Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff (1930-2011)

One of New York's most distinguished and dedicated public citizens has passed away.

Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff, whose career spanned over fifty years of public service, private practice, and non-profit leadership, died on December 26 at 81.

Sidamon-Eristoff was a remarkable person in many ways. Exceptionally high-spirited, extremely kind to others, generous with his time, attention and resources and devoted to a great variety of environmental causes, some of which had few friends before he became involved. We link here to a biography and a video about his environmental activities produced by Audubon New York, an organization he chaired.

Some environmentalists are personally cold fish, more interested in bygone species than in living organisms. Connie Eristoff was a warm person and that attitude characterized his work of saving the planet and its creatures. We appreciate his enormous contributions to the health of the people of this region. We wish there were more examples of successful professionals who shared his love of the earth, the sky and the land. He had certain similarities with Theodore Roosevelt: love of the outdoors, roots in the land and liberal Republicanism.

As a young man, he was transportation commissioner in the John V. Lindsay administration. A generation later, under the first President Bush, he was regional administrator for the EPA, an agency that did not exist when he first went to Washington D.C. He was in and out of public service and non-profit leadership for over a half century. There is a back-log of worthwhile projects on Eristoff's plate, which must now be accomplished by others.

Who will step forward?