City & State New York 021020 by City & State

CAN'T BUY ME LOVE... YET SHOULD NEW YORK ALLOW SEX WORK?

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February 10, 2020

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February 10, 2020

City & State New York

CELESTE SLOMAN; VARAVIN88/SHUTTERSTOCK

EDITOR’S NOTE

JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

WHEN DEMOCRATS ASSUMED control of Albany last year, they started to reshape the state’s criminal justice system. They eliminated cash bail in most cases. One new law compels prosecutors to share evidence with defendants earlier, while another speeds up the trial timeline. Lawmakers weren’t able to legalize recreational marijuana, but a compromise was reached to further decriminalize it. Democratic officials also used their newfound power to push through new legislation protecting women, including a #MeToo movement-inspired measure lowering the standard of what qualifies as sexual harassment. Among the other new proposals packaged into the governor’s “2019 Women’s Justice Agenda” were an extension of the statute of limitations in many rape cases and the Reproductive Health Act, which supporters described as codifying Roe v. Wade in New York. Both measures passed last year. One policy issue that spans both criminal justice policy and women’s rights is prostitution. Near the end of the 2019 session, a small group of lawmakers made waves by introducing a bill to decriminalize sex work, but it remains in committee. Apart from conservatives’ outright opposition to prostitution, progressives are debating among themselves about who – if anyone – should be subject to prosecution for such transactions. In this week’s cover story, freelance journalist Lisa Peterson tracks how sex workers and their advocates finally gained a foothold in Albany – and where the battle will take them next.

CONTENTS POWER COUPLES … 8 New York’s top political pairs

POWER SINGLES … 12 The lone wolves leading New York

SEX WORK … 14 Reevaluating the labor of lust PHILANTHROPY … 23 The 50 most influential givers

WINNERS & LOSERS … 38

Who was up and who was down last

CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

NO MORE BROKER’S FEES

In a dramatic reversal buried in a series of new state regulations, New York City renters will no longer have to pay broker’s fees – the landlords hiring real estate agents to help move their apartments will now be on the hook. In the

past, people looking to rent an apartment would often have to pay thousands of dollars in broker’s fees that greatly increased the cost of renting. Much more than any other city in the country, landlords in New York hire brokers to list their apartments and work as middlemen, then pass the cost on to

the renter. The new guidance is part of an interpretation of the state’s rent laws passed in June. They included a cap of $20 on fees, such as for background checks or credit checks, that a landlord could charge new renters, although it was unclear at the time if that included broker’s fees. The regulations from the New York Department of State clarify that that cap does apply to broker’s fees, effectively eliminating them and shifting the burden to landlords. The real estate industry has decried the change and said that it will hurt both real estate agents and small-scale landlords. Industry members also suggested that renters will still wind up paying, but through higher rent rather than an upfront lump sum.

As expected, President Donald Trump was not removed from office at

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– Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, on what he considers to be the overreactions of critics to the state’s new bail reform law, via State of Politics

TRUMP ACQUITTED

NEW YORK CITY’S

“Right now it seems when the sun doesn’t come up, everyone wants to blame the bail law.”

Fears of the coronavirus outbreak may have some New Yorkers in a panic, but city leaders are emphasizing that there’s no reason to cast aspersions on the Asian community. State Sen. John Liu urged people to attend the Lunar New Year parade last week, and amNew York Metro featured the celebration on its Monday cover, displaying a parade scene in Chinatown – surgical masks and all.

“His theme was ‘Save the City’! He has been mayor for six … years. Who does he think it needs saving from?” – New York City Councilman Joseph Borelli, on de Blasio’s State of the City speech, via the New York Post

the conclusion of his impeachment trial. The U.S. Senate voted to acquit him of both articles of impeachment almost entirely along party lines, although U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney broke with Republicans to find Trump guilty of the first article, abuse of power.

EXPEDITED INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SUSPENDED

The Trump administration has suspended Global Entry and other similar programs that allow international travelers to more quickly get through security lines and border checks for all New York residents. The move comes in response to the state’s recently enacted Green Light law that allows immigrants living in the country illegally to obtain New York driver’s licenses. Part of the new law prohibits the state Department of Motor Vehicles from automatically sharing information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a letter to New York officials that this will get in the way of the agencies conducting their business, so for the time being, Global Entry and other Trusted Traveler Programs will be suspended in the

RYAN DEBERARDINIS/SHUTTERSTOCK; MIKE GROLL; JOHN MCCARTEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE

February 10, 2020

City & State New York

COMMENTARY state. Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the move “extortion” on the part of the Trump administration and announced his intention to sue Homeland Security in response.

THE MAYOR AND THE WHALE

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made his penultimate State of the City speech at the American Museum of Natural History with the theme of “Save Our City.” That got the mayor some ridicule about who the city needs saving from, since he’s been in charge for six years. And he did admit that he has had his share of failures in tackling inequality and housing affordability in the city. But after criticism that his focus had skewed too national in recent years, de Blasio recommitted himself to local issues in his speech. He offered some

THE

WEEK AHEAD

new proposals, including legalizing basement apartments and creating a panel to evaluate the concept of commercial rent control.

UPSTATE JUDGE CHALLENGES BAIL REFORM

Could Iowa’s mess happen in New York?

A Cohoes judge set up the first big challenge to the state’s new bail reform law. He issued an order for bail to be set in the case of a man who did not commit a bailable offense, but had missed previous court appearances. The judge said the issue was not one of dangerousness, which many critics have said judges should be allowed to consider in determining pretrial conditions like bail. The judge said he should have the discretion to set bail if deemed necessary to compel someone to return to court.

TUESDAY 2/11 After nearly a year without a taxi and limousine commissioner, the New York City Council is expected to approve Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk for the job at 10:30 a.m. at City Hall.

Last week, over 1,000 miles away, chaos reigned during the first night of Democratic caucuses in Iowa. State Democratic Party officials melted down, announcing that due to “inconsistencies” in reporting, the party could not declare a victor. Reports suggest that the culprit of was a smartphone app used by Iowa Democratic officials to report results. Here’s what New York can learn from the fiasco.

Could something like this happen here?

The Iowa caucus process is fundamentally different from New York elections. While the political parties are in charge of caucuses, New York’s primary and general elections are facilitated by the state and local boards of election – bipartisan bodies that are bound by New York election law and regulations. Technology used in New York’s elections – like computerized voting machines – require approval by the state Board of Elections. Still, just like in the Iowa caucuses, each board of elections in New York has to report its results to the state board in some way. John Conklin, spokesman for the state Board of Elections, said that the system used for reporting has been in place for years – unlike the Iowa caucus app introduced mere months ago. However, introducing new forms of technologies always presents the possibility of unforeseen flaws. Conklin said that New York has no plans to introduce any new technologies ahead of the April primary election or November general election that haven’t been used at least once before.

TUESDAY 2/11 State lawmakers are hosting a budget hearing on the contentious topic of elementary school funding. It’s all going down at 9:30 a.m. in Hearing Room B of the Legislative Office Building in Albany.

So New York doesn’t have any reason to worry about its voting technology?

Well, not exactly. Counties across the state can choose which state BOE-approved voting machines to use, but the primary method prompts voters to fill out a paper ballot, and then scan it using one of these machines. In New York City’s 2018 elections, those scanners ran into issues with processing two-page paper ballots that were damp because of humidity and rain. Essentially, New York City had a series of problematic paper jams. And then there’s the little issue of hacking. After the widespread election interference in 2016, it’s not unreasonable for any county or state Board of Elections to be extra vigilant for security flaws in its voting systems. And while Conklin said that electronic poll books – the latest tech addition to New York’s election system – rolled out smoothly during early voting last fall, there may be more innovations to come that have caused some to raise concerns about cybersecurity.

How are New York’s poll workers trained to use the electronic voting machines and other technologies?

At least part of the issue with Iowa’s caucus app seemed to be with the fact that party workers at various precincts hadn’t been adequately trained to use it. Conklin said that isn’t an issue in New York. Training is mandatory for poll workers at all local boards of election, and workers have to get certified by those boards.

FRIDAY 2/14 Black and Latino lawmakers and allies meet up for the state Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators’ annual Caucus Weekend, from Friday to Sunday, mostly at the Hilton Albany.

– Annie McDonough

INSIDE DOPE

Caucus Weekend’s party atmosphere may be a bit dampened this year, as state Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the association’s finances continues.

PARTY SWITCHERS 6

CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

NEW YORK’S LONG, PROUD HISTORY OF POLITICAL TURNCOATS

WANNABE Democratic presidential nominee Michael Bloomberg is receiving criticism for his past as a Republican, but he is far from the only New York politician who has switched their partisan loyalty at opportune times. Here are some New York elected officials who, for one reason or another, have changed their party affiliation.

ERIC ADAMS

The Brooklyn borough president has been through a political change or two over the years. This includes an abandoned 1994 congressional run as a Democrat where he received backing from the Nation of Islam, then he was as a registered Republican from 1995 to 2002 before going back to the Dems several years before he won a state Senate seat in 2006.

PETER KOO

The unofficial “Mayor of Flushing” ditched the GOP in 2012 just as the party’s hopes for political relevance began going down the drain in New York City. Given how easy reelection has been for Koo ever since, it looks like he’s sticking with the Dems for good.

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

There was a time when becoming a Republican made sense for a billionaire New York City mayoral hopeful in need of a ballot line. It also made sense when he ditched the GOP to go independent a few years later to win reelection in an increasingly liberal city. However, the question he now faces is: How do you convince Democratic voters that you’re the right person for the party’s presidential nomination? Answer: Spend lots of money on ads and avoid making too many public appearances.

JOHN BROOKS

The former Republican accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination when he successfully challenged corruption-plagued GOP state Sen. Michael Venditto in 2016. You could say that he got ahead of the political curve that has turned Long Island increasingly blue in recent years.

BY ZACH WILLIAMS

JOSEPH ROBACH

The soon-to-beretired GOP state senator came to the state Capitol nearly three decades ago as a Democratic assemblyman. He switched parties in 2002 and won election to the state Senate, a move that would add an extra vote and a jocular touch to the GOP conference in the years ahead.

JULIA SALAZAR

The Brooklyn state senator is the most outspoken self-described Marxist in state politics, a notable turnaround for the former Republican who just a few years ago blasted liberal professors on conservative firebrand Glenn Beck’s TV show. We’ll see if her current ideology sticks for the long haul.

