Elisabeth A. Gotbaum (née Flower; born June 11, 1938) is an American civil servant, politician and a former New York City Public Advocate. She was elected Public Advocate for New York City in 2001 and reelected in 2005. She was the third woman elected to a citywide post in NYC history. The other two were Carol Bellamy, who served as city council president from 1978 to 1985, and Elizabeth Holtzman, who served as comptroller from 1990 to 1993. She is a Democrat and currently serves as Executive Director of Citizens Union. Early life and education Flower attended The Brearley School and graduated from the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry in 1956. She attended Connecticut College for two years, followed by Barnard College of Columbia University. She earned her B.A. from George Washington University in 1961. After graduation, she moved to Recife, Brazil, where she taught high school English and mastered Spanish and Portuguese. She returned to New York several years later and earned a master's degree in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Political career Gotbaum became involved in civic affairs in the 1970s, while serving on the staff of former Mayor John Lindsay as District Manager for the Chelsea-Clinton (Manhattan West) Neighborhood, Assistant for Women's Issues, and Assistant for Education. She continued her work in education with Mayor Abraham Beame, managing a training program for school security officers. In the late 1970s, she was recruited to run the New York City Police Foundation. At the Police Foundation, she developed an innovative citywide health screening and work-site hypertension program with the New York City Police Department and facilitated an intensive training program for 911 operators. She created a program engaging New York City in a campaign to purchase bulletproof vests for every police officer. In 1990 newly elected Mayor David Dinkins appointed her the first female Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Gotbaum created a toll-free Parks hotline and successfully argued for a change in city policy allowing Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and other organizations use of Central Park for fundraising events. After leaving the Parks Department in 1994, Gotbaum became President of the New-York Historical Society, a position she held until launching her campaign for Public Advocate in 2001. When she took over, the Historical Society was closed to the public and on the verge of bankruptcy after years of mismanagement. Gotbaum rescued