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When you talk with Mike Marrero, a few facts about him become clear almost immediately: Mr. Marrero is a lifelong New Yorker; he’s a seasoned �鶹�� staffer as well as a former resident; and he’s been serving this country, this city, and this Authority for nearly all his adult life.

Mr. Marrero, a Community Associate in �鶹��’s Office of Special Projects, was raised at Wagner Houses from the age of 2. He lived at Wagner with his parents and siblings till he set off to serve his country by enlisting in the U.S. Navy.

“You could say I went straight from Wagner to the South China Sea!” Mr. Marrero noted.

After leaving high school in the mid-1970s, Mr. Marrero joined the Navy and served three years aboard the U.S.S. Bryce Canyon, then the flagship of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet, in the closing years of the Vietnam era.

After nearly five decades in public service,
Mike Marrero will retire at the end of December this year.

“Yes, we sailed around the coast of Vietnam sometimes,” he recalled, “close enough to see it, but I was below deck so I didn’t get to see; I never was in combat.” His years at sea did teach him discipline and teamwork — skills that later shaped his approach to working at �鶹��.

“You learn the rules, you follow the rules, you respect the chain of command. That’s how things get done,” Mr. Marrero said.

When he returned home from his time sailing the Pacific, Mr. Marrero took on a variety of civilian jobs—stocking shelves at Sloan’s Supermarket, working in Ray Bari’s Pizza Shop (“Every pizza place in New York was called Ray’s back then — but this was Ray Bari,” he said), and several years on staff at New York’s Technical Career Institute. Mr. Marrero then found his way back to �鶹��.

Mr. Marrero rejoined the Authority in 1981, starting in the Betances Houses Community Center in the Bronx. Over the next 44 years, he worked in several developments, sometimes as a “floater,” stepping in wherever help was needed.

Asked how his military experience influenced his �鶹�� career, Mr. Marrero didn’t hesitate. “The same rules apply,” he said. “You gotta show up, you gotta do the job, you gotta respect people, and you gotta follow through.”

Now, after nearly five decades in public service, Marrero is getting ready to retire at the end of this calendar year.

On his bucket list: returning to Hawaii, where he was stationed for three years during his Navy service.

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OFFICE OF CHILD SUPPORT SERVICES HOSTS EVENTS IN NOVEMBER FOR VETERANS

AND ACTIVE-DUTY MILITARY WITH A CHILD SUPPORT CASE

Includes free online information session and case reviews

As part of National Veterans and Military Families Month, the hosts events exclusively for parents who are either veterans or active military personnel and have a child support case.

The OCSS will hold case review sessions especially for veterans and active military personnel on Tuesday, November 18 and Wednesday, November 19. Interested parents will have the opportunity to speak with an OCSS representative to review their case and learn about resources and programs available to them.

To schedule your appointment, please send an email with your full name, child support case ID, and date of birth (and “AF Case Review” in the subject line) to dcse.cseweb@dfa.state.ny.us.