February 10, 2020

City & State New York

A Q&A with New York City mayoral candidate

SHAUN DONOVAN

SEAN PRESSLEY; EMIL COHEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; RBLFMR/SHUTTERSTOCK; STATE SENATE

You’ve been an architect, the New York City HPD commissioner, U.S. HUD secretary, and White House budget director. Which of those are you going to present to voters? Well, first and foremost, I’m a New Yorker. Born and raised here. The through line between all those jobs is I did them because of growing up in New York City. I witnessed as a child the homelessness crisis exploding, people fleeing the city, neighborhoods falling apart. That more than anything else was what drove me to start volunteering in a homeless shelter, to come

back to the Bronx after studying housing, and work for a nonprofit in the Bronx that was trying to rebuild neighborhoods. You were a force behind upzoning areas like Williamsburg during the Bloomberg administration, which a lot of folks blame for increasing inequality. Do you think that was the best way to solve the issues at the time? I’m proud of the work that I did as housing commissioner in the city. I was behind the most aggressive affordable housing plan in the

country and we created and preserved a huge amount of affordable housing that has benefited tens of thousands of families. But I would also say that, while I deeply respect Mike Bloomberg as a strong leader and as a great manager, there are also places that we disagreed. I left to go join the Obama administration. I deeply share the values that President Obama displayed as president and as a person, as a dad, and enormously proud of that record, too.

I was reading The Real Deal’s coverage of your campaign announcement, and it seemed like the real estate industry can barely contain its glee. Are you going to be positioning yourself as more friendly to the to the real estate industry than the current crop of mayoral candidates? Let me go back to my record. I started working at the National Coalition for the Homeless. I worked at a nonprofit organization in the Bronx, rebuilding neighborhoods that had been devastated by the crisis I watched as a kid.

And I spent my entire life making sure that housing wasn’t just a private market good, which was making somebody as much money as possible. Good housing is something that determines all the opportunity in a person’s life. Where you live determines where your kids go to school, your opportunity for jobs, your public safety, your health care. And so I am considering this run for mayor because I am deeply committed to making sure that housing is first and foremost something that allows New Yorkers to be in New York, to stay in their neighborhoods and to afford this city.

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New York’s

February 10, 2020

TOP 10 by J E F F C O L T I N

ORKING IN local politics really takes over your life, from waking up with First Read in the morning till the last scroll through Twitter before bed. So it can help to have someone who gets the 24/7 grind – a partner in politics. While City & State has highlighted many civic couples in past Februaries, this year we’ve found, in no particular order, the 10 most politically potent power couples – the emperors and empresses of the Empire State.

BILL de BLASIO Mayor of New York City CHIRLANE McCRAY First Lady of New York City When voters elected Bill de Blasio in 2013, they knew they were getting a package deal. De Blasio called Chirlane McCray a top adviser from the beginning, and she has led the ThriveNYC mental health initiative, among other formal roles. Now, rumor has it she and her husband of more than 25 years are planning New York for their next act, with City Mayor McCray considering Bill de Blasio a run for Brooklyn and his city’s borough president. ThriveNYC

guru, Chirlane McCray.

The Empire State’s most politically potent pairs

Power Couples

February 10, 2020

City & State New York

The New York Public Library‘s Iris Weinshall and the guy who wrote the book on press conferences, Chuck Schumer

LEFT: MARIAKRAY/SHUTTERSTOCK; ALL OTHER PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY THE COUPLES

Bolton-St. Johns’ Juanita Scarlett, and the guy every New York political reporter wants to grow up to be, Errol Louis.

ERROL LOUIS Political Anchor NY1

RICK COTTON Executive Director

Port Authority of NY & NJ

JUANITA SCARLETT BETSY SMITH Partner President and CEO Bolton-St. Johns

Central Park Conservancy

Errol Louis is one of New York’s best-known journalists, grilling the political class on television five nights a week, while Juanita Scarlett is a behind-the-scenes powerhouse as a leading lobbyist at one of the state’s top firms. Before getting into lobbying, Scarlett worked briefly for then-state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo – an all-tooinfrequent guest on “Inside City Hall,” which is hosted by her husband of 15 years.

From their separate perches, Rick Cotton and Betsy Smith watch over some of New York City’s most iconic spaces, from One World Trade Center and the George Washington Bridge to Central Park itself. Married for nearly nine years, they both had long careers in business before switching to public service, but the couple regularly appears on the gala circuit.

CHARLES SCHUMER CHARLES BARRON U.S. Senate Minority Leader Assemblyman IRIS WEINSHALL INEZ BARRON Chief Operating Officer New York City Councilwoman New York Public Library

If the leader of the U.S. Senate Democrats wanted to check out some books on previous impeachment trials, he knows where to look. Iris Weinshall may not be able to forgive any late fees for New York’s senior senator, but she has one of the top gigs at what’s surely the city’s most storied cultural institution. Married for nearly 40 years, the pair must have set a good example – one of their daughters met her husband while working in the White House.

Could anything be more radical than two Barrons repping East New York? Married for nearly 40 years, the Democratic district leader duo are also seat-swappers, trading turns in the Assembly and New York City Council representing the far reaches of Brooklyn. They may be New York’s only elected husband and wife, but that’s not all that makes them stand out – both break with the Democratic Party to side with their own Afrocentric political conscience.

CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

Forget de Blasio and McCray; the real first couple of New York’s progressive left, Camille Rivera and Jonathan Westin.

Uber’s chopper whiz Matt Wing and the woman who keeps New York spinning, Melissa DeRosa

MELISSA DeROSA Secretary to Gov.

JASON GOLDMAN Chief of Staff

JIM JOHNSON New York City Corporation

CAMILLE RIVERA Partner

MATT WING Head of Communications for

CAMILLE JOSEPH Regional Vice President of

NANCY NORTHUP President and CEO

JONATHAN WESTIN Executive Director

Andrew Cuomo

Advanced Technologies Uber

Being Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide has its perks, like occasional rides in the state’s high-tech helicopter. That’s something Matt Wing knows a lot about as the top spokesman for tech giant Uber’s nascent helicopter business. The couple married in 2016 after meeting in the governor’s office. They say they’re careful about potential conflicts of interest, and Melissa DeRosa has had practice – her siblings and father are lobbyists.

New York City Council

State Government Affairs Charter Communications

Jason Goldman is the man in the middle of the New York City Council, coordinating which bills move and when for the body’s 51 members since joining Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s team two years ago. Camille Joseph is the top state lobbyist for one of New York’s biggest telecommunications companies, delivering both Wi-Fi and NY1 while battling labor unions and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. They’ve been married since 2016.

Counsel

Center for Reproductive Rights Jim Johnson was already a big deal in New Jersey, an attorney who finished second in the state’s 2017 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Now he’s returned to New York to become City Hall’s top lawyer, and Nancy Northup leads one of the nation’s most prominent pro-choice organizations. They married in 2014, but had known each other for years, having worked together in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

New Deal Strategies

New York Communities for Change Jonathan Westin leads one of the most prominent groups organizing against economic inequality in New York. And after more than a decade of taking top organizing roles at labor unions and elsewhere, Camille Rivera recently joined a new political consulting practice that represents progressive candidates and causes, including Melissa Mark-Viverito’s congressional campaign. They’ve been married for more than seven years.

February 10, 2020

Solar boss Dan Hendrick and Amazon’s thirdleast favorite person, Jimmy Van Bramer.

DAN HENDRICK Board President New York Solar Energy Industries Association

MARIAKRAY/SHUTTERSTOCK; SUBMITTED BY COUPLES

JIMMY VAN BRAMER New York City Councilman Dan Hendrick is the board president of the trade association promoting solar energy in New York while also leading external affairs for a nationwide renewable energy supplier, Clearway Energy Group. Jimmy Van Bramer, his husband since 2012, has represented much of Western Queens in the New York City Council for more than a decade and was a leading voice opposing Amazon’s proposed headquarters in Queens.

City & State New York

CityAndStateNY.com

it’s

LONELY February 10, 2020

Who says you’ve got to be married to get ahead in politics?

by J E F F C O L T I N

OFFICE OF GOV. ANDREW CUOMO; RON ADAR, LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; STATE SENATE

DR HAD ELEANOR. Dinkins had Joyce. Mario had Matilda. But today’s class of New York elected officials are riding solo. In fact, almost all of the state’s most powerful politicians are unmarried. Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently separated from his longtime partner, Sandra Lee. State Attorney General Letitia James has never married. Ditto for state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is unmarried, while state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has been a widow since 2007. Stewart-Cousins’ top deputy, state Sen. Michael Gianaris, is divorced, as is state Senate Minority Leader John Flanagan. The only married statewide elected official? Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is married to former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York Bill Hochul. The state has been trending this way for a while. In 2010, DNAinfo noted that New York was being led by bachelors, with Cuomo and DiNapoli being in the same positions that they have now, and the unmarried Eric Schneiderman serving as state attorney general. But the Assembly speaker at the time, Sheldon Silver, was married, as were all of the majority leaders cycling through the state Senate during that tumultuous time. Go back another 10 years and everyone had spouses. In 2000, New York’s leaders – Gov. George Pataki, Lt. Gov. Mary Donohue, state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and state Comptroller H. Carl McCall – were all married. Same for Silver and state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno. Another decade earlier, the situation was the same, with all of the state’s top leaders living in matrimony in 1990. In a time when people are reconsidering

Clockwise, from top left, Letitia James; Thomas DiNapoli; Andrew Cuomo; Andrea StewartCousins; and Michael Gianaris are all unmarried.

LYat theTOP February 10, 2020

City & State New York

You can think they’re all bums without regard to their marital status. – Bob Liff, political consultant

the roles, expectations and titles we have for political spouses, New York’s top leaders are simply opting out. Do voters care? “I don’t think it matters. I think it’s interesting, but I don’t think it matters,” said Bob Liff, a longtime New York City journalist who now works as a political consultant for George Arzt Communications. It’s a positive development that voters seem to care less now about a candidate’s gender, sexual orientation or relationship status, he said, adding, “You can think they’re all bums without regard to their marital status.” Things look slightly different in New York City, where Mayor Bill de Blasio’s love-filled, 25-year marriage to Chirlane McCray is central to both his political image and policy portfolio. City Comptroller Scott Stringer made his 2010 marriage political too, wedding his wife Elyse Buxbaum in Connecticut to protest New York’s failure to recognize same-sex marriage at the time. The city has a history of unmarried mayors though, from Ed Koch to Michael Bloomberg, and could return to those days after 2021. Stringer may be attached, but another leading candidate, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, is unmarried. Another top contender, the once notoriously single New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, may or may not have a boyfriend now, but he too, is unmarried. Of course, there is still some significance placed on political spouses – especially when they break the historical mold. Johnson recently offered praise upon hearing a fellow gay politician, presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, mention his marriage on stage. “Moving to hear a Presidential candidate thank his husband in front of the world,” he tweeted. “Progress!”

