Photo: City Department of Education Press Secretary Margie Feinberg died last Thursday night. Courtesy of DOE
Margie Feinberg, the longtime spokeswoman for the city Department of Education, has died, according to Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina. She was 59.
“It is with such a heavy heart I share that we lost a dear friend, Margie Feinberg, whom I have had the privilege of calling a valued colleague for more than a decade,” Farina said of Feinberg, who was a press representative for the DOE from 1999 until her retirement last October. “Margie was a DOE institution—building a legacy as a deputy press secretary for six schools chancellors, beginning with Rudy Crew in 1999, placing countless positive stories and deftly averting and responding to heartrending crises. Principals, superintendents, teachers, agency colleagues, DOE staff and reporters all relied on Margie, who was patient, calm and worked swiftly to ensure the safety of all students. When I was a principal, I remember calling Margie at 11 p.m. before my name was going to hit the papers in a story that I feared would be less than complimentary. I was frantic, but Margie calmly walked me through what I needed to do and say, and the next day went smoothly. I know that many of you depended on Margie as much as I did and today the entire DOE mourns her loss.”
Feinberg died last Thursday night after battling breast cancer, a New York Daily News report indicated.
Services for Feinberg were held on Monday at Riverside Memorial Chapel.
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