. To qualify for access, swimmers have to demonstrate that they can swim 500 yards and tread water for 3 minutes in a local pool. They also pay a fee to join the Minnewaska Distance Swimmers Association (MDSA), which was founded and organized by Mage.

Personal life In 1956, she married her husband, an economics professor at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. Their apartment was located on Riverside Drive in Manhattan.