■

CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

LEGITIMIZING THE LABOR OF LUST Should sex workers still end up in handcuffs? by L I S A P E T E R S O N

O February 10, 2020

City & State New York

KHURUZERO/SHUTTERSTOCK

N A FEBRUARY AFTERNOON last year, about 150 people gathered in lower Manhattan’s Foley Square to kick off a campaign to radically transform New York’s prostitution laws. Cecilia Gentili, a veteran advocate for the transgender community and former sex worker, strained to be heard over the raucous cheers. “It is incredibly, incredibly surreal to have the support of our elected officials for this,” she told the crowd. A lineup of state lawmakers – state Sens. Julia Salazar and Jessica Ramos, and Assembly members Richard Gottfried, Dan Quart and Catalina Cruz – stood a few feet away, all openly supportive of the decriminalization of sex work.

The new coalition, Decrim NY, aims to “decriminalize, decarcerate and destigmatize the sex trade” – in other words, to repeal criminal laws regarding the purchase or sale of sexual services in the state. It’s a radical idea, but not entirely unprecedented. New Zealand fully decriminalized sex work in 2003, and two states or territories in Australia have done the same. The World Health Organization, American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International are among the high-profile groups that publicly back the policy, citing its potential for reducing the spread of HIV and decreasing violence against sex workers, among other benefits. And Washington, D.C., considered a bill to decriminalize sex work in 2017 (though it has not passed yet, despite being reintroduced in 2019). Thanks in part to a recent progressive shift in Albany (several of New York’s newest legislators, including state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi as well as Salazar, ran on platforms that included the decriminalization of sex work), the once-unimaginable seems closer to reality than ever before: New York could become the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize sex work. In June, the final month of the 2019 legislative session, Salazar followed through on a campaign pledge by introducing the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act, with Ramos and fellow Democratic state Sens. Luis Sepúlveda and Robert Jackson joining as co-sponsors. “What this bill does is it removes from the criminal code the buying or trading of sex between consenting adults,” Salazar explained recently, while leaving in place the portions of the law that address “coercion of minors (or) anything to do with minors” as well as trafficking and exploitation. How has New York – a blue state, but one

founded on the same Puritan values as the rest of the nation – found itself on the front lines of decriminalizing the trade of sex for money? Combine millennial and Gen Z’s increasing rejection of strict binaries – gay or straight; male or female; slut or virgin – with a burgeoning gig economy in which people patch together all kinds of income sources, and it makes sense that Americans have become steadily more accepting of sex work. In a November 2019 poll of 1,029 voters conducted for Data For Progress, 52% of respondents reported being somewhat or strongly in support of fully decriminalizing sex work. For younger voters ages 18 to 29, support hit 65%. Shifting attitudes, along with widespread calls for criminal justice reform and the evolving discourse around economic disparities, have repositioned sex work from what was once taboo into yet another labor issue: a case of regular people trying to do their jobs. According to sex workers and their advocates, this newfound enthusiasm among politicians to join in the push for decriminalization is hardly the result of any one “blue wave.” It’s the outcome of a decadeslong campaign of public outreach and education led by current and former sex workers. It’s no easy endeavor to “peel back layers of prejudice” built up over time, Decrim NY member Jared Trujillo said. But by showing people “that sex workers are your neighbors, they’re not these horrid people,” the group hopes to speak a language politicians can’t ignore: public sentiment. That work is gradual and grueling. And for that reason, despite the widespread press coverage, the backing of legislators and solid supporter turnout, Decrim NY organizer Nina Luo expressed cautious optimism

on the day of the organization’s launch. She “wouldn’t have believed it” if someone had told her a couple of years ago that even a handful of legislators would come out to support a full decriminalization bill, but one promising day of public support was just the start. “You know, it’s easy to feel like a win is close when you have electeds with you,” she said. “We know that there’s a lot more work to do.” Luo suspects a decriminalization bill would pass much faster in a watered-down, “shitty” form, as she put it, perhaps one that simply moved prostitution charges into the civil code. For sex workers, Luo argued, making too many concessions means permitting more of the same harassment and arrests. Instead, she prefers the longer, more difficult route, taking advantage of the movement’s momentum and using it to build a wider consensus around more sweeping changes.

N 1973, FORMER sex worker Margo St. James founded Coyote, or Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics, the first American organization solely dedicated to securing rights for sex workers. Dubbing themselves a “loose union of women” (and sometimes, in their brassy humor, a “union of loose women”), the San Francisco-based group fought to end the stigmatization and criminalization of prostitution by hosting “hooker conventions” and public education forums. An outspoken feminist, St. James upended the assumption that all sex workers were inherent “victims,” poking fun at American prudery with cheeky Coyote slogans like “The Trick Is Not Getting Caught” and “My Ass is Mine.” Coyote’s efforts kick-started a wave of sex worker community organizing outside of San Francisco. New branches formed across the country during the 1970s, and in 1976, sex worker Jean Powell launched Prostitutes of New York. Following St. James’ lead, sex work activism focused on repealing anti-prostitution laws. But organizers knew that eliminating the threat of arrest was only one of many necessary steps; eradicating the stigma that made it difficult for sex workers to secure resources, like health care and housing, was just as crucial. Coyote and its sister organizations didn’t make much legislative headway, but they did force once-unmentionable issues into the public sphere. As women secured new rights throughout the 1970s – in 1972, single women won the constitutional right to acquire birth control, and a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court made it illegal to ban

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abortions with its ruling in Roe v. Wade – sex workers asked: What about bodily autonomy around pornography, prostitution and all other jobs in the sex trade? They met fierce opposition, even among avowed supporters of the women’s liberation movement. The “sex wars” of the early 1980s pitted anti-pornography feminists (calling themselves “abolitionists”) against prosex feminists, who supported – and included – sex workers. The self-proclaimed abolitionists argued that pornography and prostitution were a direct result of patriarchal oppression and that all women participating in those trades were victims of exploitation and thus not true laborers with their own agency. Feminist sex workers bristled at the notion that they had no minds or wills of their own. With the rise of Reaganism in the 1980s and the country’s subsequent conservative turn, the “radical right” surged, often campaigning specifically against the sexual expression and self-sovereignty of women and LGBTQ people. The AIDS epidemic only increased public squeamishness around sex. While sex worker advocates argued that decriminalization would help prevent the spread of HIV, few agencies or legislators responded. Throughout the 1990s, gentrification pushed urban streetwalkers away from busy areas, while the rise of internet ac-

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cess drew many of them indoors. The personals sections of message boards and online listing services became lively commerce hubs where sex workers advertised their services. From behind computer screens, sex workers communicated with each other more freely, flagging dangerous johns to avoid and trading safety tips. Some sex workers still solicited outdoors and the trade was still illegal, but the internet created a much-needed safe harbor for many. In the early 2000s, President George W. Bush’s administration presented advocates and organizers with a tricky new obstacle: the label of sex trafficking. Meant to describe the forcible, exploitative push of people into the sex trade, the term was so loosely defined and applied that it swept up consensual sex workers along with it. In the name of “rescuing” girls and women, Ronald Weitzer, a George Washington University sociologist who is an expert on sex trafficking, said the Bush White House waged a

“moral crusade” against all prostitution. New York followed the Bush administration’s lead in 2013, throwing resources behind an experimental judicial system intended to pull victims from the clutches of traffickers. Instead of incarcerating people picked up for prostitution, this system – called the Human Trafficking Intervention Courts – funneled them into required counseling sessions. If the defendant attends the mandatory appointments and avoids getting arrested again within six months, the charges (other than a loitering with the intent for prostitution violation, which is never sealable) are expunged from their records. In 2017, sex work organizers in New York saw a glimmer of possibility when the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform published a landmark report. Celebrated by many for calling for the closing of Rikers Island, the report also recommended moving New York’s laws relevant to the exchange of sex for money between consenting adults from the criminal code to the civil summons system – basically, likening a prostitution summons to something more like a parking ticket. While New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio agreed to close Rikers Island within the next 10 years, he reasoned that the second suggestion would make it difficult for officers to identify and rescue sex trafficking victims. Then-New York City Police Department Commissioner James

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O’Neill dismissed the need for any changes. Pointing to the city’s overall reduction in prostitution arrests, he said that officially decriminalizing prostitution wasn’t necessary. While arrest data provided by the NYPD showed that specific prostitution arrests in New York City dropped 62% from 2016 to 2018, Documented reported a simultaneous major uptick in arrests under a different statute: loitering for the purpose of prostitution – a charge that allows NYPD officers to arrest anyone they believe might be trying to sell sex. Not long after the commission’s report, organizers turned their attention to a more pressing matter: FOSTA-SESTA. A two-part piece of federal legislation, FOSTA (Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act) and SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act) aimed to thwart online sex trafficking, specifically through the blocking of adult online advertisements. Holding websites liable for any trafficking that they “knowingly” allow to take place on their platforms (a technicality advocates for internet freedom argue is too vague), the new legislation made it difficult for sex workers to operate their businesses and communicate with one another online. Craigslist shuttered its personals section days before the law was signed in April 2018, and the popular personal ads host Backpage.com was seized by federal forces. By winter, Tumblr, a once-popular porn destination, moved to block all adult content. With the mayor unlikely to back the reform recommendations and with FOSTA-SESTA encroaching on sex workers’ income, activists ramped up the fight at the state level. As Gentili, the former sex worker, put it, her community wasn’t about to let lawmakers “just fuck with our livelihoods” without a fight.

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MMEDIATELY AFTER FOSTA-SESTA passed the U.S. Senate in March 2018, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who co-sponsored the bill, sent out a celebratory tweet: “Survivors and law enforcement now have the tools to seek justice and prevent others from being trafficked online. #TimesUp.” Her message spurred an immediate outpouring of angry replies from the sex work community. “Takes some nerve to slap #TimesUp on a policy that will make it dramatically *easier* for predators to abuse sex workers,” one critic tweeted. Sex work organizer Liara Roux accused Maloney’s bill of making sex workers “even more vulnerable” without safe access to the discussion

City & State New York

boards and chat rooms “where we used to be able to tell (each other) how to avoid violent clients.” Another simply asked Maloney, “How could you get this so wrong?” For her part, Maloney now says she agrees that “equality, rights and protections” for those working consensually in the sex trade are “long overdue,” though her thoughts on decriminalization are less clear. (She expressed being open to “gradually” moving from a Nordic model, where only buyers are criminalized, toward full decriminalization, though one does not create an obvious pathway to the other.) When Luo read the outraged reaction to Maloney’s FOSTA-SESTA position, she saw an opportunity. “I realized, this is the kind of tremendous pain and anger that can mobilize a vote of her out (of office).” Luo reached out to her friend Daphne Weinstein,

Maloney. Nonetheless, Luo was encouraged. She saw early signs that her electoral strategy could work – if she found the right candidates. Though Luo wasn’t a member herself, she knew the DSA was a well of progressive activists and candidates, including one running for state Senate: Julia Salazar. Salazar was challenging an eightterm incumbent, state Sen. Martin Malavé Dilan, from the left. Weinstein connected Luo with Salazar, who was seeking to represent Bushwick, Cypress Hills, Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn. Sex workers had tried to help elect allies before, Luo noted, but the community had never seriously coalesced around candidates for public office. As a result, Weitzer said the decriminalization organizers he has studied have historically been “unable to get any of their views manifested in policies.”

