Throughout the year, Madison Square Park will be highlighting some of our amazing Associate Board Members. Their contributions and work as park ambassadors help to ensure that the park remains clean, green, beautiful, and appreciated all year long.

Today we are featuring Sal Taibi, a frequent patron of Madison Square Park and a treasured Associate Board Member. Here’s some more about Sal, in his own words:

My name is Sal Taibi and I just recently joined the Associate Board. Over the years, I have had offices and apartments in the Flatiron and NoMad areas, so I have been a longtime supporter and fan of Madison Square Park. I’ve always loved how such a peaceful place can exist in the middle of a busy city.

In the late 90s my office was located on 23rd Street, so I was able to watch the park thrive over the years after the opening of Shake Shack. My favorite thing is to come to the park in the early morning, when the city is still quiet but the park is already busy with people walking their dogs, exercising, or drinking coffee. Before the pandemic, I used to walk through the park on my way to my office on 27th Street and Park Avenue South. Even just a short walk through the park was enough to clear my mind and put me in the right mindset to start the day. With my office so close by, many of our employees would also enjoy the park at lunchtime. We even did a team-building volunteer event in the park a few years ago where we planted flowers and helped with spring clean-up in the park.

I have been a Mad. Friend member for many years and have enjoyed many of the events and exhibits in the park. I was looking for a way to become more involved in supporting Madison Square Park Conservancy, which is how I learned about the opportunity to become an Associate Board Member.

I recently retired after over 40 years in advertising. For the past 25 years, I have helped run various ad agencies for the Interpublic Group, including Lowe and Deutsch, and most recently served as the President of Campbell Ewald NY. I have worked on iconic campaigns like the I Love NY Tourism campaign for Empire State Development, and with global marketing companies like Unilever, Bayer, and Sharp. Probably the most well-known campaign that I have been involved with was the “got milk?” and milk mustache campaign. We created the milk mustache ads, which featured hundreds of celebrities, ran for over 20 years, and is featured in an exhibit at the Smithsonian. I even co-authored a book about the campaign which was a New York Times bestseller.

I look forward to being on the Associate Board and helping to support this park that has brought me so much pleasure over the years.