Title: BPC’s Resident Historian
Favorite BPC Spot: North Cove Marina
History is a passion for Battery Park City’s Fred Bivetto. Formerly a denizen of Tudor City, it was on a walk down the west side with his wife Elaine in 2016, when Battery Park City called him downtown; he now makes Gateway Plaza his home. But as often is the case when relaying history, it’s best to start at the beginning.
A native New Yorker hailing from East New York, Brooklyn, Fred was drafted into the Army and served as a combat engineer in Vietnam. After returning home, his first job was on Wall Street working in what was then known as computer programming or information management. As that industry burgeoned into what we now call Information Technology, Fred grew with it, taking his enthusiasm and skill to the field of advertising sales in the mid-1970s.
Gaining experience first as an employee of a major broadcaster and then as an independent consultant for other broadcast and cable networks, he became a managing partner in a startup company in the early 1990s providing software solutions to the media Industry.
What began with a modest total of three employees blossomed into a firm of 130 by the time Fred retired, gaining in that time clients such as ABC, NBC, Warner Bros., Turner Broadcasting, Sony, and more.
Throughout his career, his fondest memories are of being impressed with the young people with whom he’s worked, and the skills and perspectives they bring to bear. He enjoyed learning from and being challenged by them – and being able to offer some help of his own along the way.
Aside from doting on his granddaughter (of course), retirement has afforded Fred the opportunity to indulge his many hobbies, including his love of history. His interest began with ancient empires and civilizations and has only grown over a lifetime of informal study.
When not reading history, you’ll find Fred chronicling the beauty all around us on Instagram and volunteering – at the National September 11th Memorial & Museum, or Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel, with its brown bag lunch program that helps feed the needy.
Above all, he is most proud to be a husband, father, and grandfather, noting with wonder how lucky he’s been: “No matter how much or how little you have, you have to appreciate it and all that’s around you.”
Join Fred at BPCA’s upcoming Tuesday Talks as follows:
April 2nd – A Taste of the Past (Part 1): European Ages of Exploration to Revolutionary War
April 9th – A Taste of the Past (Part 2): From the Birth of Our Nation to the “New Downtown”
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