LUO SUSPECTS DECRIMINALIZATION WOULD PASS MUCH FASTER IN A WATERED-DOWN, “SHITTY” FORM. SHE PREFERS THE LONGER, MORE DIFFICULT ROUTE. co-chair of the lower Manhattan branch of the New York City chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, the leftist organization whose nationwide membership has exploded from roughly 5,000 to over 40,000 people since late 2016. Through mutual connections in leftist politics, Weinstein helped put Luo in contact with Maloney’s primary rival, Suraj Patel. Advised by Luo and others from the sex work community, Patel denounced FOSTA-SESTA, citing harm reduction as the main reason behind his decision. The move garnered attention, and Luo didn’t let it go to waste. Flattering coverage for Patel could be found on Bustle and The Daily Beast. In a widely shared op-ed for Vice, Patel called FOSTA-SESTA a “continuation of our country’s policies profiting off the mass incarceration of already vulnerable people.” He then held a sex worker town hall – reportedly the first one ever hosted by a congressional candidate. As “risky” as he said it felt to step in the “minefield” of the FOSTA-SESTA debate, the move helped him build some much-needed name recognition. Better still for Luo, she now had proof that “you could even get some good headlines for taking a stand” on something as controversial as FOSTA-SESTA – and maybe other policies impacting the sex trade. In the June 2018 primary, Patel lost to

N A SATURDAY afternoon in July 2018, Salazar met with Luo, who would soon help her campaign attract national attention. Walking into SoHo’s Ground Support cafe with two members of her team, the future state senator was already “supportive of the decriminalization of sex work,” but unsure of the specifics. The idea of full decriminalization was discussed relatively little, Salazar recalled, because it seemed a bit premature. Republicans still controlled the state Senate, after all. Instead, the conversation focused on steps to protect sex workers right away, including repealing the loitering for the purpose of prostitution statute. By the end of their 90-minute conversation, Luo had succeeded: Salazar agreed to publicly support sex workers’ rights in her campaign. Luo set out to make sure her efforts with Salazar’s campaign sent a loud message. “With Julia,” Luo said, the plan was to drive “more community engagement” to prove that candidates could attract organizers, volunteers and voters based on vocally supporting sex workers’ rights. Successfully introducing Salazar to the sex work community in the coming months would mark the first step. By mid-August, Luo had recruited about

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40 sex workers and allies to canvass in Salazar’s district, and the first-time activists went door to door specifically talking about sex workers’ rights. From Luo’s perspective, it was a triumph. “I think we knocked on, like, 600 doors” to an overwhelmingly positive response, she recalled. “No one made a weird face, you know?” A few weeks later, Salazar easily defeated the Democratic incumbent, then coasted to victory in the November general election.

COUPLE WEEKS BEFORE taking office, Salazar made an announcement on Twitter: She would be “introducing legislation to repeal the harmful ‘loitering for the purpose of prostitution’ statute.” Longtime advocates supported her interest in repealing the law, but pointed out that state Sen. Brad Hoylman had introduced such legislation in the previous session. A devoted advocate for LGBTQ rights, Hoylman had acted on the loitering statute after The Legal Aid Society and law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP filed a joint class-action lawsuit against New York City and “certain named officers of the New York City Police Department” in 2016 to repeal the law. When the Manhattan lawmaker read in the suit that the NYPD targeted and profiled transgender women of color, he was moved to draft the first piece of legislation to repeal what he called the “classist, racist and profoundly discriminatory” loitering law. While Salazar settled into her new role in Albany, advocates and organizers looked for other decriminalization allies in the state Legislature. During an event celebrating the passage of the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which banned conversion therapy and discrimination based on gender identity, transgender community members approached Assemblyman Richard Gottfried. The activists primed Gottfried on the next priority in their agenda: the full decriminalization of sex work. “We think there needs to be a bill,” they told him, and they wanted him to help carry it. Would he do it? A member of the Assembly since 1971, Gottfried said he had “believed for decades” that the harms associated with sex work were “overwhelmingly the result of the illegality of it.” He said he would. Two of his colleagues in the Assembly, Dan Quart and Catalina Cruz, signed on as co-sponsors soon after. Another supporter, first-term state Sen. Jessica Ramos, said standing up for sex workers felt like the right thing to do. “I can’t say that I had a very good understanding of the experience of sex workers,” she said, until they started showing up at her office in Queens and explaining it to her. “This pretense that some people have

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that we are going to get rid of sex work altogether is, I think, false,” Ramos said. She looked at her district and thought about the sex workers she’d seen walking up and down Roosevelt Avenue her “entire life.” In the end, she concluded that decriminalizing sex work was about “empowering the worker, trusting the worker and hopefully allowing them to create their safe environments in which they’re able to take care of themselves and take care of each other.” That brought the count of legislators willing to push for full decriminalization to five, with a few more signing on later. On Feb. 25, 2019 – the day of the Decrim NY launch – Salazar and Ramos published an op-ed in the Daily News announcing their position. While they said they recognized “the tremendous public education required to pass such a bill,” they believed New York could “and should be the first to decriminalize sex work fully.”

N EARLY MARCH 2019, protesters took over the steps of New York City Hall for an anti-decriminalization rally. Hosted by the New York Alliance Against the Legalization of Prostitution with a strong presence from the National Organization of Women’s New York City chapter, attendees hoisted signs above their heads that read “PIMP FREE NY” and “Stop Buying Women.” Maloney spoke at the rally. Counter-protesters soon arrived, with one captured on video pacing back and forth in front of the steps, holding a neon poster board with the words “LISTEN TO SEX WORKERS” written in black marker. Weitzer, the sociologist, said for the most part that mainstream women’s advocacy groups are “content” not to deal with sex work until a specific piece of legislation is introduced. Now that one has, the contentious feminist debate around sex work has reignited, this time causing flareups between proponents of decriminalization and supporters of the Nordic model, a policy that punishes patrons for purchasing sex, but not the people selling it (theoretically, at least). Sometimes referred to as the equality model (or wrongly labeled as decriminalization), this approach has already been implemented in Canada, France and Sweden. Rebecca Zipkin is a senior staff attorney at Sanctuary for Families, a nonprofit serving

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City & State New York

victims of domestic violence and other gender violence that strongly supports the criminalization of “sex buyers, pimps, brothel owners, traffickers, anyone who profits off of the sex trade,” while decriminalizing the act of selling sex. “We see prostitution as a form of exploitation,” Zipkin said, “not an individual choice, but (part of) a system that is inextricably linked to sex trafficking.” Many feminist groups, not to mention the world’s most prominent feminist, Gloria Steinem, support this approach. “The Nordic model guarantees better treatment of men, women and children in prostitution,” Steinem told The Guardian in 2015. “If you decriminalize everybody, that’s it. And, of course, you’ve decriminalized the pimps and traffickers. If you follow the Nordic model, you are obligated to offer services and alternatives to the people who are prostituted. You don’t arrest them.” Yet critics say the Nordic model pushes streetwalkers – already some of the most vulnerable people in the sex trade – into increasingly dangerous situations. Activists and authors Juno Mac and Molly Smith warned in their book “Revolting Prostitutes” that the model drives sex workers to meet clients in hidden locales far from police surveillance, pushing them to accept more

dangerous propositions, such as unprotected sex or appointments with more unpredictable customers, to make up for income lost by regulars scared off by the threat of arrest. A 2016 report from Amnesty International examining the effects of the Nordic model in Oslo backed up those claims. Norwegian social services providers said that the purchasing ban had created a “buyer’s market” that left sex workers with little power, while allowing “perpetrators of violence against sex workers” to act with what they considered to be “relative impunity.” Decrim NY members found this ongoing debate to be exasperating. Sex workers often say that they certainly do not support coercion and resent being cast as “anti-anti-sex trafficking” when criticizing the Nordic model or other modes of criminalization. To Luo, the matter of contention between the two schools of thought is a fundamental disagreement over the role of policing. “There is a way of thinking about addressing social issues that relies on the criminal justice system; that believes policing is effective and good for these communities who are largely black, immigrants and undocumented,” she said. “And that’s just not where Decrim NY is.” Though she hasn’t changed her pol-

icy position, Gentili’s own relationship to her history in the sex trade has grown more nuanced over time. “I always said, you know, ‘I choose this, I choose to be a sex worker, right? This is my choice.’” More recently, she has wondered about the meaning of choice in a brutal economy and discriminatory world. “How much of a choice is it if it’s your only choice?” A National Center for Transgender Equality report published in 2015 found that 69.5% of transgender people surveyed who engaged in sex work had experienced “being denied a job or promotion or being fired because of their gender identity or expression.” “Not for nothing,” Gentili added, many trans Latina women feel like they “have to do sex work because they don’t have a way to make a living,” a point that also applies to black trans women, a group that comprises a “disproportionately high percent-

NATALIA SIVERINA/SHUTTERSTOCK

REP. CAROLYN MALONEY SENT OUT A CELEBRATORY TWEET THAT ENDED: “#TIMESUP.” IT SPURRED AN IMMEDIATE OUTPOURING OF ANGER FROM THE SEX WORK COMMUNITY.

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age” of sex workers. Ramos said she was “a little more surprised by the position of some feminist groups,” specifically organizations that have done “incredible, monumental work when it comes to protecting a woman’s right to choose.” The Queens lawmaker added, “We cannot argue that it’s my body and my choice when it comes to abortion, but not sex work.”

S LUO PREDICTED a year ago at Decrim NY’s launch, the coalition succeeded in pushing for the introduction of a full decriminalization bill last year. Also in line with her expectations, it’s still sitting in committee, a long way from passing. “I think we’re at least a couple of years away” from seeing Decrim NY’s goals realized, Luo said. In 2020, discussion around the issue will be further complicated by state Sen. Liz Krueger’s intention (along with Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright) to introduce Nordic model legislation this session. “I firmly believe that to be a progres-

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diately achievable steps they can work on side by side with some of the staunchest opponents to decriminalization. “Especially early in the session, you’re going to see mostly stuff on (the) walking while trans (ban),” Luo said. “2019 was really exciting because it brought a lot of activity in New York (around decriminalization).” She added: “There are a lot of national and local groups all over the country working on this issue now, and we’re just going to continue to see more conversation. Legislators in New York can be on top of that, or they can fall behind.”

