Brooklyn Arts Council

Michael A. Armstrong has been involved in the civic and cultural life of Brooklyn since the 1970s, as an award-winning newspaper editor, an ardent supporter of the arts and an active participant in the public life of the borough.

Armstrong spent more than two decades publishing community newspapers, founding The Phoenix Newspaper in Brooklyn in 1972, which chronicled and supported the renaissance of the borough�s cultural life. He also published The Villager, the hometown newspaper of Greenwich Village. The paper established a highly-praised annual Theater Awards program for the emerging downtown Off-Broadway and experimental theater scene. Both newspapers and their staffs won dozens of local, state and national awards for outstanding journalism under his leadership, including frequent annual awards for Best Coverage of the Arts in New York State.

After his newspaper days, Armstrong became Director of Public Affairs for Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, responsible for research, media, public relations and special events for the Borough of Brooklyn. Upon the Borough President�s retirement, Armstrong became the Public Relations Director of Independence Community Bank its associated Independence Community Foundation. He is currently a media and marketing consultant at Armstrong & Associates.

A Brooklyn resident since the 1960�s, Armstrong has been a member of Brooklyn Arts Council's Board of Diectors since 1980. He is also a member of the board of the Old Stone House Museum and has previously served as an officer and/or member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Press Association, Prospect Park Alliance, Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corp., the parent organization of the Atlantic Antic.