Wendell Foster

{{Short description|American politician (1924–2019)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Reverend T. Wendell Foster

|image =

|caption =

|office1 = Member of the New York City Council from the 16th district

|term_start1 = January 1, 1992

|term_end1 = December 31, 2001

|predecessor1 = Sheldon S. Leffler

|successor1 = Helen Foster

|office2 = Member of the New York City Council from the 9th district

|term_start2 = January 1, 1978

|term_end2 = December 31, 1991

|predecessor2 = Barry Salman

|successor2 = C. Virginia Fields

|birth_name =

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|2|14}}

|birth_place =

|death_date = {{death date and age|2019|9|3|1924|02|14}}

|death_place = New York, New York, U.S.

|party = Democratic

}}

Reverend T. Wendell Foster (February 14, 1924 - September 3, 2019) was an American politician who served on the New York City Council from 1978 to 2001.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/11/nyregion/councilman-protected-after-threats-on-phone.html |title=Councilman Protected After Threats on Phone |work=The New York Times |date=1986-04-11 |accessdate=2019-07-06}} He was the first Black elected city official in the Bronx.{{cite web|author=Katherine Bindley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/nyregion/thecity/15fost.html |title=The Rev. Wendell Foster on the Bronx, Liberation and Old Friends |work=The New York Times |date=2009-02-13 |accessdate=2019-07-06}}{{cite web |title=Wendell Foster, first black elected official in the Bronx, remembered as 'icon' |work=POLITICO |url=https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2019/09/04/wendell-foster-first-black-elected-official-in-the-bronx-remembered-as-icon-1168285 |accessdate=30 April 2020}} The Rev. T. Wendell Foster Park and Recreation Center, formerly Mullaly Park, is named after him.{{cite web |title=Rev. T. Wendell Foster Park and Recreation Center |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/foster-park/ |website=NYC Parks |access-date=7 April 2023}} His daughter, Helen Diane Foster, served as the Commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights.{{cite web |url=https://research.library.fordham.edu/baahp_oralhist/357/ |title=Helen Diane Foster Interview |work=Oral Histories |date=29 November 2023 |last1=Naison |first1=Mark }}