EFORE THE SUN rises on a January weekday, a bus with around 70 members of the sex work and advocacy community pulls out of Union Square. After two and a half hours heading north on U.S. Route 9, this group will meet with a wide range of legislators in Albany, pushing each of them to co-sponsor a bill to repeal the loitering for the purpose of prostitution statute. Group leaders distribute purple fold-

“WE CANNOT ARGUE THAT IT’S MY BODY AND MY CHOICE WHEN IT COMES TO ABORTION, BUT NOT SEX WORK.”

– STATE SEN. JESSICA RAMOS

sive is to stand up for less powerful people against systems that exploit them,” Krueger said. “Johns and pimps are taking advantage of the marginalization and dire economic circumstances of adults and children in the sex trade,” adding that she views the industry as “fundamentally harmful, dehumanizing, and (it relies on a) coercive business model.” Trujillo said the conclusions that Krueger reached are a combination of misinformation and decent intentions. “You can pass the Nordic model, but people often do sex work because they need income to survive,” he said, adding that it is a systemic problem the Nordic model isn’t equipped to address. “(If such a bill passed), all you really get is you drive (the sex trade) further underground and you make people less safe. But you get to pat yourself on the back at the end of the day because you think you did something progressive.” For now, sex work organizers see years of work ahead of them to achieve their goal of the full, statewide decriminalization of consensual sex work. In the meantime, activists focus on the incremental, imme-

ers, passing them back from seat to seat. Each one contains detailed itineraries and specific talking points to use with elected officials. With materials in hand, a bus that was humming with friendly chatter moments ago goes quiet as the passengers study. As Albany approaches, Briana Silberberg, a community organizer from the New York City Anti-Violence Project and Decrim NY member, gets on the bus loudspeaker to lay some ground rules. Stick with your group, leave each meeting with a signed “asks” sheet – and don’t bring up the full decriminalization bill to legislators. Getting sidetracked into any expansive discussion beyond the specific walking while trans ban isn’t helpful to today’s cause. A voice shouts from the back of the bus, “Stepping stones!” A few minutes later, the driver opens the door and deposits the crowd outside the state Capitol. Folders tucked tightly under their arms, they push against the wind, hustling to make it inside the building where change happens.

■

Lisa Peterson is a freelance culture journalist.

COMMENTARY

NO DECRIMINALIZATION WITHOUT REGULATION There’s no room for middlemen in sex work.

BY LINDSAY BEYERSTEIN

N JUNE 2019, state Sen. Julia Salazar proposed the first piece of legislation in New York history to completely decriminalize sex work. If this bill – developed in consultation with sex worker advocacy organizations and progressive legal groups – becomes law, it will no longer be a crime for consenting adults to exchange sex for money in New York. Nor will it be illegal to manage, promote sex workers or support them in their work – as long the business relationship is voluntary. Child prostitution and human trafficking would remain illegal, as would soliciting sex in a school zone. While this would remove a number of sources of harm to sex workers, it would leave a system that is ripe for capitalist exploitation by mostly male business owners and risk turning New York into a sex tourism mecca. Instead, learning the lessons of other states and countries that have experimented with decriminalizing sex work, the bill should be amended or supplemented with strict regulations that would determine the contours of a safe, decriminalized sex market that empowers sex workers and lets them keep the proceeds of their labor. Women overwhelmingly bear the brunt of criminalization: 98% of the 1,413 people charged with prostitution-related offenses in New York City over a one-year period were cisgender or transgender women, according to a recent study. Salazar said that the objective is to protect sex workers from criminalization, trafficking and exploitation. “The best way to address those problems comprehensively is to decriminalize sex work,” Salazar said in an interview with City & State. “What that means as far as our bill is removing anything in the criminal code that is related to prostitution.” There are a number of reasons why decriminalization would help sex workers. The illegality of sex work puts sex workers at risk. They can’t

CELESTE SLOMAN

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go to the police for help if a client beats or robs them. In fact, many sex workers report being victimized by the police. Women who have been sexually trafficked may continue working against their will because they’re afraid of being charged as prostitutes. A criminal record from sex work can make it harder to leave the industry and pursue employment or education. Finally, sex workers could organize and advocate for themselves more effectively if they didn’t fear being arrested. Salazar and her supporters are clear: They want decriminalization rather than legalization. Decriminalization means removing criminal and civil penalties for sex work. The sex industry would be subject to the generally applicable laws, but there would be no sex work-specific regulatory framework. By contrast, legalization means decriminalization and implementing sex industry-specific regulations. The regulatory frameworks at play are as diverse as the jurisdictions that have legalized sex work. Regulations might call for licensing and inspections, impose limits on when or where sex work can take place, or guarantee certain rights and protections specific to sex workers. For example, prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada, but it’s not an unrestricted free market. Legal sex work is limited to registered sex workers operating out of licensed brothels in counties that have a population of less than 700,000, and those counties must also allow the practice. Salazar and her allies oppose regulations because they worry that it will become a kind of shadow criminalization in which sex workers are penalized for failing to follow the regulations, rather than for selling sex per se. “Legalization that establishes licensing or regulations is often harmful and exclusionary to the people who are most vulnerable in the sex industry,” Salazar said. The state senator has a point. Nevada’s legalized

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brothels do nothing to help sex workers on the streets of Las Vegas, most of whom couldn’t get a job at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch even if they wanted to. One of the biggest problems facing New York is the fate of undocumented sex workers. A Nevada-like system wouldn’t help people who

prosecution. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department made more than 2,700 prostitution arrests in 2016. Legalization does not necessarily empower women. In Nevada, sex workers have to submit to the stringent rules of a brothel if they want to sell sex legally. Women are usually confined to the brothel for

wrong kind of regulations empower management over employees in other ways. Heavily regulated industries tend to favor big businesses that have the wherewithal to navigate complex regulatory frameworks. Licenses and attorneys fees alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars. In Germany, the trend has

weeks or months at a time, even when they’re not working. They’re forced to pay for their rent and food at rates set by the brothel owner, and required to hand over a large chunk of their earnings to the house. The women are independent contractors. There’s no sex workers union and no collective bargaining. While all of Nevada’s brothel-based sex workers are women, 13 of the state’s 15 brothel owners are men, according to Muth. And there’s a risk that the

been toward large brothels with low-cost, high-volume business models, including “all-you-can-fuck” package deals that instill a sense of entitlement in the clients and exhaustion in the sex workers. German corporate brothels have repeatedly been caught trafficking people. Why would they resort to trafficking if sex work is legal? Brothels traffic women for the same reason farmers exploit undocumented migrants: because the jobs are so bad that many

State Sen. Julia Salazar argues that regulating sex work would create a shadow criminalization where sex workers are penalized for failing to follow the rules.

aren’t legally allowed to work. Nevada’s illicit sex industry dwarfs its brothel industry. Chuck Muth, government affairs counsel for the Nevada Brothel Association, estimates that there are about 300 women working out of legal brothels on any given day. State officials estimate there are 30,000 full-service sex workers in Las Vegas alone, where prostitution remains illegal. Sex workers who ply their trade outside of a brothel still face arrest and

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people won’t do them. While the existing regulatory schemes sound bad, it could be worse if there were no limits at all. If all the laws against prostitution were simply wiped off the books, we could start seeing sex work hedge funds that specialize in investing in New York sexbased businesses, just like we’ve seen cannabis hedge funds crop up as more states decriminalize marijuana. If Salazar’s bill becomes law, what’s to stop a Times Square strip club owner from announcing that, from now on, his establishment is offering much more than lap dances in the VIP room? Can he blacklist dancers who refuse to

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workers in the legal economy, acknowledged this risk. “There is definitely a risk of sex workers being exploited … whether it’s venture capitalists, corporate business owners or just by a boss who isn’t legally accountable to the employee,” Salazar said. “That’s the risk that we are concerned about with legalization.” So New York needs a law that both legalizes sex work and prevents exploitative corporate dominance of the sex industry. Not a heavy-handed regime like Nevada’s that primarily benefits wealthy brothel owners, but a flexible, locally crafted set of regulations that serves the needs of New York’s sex workers.

her mind even after she and a client agree to a particular sex act. The client can’t force himself on her and claim she consented because she initially agreed to it. The law also guarantees that no one will lose public benefits for refusing to take a job in the sex industry. It’s also a crime to force someone to engage in sex work, not just by force or the threat of force, but also by withholding drugs or threatening to accuse someone of being in the country illegally. New York should definitely include those kinds of provisions as well. However, New Zealand’s system is far from perfect. Decriminalization

IF SALAZAR’S BILL BECOMES LAW, WHAT’S TO STOP A TIMES SQUARE STRIP CLUB OWNER FROM BLACKLISTING DANCERS WHO REFUSE TO EXPAND THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION TO INCLUDE INTERCOURSE? expand their job description to include intercourse? Salazar’s bill would amend the multiple dwelling law that currently prohibits brothels. Could New York see megabrothels like the 12-story Pascha in Cologne, Germany? Do we want to deal with an influx of boorish sex tourists, like the ones who have exhausted the patience of famously tolerant Amsterdam? How about losing housing units not only to Airbnb but to pop-up brothels? Former sex crimes prosecutors Alexi Ashe Meyers and Rebecca Zipkin wrote in City Limits that full-scale decriminalization “means allowing pimping, brothelowning, and the buying of sexual services to become big business in New York City, at the expense of some of the most marginalized members of our community.” Salazar, who frequently speaks to the exploitation of

New Zealand’s regulatory framework provides a model. New Zealand didn’t just strike out the laws against prostitution and hope for the best; it actively planned what kind of legal sex industry it wanted to have. For example, the nation’s historic Prostitution Reform Act required licenses for larger brothels and mandated safer sex practices. However, New Zealand’s law also carved out a zone free of red tape for ordinary sex workers: Up to four women can work together out of the same premises, with no need for a license, provided that each controls her own income. Legalizing commercial sex raises thorny issues about consent, which must be anticipated and addressed. New Zealand’s law codifies a sex worker’s right not to perform unwanted sex acts and that a sex worker can still change

allowed investors with capital to form large brothels that compete mercilessly with independent sex workers on price and the range of sexual services offered. Sabrinna Valisce was a sex worker in New Zealand during prohibition and after decriminalization. She has since become an anti-decriminalization activist. Her grim first-person account of the degrading conditions in large corporate brothels provides a blueprint of what New York’s regulatory framework should seek to avoid. According to her, corporate brothel workers are independent contractors who pay for the privilege of using the facility, but they are also micromanaged in their demeanor and self-presentation with an endless series of fines for infractions ranging from heels that are too short to running behind schedule. Sex workers

are constantly pressured to perform sex acts outside their comfort zone, she recalled. The profit motive rules all. New York’s regulations should be crafted in consultation with sex workers and public policy experts. A first step would be to eliminate the laws against prostitution and loitering for the purpose of prostitution, but leave in place the law that criminalizes profiting from another person’s prostitution. This change would give sex workers the freedom to negotiate paid sex with consenting adults, but keep out third parties who want to profit from their labor and prevent the creation of corporate brothels. A later step might be to usher in a legal structure for sex worker-owned cooperatives. The state Legislature should legalize brothels only if they are owned by the people who provide the sex. The law should include safeguards to make sure that every sex worker retains control over her own rates and working conditions, and membership should be open to all, regardless of immigration status. The law would not force sex workers to operate out of cooperative brothels – but the benefits, including security and profit-sharing, would be attractive to many. Nevada’s brothels are a $50 million-a-year business. New York’s legal sex trade would likely be worth many times that amount. The majority of that wealth should go to the women who do the work, not the rich investors of some sex work hedge fund. Making sex work a well-paid occupation would sever the link between trafficking and prostitution. Sex work should not become another crappy McJob. If New York is to decriminalize or legalize sex work, it should be based on a model that keeps big business out of the sex industry and safeguards the dignity and independence of sex workers.

