The front door of Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) has seen thousands people enter over the years, but few have left a mark quite like Zully Rolan and Sonia Medina. This summer, FAC officially said goodbye to these two iconic staff members as they stepped into well-earned retirement. Though their departures leave the office a little quieter, FAC remains profoundly grateful: together, their combined tenure represents nearly 40 years of heart, hustle, and relentless advocacy for affordable housing in Brooklyn.
Their paths to FAC couldn’t have been more different. Back in 2008, Zully was navigating construction sites and training co-op boards when she saw FAC’s Executive Director, Michelle de la Uz, on television, fearlessly staring down a crowd of NIMBY protesters. “I thought she was pretty feisty,” Zully recalled. Driven to be part of that spirit, Zully applied for the Director of Property Management role, and was soon hired. Sonia’s journey was rooted in resilience. Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Park Slope, she had spent 25 years as a Director of Development in Puerto Rican municipal government before a sudden political shift left her starting over in New York at age 55. Walking down Fifth Avenue one afternoon looking for leads, she stumbled into FAC. She started as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in 2005, and joined the full-time staff by 2007.
Together, Zully, Sonia, and a tight-knit property management team built organizational structure as FAC’s housing portfolio quickly grew. They didn’t just manage properties; they anchored lives. Having both experienced housing instability firsthand—Zully through childhood displacement and Sonia through a mid-life housing crisis —they treated tenants with a mix of fierce tough– love and deep empathy. Zully gave out her personal phone number 24/7, and Sonia knew every resident by name, helping families navigate complex lease applications and Section 8 paperwork.
Through crises, their connection and teamwork truly shone. Whether facing the unprecedented chaos of Superstorm Sandy or the sudden shock of a 2024 earthquake, Zully and Sonia responded with creative problem-solving, incredible flexibility, and quick-thinking resourcefulness. No matter the emergency, they adapted on the fly—turning unexpected resources into life-saving solutions, keeping staff and residents safe, and always injecting a sense of humor and warmth to keep spirits high during the most stressful moments.
The work was heavy—every piece of paper represented a human life—and the two experienced their own challenges and life changes through their careers. Zully worked through five years of full-time dialysis before receiving a life-saving kidney transplant, supported every step of the way by her FAC family. Sonia, now 76, briefly retired in 2015 before realizing she missed her community too much, returning to serve nearly another decade.
Now, as the summer warmth fades into autumn, the duo has officially passed their batons. Zully is heading to her garden, ready to tune her folk guitar, spend time with her 25 nieces and nephews, and burst into show tunes whenever the mood strikes. Sonia is getting ready to jet-set across the country to visit her children, grandchildren, and great-granddaughter—playfully warning her family that they’ll be footing the plane tickets now that she’s officially off the clock.
Though a new chapter begins for FAC’s properties, the legacy Zully and Sonia leave behind in the hallways of Brooklyn housing is permanent. And as Sonia softly promised with a smile, “You’re still going to see me around.”
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