■

Lindsay Beyerstein is an investigative journalist, podcaster and documentary filmmaker in Brooklyn.

PHILAN ANTHRO THROPY February 10, 2020

City & State New York

WITH ITS STORIED HISTORY of penthouse fundraisers and ballroom galas, New York has long been an epicenter of philanthropy. To this day, funders of all sizes invest countless dollars into shaping the state’s approach to criminal justice, health care, education, poverty and many other policy issues. Despite its role as a force for good in the world, philanthropy’s relationship with power has increasingly become a subject of scrutiny in recent years. Charitable giving is often seen as a form of political and social influence. These questions of power and influence are of particular importance to New York. This list, which was compiled by New York Nonprofit Media reporter Kay Dervishi, ranked leaders at foundations and philanthropic institutions who direct their giving to New York and remain influential in the region. Leaders who oversee the day-to-day operations at foundations were picked over their founders when possible and, when founders were picked, their examination was focused specifically on their role as philanthropists. We’re pleased to announce our inaugural Philanthropy Power 50 list.

24 CityAndStateNY.com

DARREN WALKER PRESIDENT FORD FOUNDATION

DARREN WALKER now manages a $13 billion foundation that gives out $600 million every year, but the experience that has most informed his leadership was when he worked as a busboy at 13 years old. “There was something about being rendered invisible and the perniciousness of the systems that render too many people invisible in our society that has informed how I think about our

work here at Ford,” he told The New York Times last year. It’s part of why Walker – who has also worked as a corporate lawyer and nonprofit leader – has made inequality a major focus of his work. Although the foundation’s focus is national, it has dedicated plenty of resources to New York, especially for advocacy groups supporting marginalized communities. Walker has been involved

in the effort to close the Rikers Island jail complex as a member of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, which was pivotal in getting the city’s support. He has offered his expertise to many other organizations, including the New York City Commission on City Art, Monuments and Markers, VOW to End Child Marriage and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

JAKE CHESSUM; ARI MINTZ; WILL STRAWSER

February 10, 2020

City & State New York

2 LORIE SLUTSKY

PRESIDENT THE NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST IN THE 96 years since its

founding, The New York Community Trust and its donors have contributed $4.6 billion to nonprofits. Much of its growth as a major philanthropic institution in the past several decades can be credited to Lorie Slutsky, who has spent her whole career at The New York Community Trust. During her tenure as president, the foundation’s assets have tripled, making it one of the 10 largest foundations in the state. Slutsky oversees funding for a range of New York City-focused initiatives, including on the environment, immigration, social services and health. Many of the foundation’s projects are taken on collaboratively, as the trust has partnered with more than 140 funders in the past 40 years. This year, Slutsky has made getting out the count for the 2020 census a priority, with the trust serving as home to yet another collaborative fund. The New York State Census Equity Fund has doled out nearly $2 million in grants to organizations in the state so far.

3 WES MOORE CEO ROBIN HOOD

ROBIN HOOD earned its reputation as a favorite of Wall Street executives and top celebrities looking to invest in anti-poverty initiatives. So it was a big deal when Wes Moore – an author, Army veteran and Rhodes scholar – took over the foundation’s operations about three years ago. “The people I fight for, and those that Robin Hood will continue to fight for, are those who have been frequently left behind,” he told The New York Times when he became CEO. “It’s the underserved, the underresourced. It’s the people we are having conversations about, and not having conversations with.” Moore oversees its $129 million in grantmaking to 200 New York City organizations fighting poverty through education, housing and other services. Just last year, Robin Hood made a major announcement. The foundation and the XQ Institute would pitch in $16 million to build 20 new public schools in New York City. The kicker: The schools’ focus would be shaped by teams of community members participating in a local competition.

26 CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

4 PATRICIA HARRIS

CEO BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES PATRICIA HARRIS has spent much of her career alongside billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She worked at Bloomberg LP before becoming first deputy mayor during his mayoral tenure – and then the driving force behind Bloomberg Philanthropies. In fact, Bloomberg told Politico, “Patti is the foundation.” And as he runs for president, Harris has stepped away from the foundation to join his side as an adviser once again. It’s no wonder Harris features prominently on power lists from publications like Crain’s New York Business and Politico. In the past decade, she has overseen three major initiatives at Bloomberg Philanthropies: promoting public health, spurring government innovation and fighting climate change. That amounted to about $767 million in giving in 2018. One of the foundation’s biggest announcements this past year was its $160 million commitment to stop vaping among youth, as e-cigarette usage becomes a major debate nationally. That decision is in line with Bloomberg Philanthropies’ priorities; since 2007, it has contributed nearly $1 billion to reduce tobacco usage.

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February 10, 2020

City & State New York

5 ERIC S. GOLDSTEIN

CEO UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK FOLLOWING SEVERAL anti-Semitic attacks in the New York City metropolitan area, including a stabbing at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, UJA-Federation of New York has became an important voice for the Jewish community. The nonprofit helped organize a rally against hate in January, attended by thousands, including the governor and other elected officials. And as it encourages New York to do more to provide security for synagogues and nonprofits, UJA-Federation has taken the problem into its own hands by appointing a community security director to help Jewish institutions throughout New York. Eric S. Goldstein has been at the forefront of this leadership. Over the past six years, he has overseen the organization’s funding of hundreds of nonprofits throughout New York, including social services groups, synagogues, Jewish community centers and summer camps. Most of UJA-Federation’s support is dedicated to the region, providing $92.6 million in grants to support initiatives in New York. Goldstein previously served as a board member to some of the group’s partner organizations: New York Legal Assistance Group, DOROT and The Jewish Agency for Israel.

28 CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

PATRICK GASPARD

STEPHANIE CUSKLEY

FLORENCE A. DAVIS

STEPHANIE CUSKLEY has led the Le-

FLORENCE A. DAVIS

PRESIDENT OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS PATRICK GASPARD’S roots are in

New York City, but his career has taken him around the world. He has served as the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, the White House director of political affairs under then-President Barack Obama and the executive director of the Democratic National Committee. For more than two years, he has led the global Open Society Foundations, which funds several universities and social justice nonprofits in New York.

CEO LEONA M. AND HARRY B. HELMSLEY CHARITABLE TRUST ona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust – the fifth largest foundation in the New York City area – since November 2015. She got her start in finance before dipping into the nonprofit sector leading NPower, which provides technological support to community organizations. Cuskley now oversees about $12.5 million in grants supporting New York City institutions, especially those promoting health and the environment.

10 DAVID O. EGNER PRESIDENT AND CEO RALPH C. WILSON JR. FOUNDATION

DIRECTOR AND PRESIDENT THE STARR FOUNDATION spent years working in law and finance before heading The Starr Foundation, having served as vice president and general counsel of American International Group Inc. She now oversees a foundation with $1.5 billion in assets, which gives twothirds of its funding to organizations in New York state. The Starr Foundation made waves last year when it made a major contribution that helped Weill Cornell Medicine eliminate medical school debt for qualifying students.

AS PRESIDENT and

9 BARBARA PICOWER

PRESIDENT AND CHAIR THE JPB FOUNDATION BARBARA PICOWER created the New York City-based JPB Foundation several years after it was revealed that her late husband greatly benefited from Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. And it quickly became one of the largest foundations in the country, managing $4.3 billion in assets. It funds organizations addressing poverty, advancing medical research and aiding the environment, including New York institutions such as the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Harlem Children’s Zone.

CEO of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, David O. Egner is in charge of giving away its $1.2 billion in funds by 2035. The Michigan-based foundation dedicates much of its support to Western New York, with about $300 million spent or promised to the region. Its gifts have aimed to transform parks and trails in Western New York as well as boost youth physical fitness and support caregivers.

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February 10, 2020

City & State New York

DAVID M. OKORN STEPHEN HEINTZ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LONG ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

PRESIDENT AND CEO ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND

THE LONG ISLAND

made waves in the national media in 2014 when he announced that the Rockefeller Brothers Fund would divest from fossil fuel companies. That responsiveness to changes within the philanthropic sector also led him to outline a commitment to fund organizations that have a diverse leadership. Before joining the $1.1 billion family foundation, Heintz was the co-founder and president of the left-leaning think tank Demos.

Community Foundation is a division of the New York Community Trust focused on Suffolk and Nassau counties. David M. Okorn is in charge of its funding initiatives, the 2020 census being a major one, while managing nearly $2.6 billion in assets. Before joining the foundation more than 10 years ago, he served as the senior vice president of development and external relations at Abilities, a nonprofit helping people with disabilities.

ALEXANDRA M. COHEN

ELIZABETH ALEXANDER

ALEXANDRA M. COHEN serves as

BEFORE HEADING The

PRESIDENT STEVEN & ALEXANDRA COHEN FOUNDATION

STEPHEN HEINTZ

13 RICHARD M. SMITH

PRESIDENT THE PINKERTON FOUNDATION WHILE RICHARD M. SMITH was the edi-

tor-in-chief and CEO of Newsweek, and a Pinkerton Foundation board member in the late 1990s, he said the organization’s director had “the best job in the world.” And after serving on its board for 15 years, Smith became the foundation’s president in 2011. Although the $689 million foundation likes to fly under the radar, it remains an active funder of programs for low-income youth and families in New York City.

president of the foundation that she and her hedge fund billionaire husband, Steven, co-founded nearly 20 years ago. The Connecticut-based foundation distributes plenty of resources to organizations in New York City, where Alexandra Cohen grew up. Poverty, health, education and the arts are among its top priorities, funding institutions like Achievement First and Good Shepherd Services.

PRESIDENT THE ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Elizabeth Alexander helped design the Art for Justice Fund that has dedicated $100 million to fight mass incarceration. Now finishing her second year leading the fourth-largest foundation in New York City, Alexander managed $316.8 million in grantmaking in 2018. The foundation sends much of its resources to arts organizations, universities and other philanthropic institutions in the New York City area.

A LEADING VOICE OF NEW YORK’S JEWISH COMMUNITY We congratulate our CEO

ERIC S. GOLDSTEIN on being recognized among City & State’s Nonprofit Power 50. Your commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, caring for people in need, and building bridges across New York’s communities inspires us all. We’re so grateful for your extraordinary leadership.

30 CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

DON CHEN

STANLEY DRUCKENMILLER

CLOTILDE PEREZ- RAY DALIO BODE DEDECKER FOUNDER

PRESIDENT AND CEO SURDNA FOUNDATION DON CHEN may only

be in his second year leading the Surdna Foundation, but his familiarity with the organization goes back more than 20 years, when he was receiving money from the foundation. As president and CEO of the 103-year-old organization, Chen oversees funding promoting social justice throughout the U.S. Its grants in New York support everything from funding initiatives for artists of color to advocacy for clean energy in the state.

FOUNDER DRUCKENMILLER FOUNDATION

PRESIDENT AND CEO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER BUFFALO

THE CHRONICLE of

Philanthropy dubbed Stanley Druckenmiller the most charitable man in America in 2009. And the investor and hedge fund manager has kept up his giving through his nearly $1.3 billion family foundation, which often focuses its giving on New York City. Druckenmiller chairs the board of the Harlem Children’s Zone, one of many local educational institutions that his foundation supports. Health, poverty and arts initiatives are also among the foundation’s priorities.

CLOTILDE PEREZ-BODE DEDECKER

18 RAJIV SHAH

PRESIDENT THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION has long

been a major philanthropic institution addressing global issues. And since 2017, Rajiv Shah has been trying to transform the foundation’s work by boosting its use of technology and data to promote health, food and climate initiatives worldwide. Shah’s focus is certainly on international affairs, but The Rockefeller Foundation has also given tens of millions of dollars to New York-based institutions over the past decade.

has led the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo for more than a decade, overseeing nearly $400 million in assets while supporting individuals and groups throughout Western New York. Dedecker, who has also chaired the Foundation Center, a New York City philanthropic information resource, previously earned her a place on the White House Council on Service and Civic Participation.

20 DALIO PHILANTHROPIES RAY DALIO is best

known for founding one of the world’s largest hedge funds and being one of the wealthiest men in the world. And when he engages in philanthropy, much of his giving is done through his Connecticut-based family foundation, which has awarded more than $5 billion since being founded in 2003. Organizations in New York are often recipients of its generosity, especially local charter schools, universities and arts institutions.

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February 10, 2020

City & State New York

VARTAN GREGORIAN

JULIAN H. ROBERTSON JR.

JENNIFER LEONARD

DAVID SANDMAN

FOR MORE than

THE ROBERTSON FOUNDATION is one

PRESIDENT CARNEGIE CORPORATION OF NEW YORK two decades, Vartan Gregorian has been at the helm of Carnegie Corporation of New York. His professional experience has extended beyond philanthropy – Gregorian has served as president of Brown University and also ran the New York Public Library. Though the $3.5 billion foundation’s work is limited in New York, it does provide funds to higher education institutions in the region, among other groups.

26 ANA OLIVEIRA

PRESIDENT AND CEO THE NEW YORK WOMEN’S FOUNDATION THE NEW YORK

Women’s Foundation has been quick to collaborate with philanthropic partners to fund pressing issues in light of the #MeToo movement and efforts to close the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City. Much of that can be credited to Ana Oliveira, who has helped the foundation more than quintuple its grantmaking since 2006. In 2018, it awarded more than $11 million in grants to 175 community-based organizations.

FOUNDER THE ROBERTSON FOUNDATION

of three foundations Julian Robertson has established (his Tiger Foundation is in a separate entry on this list), all created before the retired hedge fund manager signed the Giving Pledge, which encourages the extremely wealthy to give away at least half their wealth to philanthropy. The Robertson Foundation commits much of its resources to the New York City area, helping fund institutions like Success Academy Charter Schools.

PRESIDENT AND CEO ROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SINCE JENNIFER LEONARD took over

23 DOUG BAUER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CLARK FOUNDATION MORE THAN 80 education, employment and social services nonprofits rely on the Clark Foundation, which is known for supporting organizations’ general operating costs. Doug Bauer – who is also senior vice president of the investment management firm The Clark Estates – heads the foundation’s grantmaking in New York City and Cooperstown, New York. He is a board member of The Melalucca Foundation, National Council of Nonprofits and Partners for Health Foundation.

27 DEBORAH T. VELAZQUEZ DEBORAH T. VELAZQUEZ has

28 CECILIA CLARKE

PRESIDENT AND CEO BROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION MUCH OF the Brooklyn Community Founda-

tion’s grantmaking focus has been driven by a community engagement project that Cecilia Clarke launched in 2014, with input from nearly 1,000 Brooklynites. Clarke now oversees funding programs for youths, immigrants and seniors. Before joining the foundation in 2013, she was the founder and executive director of the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, an educational program for young women in New York City and Newark.

IN A state with diverse medical needs, David Sandman and his foundation play a key role in funding innovative health care initiatives. The New York State Health Foundation supports everything from creating a full-service grocery store in Syracuse to universal free lunch in New York City public schools. Before taking the reins at the foundation, Sandman was the executive director of the state’s health care delivery commission.

JOAN WEILL

GREGORY MUSTACIUOLO

PRESIDENT THE WEILL FAMILY FOUNDATION

PRESIDENT ALTMAN FOUNDATION

been with the Altman Foundation since 2008, though she only began leading its philanthropic efforts at the beginning of 2019. She oversees the foundation’s extensive grantmaking in New York City, which spans education, health and other initiatives. Before joining the 107-year-old foundation, Velazquez worked at the Emmanuel Community Development Corp., Bridge Street Development Corp. and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation.

the Rochester Area Community Foundation 27 years ago, she has made her mark on one of New York’s largest cities while the foundation has grown fifteenfold. That expansion allowed it to grant $36.7 million in scholarships and grants last year across an eight-county region. She is also a member of the RochesterMonroe Anti-Poverty Initiative’s steering committee.

PRESIDENT AND CEO NEW YORK STATE HEALTH FOUNDATION

JOAN WEILL and her husband, Sanford – who earned his wealth leading Citigroup – are longtime philanthropists. And much of their giving goes to famed New York institutions, such as Carnegie Hall. The couple are among the top donors to Cornell University, with its medical school named in their honor. One of their latest contributions to Weill Cornell Medicine has allowed it to offer all students eligible for financial aid the ability to attend tuition-free.

CEO MOTHER CABRINI HEALTH FOUNDATION THE MOTHER CABRINI Health Foundation

is quite new to the philanthropic world, as it has been in operation for just under a year. But with $3.2 billion in assets, Monsignor Gregory Mustaciuolo is in charge of a grantmaking powerhouse. It was born out of the Bishops of the Catholic Dioceses of New York selling Fidelis Care in 2018 and is slated to dole out up to $150 million in grants annually to health initiatives in New York state.

32 CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

JULIE SANDORF

CHARLES BUICE

EDWARD P. HENRY

KAREN PERSICHILLI KEOGH

FIGHTING POVERTY

JULIE SANDORF is

PRESIDENT TIGER FOUNDATION

PRESIDENT CHARLES H. REVSON FOUNDATION

a champion of local journalism, directing the Charles H. Revson Foundation’s support of news outlets throughout New York City. This commitment culminated in its backing of the new nonprofit news organization, The City. The foundation also dedicates money to educational initiatives and medical research at New York institutions. Before Sandorf came on in 2008, she led Nextbook, a nonprofit promoting Jewish literature, arts and culture.

32 RACHEL GARBOW MONROE

PRESIDENT AND CEO THE HARRY AND JEANETTE WEINBERG FOUNDATION RACHEL GARBOW MONROE leads one of the

country’s 50 largest private foundations, managing more than $2 billion in assets. Although the foundation’s offices are located in Maryland and Hawaii, New York City is a key grantmaking focus for the foundation. It awarded more than 50 grants to New York City organizations from March 2016 to February 2017 for its initiatives related to housing, health, jobs, education, community services and the Jewish community.

is a priority of the Tiger Foundation, which Charles Buice heads. Many of its supporters come from the now-shuttered hedge fund Tiger Management, established by Julian Robertson, and they continue to provide support for New York City organizations that help youths, job seekers and those in the criminal justice system. The foundation has given more than $250 million in grants since its founding 31 years ago.

FROM BEING a pro-

fessional dancer to serving as associate dean at Columbia Business School, Edward P. Henry has had a varied career. And since 2009, he has been at the helm of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, where he manages about $1.8 billion in assets. Although the New York City-based foundation doesn’t focus on local giving, it has given to New York City arts institutions and health initiatives.

HEAD OF GLOBAL PHILANTHROPY JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. KAREN PERSICHILLI KEOGH joined

JPMorgan Chase & Co. nearly 10 years ago, heading up its lobbying and political activities in states and localities across the country. She has since shifted focus as the head of its global philanthropic giving, which amounts to more than $200 million annually. New York organizations working on affordable housing and workforce readiness are among its beneficiaries.

LAURIE M. TISCH JENNIFER FOUNDER AND BUFFETT & PRESIDENT PETER BUFFETT

PETER A. DUNN

LAURIE M. TISCH ILLUMINATION FUND

CO-PRESIDENTS NOVO FOUNDATION

PRESIDENT AND CEO CENTRAL NEW YORK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

MARIA MOTTOLA

“ILLUMINATION” IS

THIS POWER COUPLE

PETER A. DUNN

a key word for Laurie M. Tisch’s foundation, which employs innovative approaches to making New York City a brighter place. A longtime philanthropist, Tisch has been especially involved in the arts and that is reflected in many of the foundation’s initiatives. But the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund doesn’t limit its grantmaking, backing “programs that increase access and opportunity across a wide spectrum of fields.”

PRESIDENT DORIS DUKE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

created the NoVo Foundation 14 years ago, when Peter Buffett’s famous father, Warren Buffett, pledged to donate 350,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the foundation. The two oversee the foundation’s grantmaking, and preventing violence against girls and women is a major focus. Among the New York-based nonprofits it supports are the Center for Popular Democracy and Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice.

38 SARAH CHILES

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REDLICH HORWITZ FOUNDATION THE Redlich Horwitz Foundation has a specific

focus: improving New York’s foster care system. Sarah Chiles and her team coordinate with local governments across the state to reduce the number of youth placed in group homes. And with the foundation’s backing, child welfare advocates have successfully fought for foster youth entering college to receive more financial support and for access to educational coaches.

started his career as a lawyer before joining the philanthropic world, driven by a desire to give back to the community. After working in Washington, D.C., and California, he took the reins at the Central New York Community Foundation in 2008. Over the past five years, the foundation’s financial standing has steadily improved. It doled out more than $12 million to support initiatives across Central New York in fiscal year 2019.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NEW YORK FOUNDATION

SINCE 2003, Maria

Mottola has led one of New York City’s top funders of advocacy groups. Of the $2.5 million the New York Foundation granted in 2018, 84% of it went toward community organizing and advocacy. Under Mottola’s leadership, the foundation co-created Engage New York, a coalition of foundation leaders promoting campaigns for immigrants, housing, criminal justice reform and the 2020 census.

THE HARRY AND JEANETTE WEINBERG FOUNDATION; RASHIDA ABUWALA; RICHARD FREEDA PHOTOGRAPHY; MARGARET FOX PHOTOGRAPHY

February 10, 2020

41 RONALD PERELMAN

FOUNDER PERELMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION THE PERELMAN FAMILY FOUNDATION

tends to keep quiet about its grantmaking. Its founder, Ronald Perelman, ranks among the richest Americans as the chairman and CEO of MacAndrews & Forbes Inc. Much of the foundation’s grantmaking is centered on New York City, with an eye on funding hospitals, universities and museums. The Apollo Theater Foundation, National Action Network and the Museum of Modern Art are among its recent grantees.

City & State New York

ANDREA L. REYNOLDS

PHILIP LI

SUSAN L. BIRNBAUM

PRESIDENT AND CEO ROBERT STERLING CLARK FOUNDATION

PRESIDENT AND CEO DYSON FOUNDATION ANDREA L. REYNOLDS came to lead

the Dyson Foundation starting in 2015, where she now oversees grants centered on Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam and Ulster counties. In 2018, the family foundation doled out nearly $12 million in grants. It also has made the 2020 census a priority as a partner in the New York State Census Equity Fund, on top of its other initiatives in health, education and economic revitalization.

43 EMILY TOW

PRESIDENT THE TOW FOUNDATION ALTHOUGH THE Tow Foundation is based in Connecticut, it often takes its funding for criminal justice advocacy to organizations in New York at a time when elected officials have zoned in on incarceration. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has even sought Emily Tow’s insight, appointing her to the state Juvenile Justice Advisory Group. A fixture at the private family foundation since its inception, Tow drives $20 million in annual giving.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION LAURA ROSSI was named the executive director of the Westchester Community Foundation – a division of the New York Community Trust – in 2015 after eight years at the foundation. She oversees grantmaking spanning the arts, social services, health and the environment centered around Westchester County. A former attorney and advocate for women’s and farmworkers’ rights, she is on the boards of Sustainable Westchester and the New York Funders Alliance.

THE NEW YORK CITY

Police Foundation arose amid scandals of police corruption in 1970s with the goal of rebuilding trust in law enforcement. Its role as the only private funder of the NYPD has certainly been criticized for possibly allowing donors to influence the police department. But with $12.8 million in assets, Susan Birnbaum’s foundation is dedicated to helping the NYPD test new initiatives and technology to create a better policing system.

TIMOTHY J. MCCLIMON

ALICIA DICKS

JENNIFER CHING

RONNA BROWN

JENNIFER CHING

RONNA BROWN

TIMOTHY MCCLIMON serves dual but

LAURA ROSSI

PRESIDENT AND CEO NEW YORK CITY POLICE FOUNDATION

47 PRESIDENT AMERICAN EXPRESS FOUNDATION

PHILIP LI is tasked with helping New York City become “a city as just as it is vibrant” in his role as president and CEO of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. The $96.5 million foundation touts its philosophy of trust-based philanthropy, which focuses on providing unrestricted funds to grantees. Earlier in his career, Li helped the Brooklyn Community Foundation transition into a public charity and he also ran the Coro New York Leadership Center.

complementary roles leading the American Express Foundation and serving as senior vice president for corporate social responsibility for the American Express Co. Under his oversight, American Express contributed more than $37 million to organizations in 2018, including New York-based groups like the United Way of New York City and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

PRESIDENT AND CEO THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HERKIMER & ONEIDA COUNTIES ALICIA DICKS outlined

a new vision for The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties last year: make larger grant commitments, support marginalized communities, communicate more with residents and take risks. Dicks is a major philanthropic force, overseeing the disbursement of $7.7 million in grants during 2018. Before leading the $128 million foundation, she served as the president of Fort Schuyler Management Corp.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NORTH STAR FUND has been at the helm of the North Star Fund since 2017, after nearly two decades of practicing law. She now oversees the foundation’s funding of grassroots social justice initiatives. And North Star is quick to fund organizations through its Rapid Response grants. When New York City advocates criticized the policing of street vendors and opposed efforts to bring an Amazon headquarters to Queens, the foundation was able to lend them support.

PRESIDENT PHILANTHROPY NEW YORK

is the president of Philanthropy New York, a regional membership organization representing about 285 grantmaking institutions. The organization convenes more than 200 events per year for funders to discuss issues pressing to sector, while also pushing for policies supported by philanthropic groups. Previously, Brown served as the president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York as well as its foundation.

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February 10, 2020 For more info. 212-268-0442 Ext.2039

legalnotices@cityandstateny.com Urban Redwood LLC Arts. of Org. filed w/ SSNY 10/31/19. Off. in NY Co. SSNY desig. as agt. of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 20 W 38th St, 3rd Fl, NY, NY 10018. Purpose: any lawful activity. 41 W 35 LLC filed w/ SSNY on 11/27/19. Office: New York Co. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail to: 1270 Broadway, #709, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: any lawful. Notice of Formation of Hermette Productions LLC filed with SSNY on December 6, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 344 West 11th Street, 4W, NY, NY 10014. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of SPOONFUL MANAGEMENT NY, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/27/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Employment entity for NY businesses.

Notice of Qualification of LESAGA HOLDINGS 213 MADISON STREET, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/27/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Florida on 1/12/17. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Stiphany Law, 80 SW 8 St., Suite 3100, Miami, FL 33130. Florida addr. of LLC: c/o Stiphany Law, 80 SW 8 St., Suite 3100, Miami, FL 33130. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of Florida, Clifton Bldg., 2661 Executive Center Circle, Tallahassee, FL 32301. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of LESAGA HOLDINGS - 522 W 42 STREET, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/9/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Florida on 10/2/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Stiphany Law, 80 SW 8 St., Suite 3100, Miami, FL 33130. Florida addr. of LLC: c/o Stiphany Law, 80 SW 8 St., Suite 3100, Miami, FL 33130. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of Florida, Clifton Bldg., 2661 Executive Center Circle, Tallahassee, FL 32301. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of TAMARISK NASSAU PLACE, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/20/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/18/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of PGD Management, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/24/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Drucker Associates, 158 W. 29th St., 3rd Fl., NY, NY 10001. Purpose: any lawful activities. Notice of Formation of DCJ PARTNERS, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/10/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Cohen & Cohen, LLP, 767 Third Ave., 31st Fl., NY, NY 10017. The regd. agent of the company upon whom and at which process against the company can be served is Richard N. Cohen, Esq., c/o Cohen & Cohen, LLP, 767 Third Ave., 31st Fl., NY, NY 10017. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Catalyst Mental Health Counseling, PLLC filed with SSNY on November, 21 st 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Catalyst Mental Health Counseling, PLLC: 230 W. 72nd St, 4F, New York, NY 10023. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

February 10, 2020

Notice of Qualification of WB HUNTLEY REDEVELOPMENT LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/26/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/04/19. Princ. office of LLC: 1120 Ave. of the Americas, 4th Fl., NY, NY 10036. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of BTWN LLC, filed with SSNY on September 17, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of Process to LLC: 1060 Ocean Avenue, F6 Brooklyn, NY 11226. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION of Anthony Sperduti, LLC. Authority filed with SECY. of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/14/19. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 4/11/19. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served & mailed to: 324 Lafayette,St., FL2, NY, NY 10012. Cert. of LLC filed with Secy. of State of DE loc: 401 Federal St, #4, Dover DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of MM Merger Sub, LLC, name changed to: MIDBORO MANAGEMENT, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/19/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 333 7th Ave., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10001, Attn: Michael J. Wolfe. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of Whitney L. Taussig LCSW, PLLC filed with SSNY on December 17, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 225 Lafayette St. Apt 9C New York, NY 10012. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. 290-292 LEONARD STREET LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/10/2019. Office loc: Kings County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: High Properties, LLC, 10 East 23rd St., Ste. 700, NY, NY 10010. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. Notice of Qualification of Great Lakes Services, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/3/20. NYS fict. name: Great Wolf Services, LLC. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 350 N. Orleans St., Ste. 10000B, Chicago, IL 60654. LLC formed in DE on 7/9/04. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168. DE addr. of LLC: 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Notice of Qual. of S&S BUSHWICK LLC, Authority filed with the SSNY on 10/03/2019. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 05/31/2019. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: C/O Park-It Management, 250 West 26th St., 4th Fl, NY, NY 10001. Address required to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Drive, Ste 101, Dover, DE 19904. Cert of Formation filed with DE Div. of Corps, 401 Federal St., Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of LINK INDUSTRIAL PROPERTIES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/27/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/06/18. Princ. office of LLC: 233 S. Wacker Dr., Ste. 4700, Chicago, IL 60606. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Ownership & Investment in real property & all related activities. Notice of Qualification of Landmark Studio Group LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/24/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 132 E. Putnam Ave., Cos Cob, CT 06807. LLC formed in DE on 9/16/19. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168. DE addr. of LLC: 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity Notice of Formation of BACK WHEN, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/23/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 382 Central Park West, Apt. 17H, NY, NY 10025. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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February 10, 2020

Notice of Formation of TTMH New Rochelle Holdings LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/7/20. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o Corporate Creations Network Inc., 15 N. Mill St., Nyack, NY 10960. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Notice of Formation of NSP Richmond Residential, LLC filed with SSNY on January 10, 2020. Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 58 Bowdoin Street, Staten Island, NY 10314. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1321210 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 347 GRAHAM AVE. BROOKLYN, NY 11211. KINGS COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. MIGHTY DIAMOND RESTAURANT CORP. Notice of Formation of Dua Maintenance and Construction, LLC filed with SSNY on December 06, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 2753 Bath Avenue, 3FL, NY, NY 11214. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of JAMBON BEURRE TOPCO LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/17/20. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-243. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Nochi Blue LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/6/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 8/25/17. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 5 Franklin Place, #9A, NY, NY 10013, principal business address. DE address of LLC: National Corporate Services, Inc., 203 NE Front St., Ste. 101, Milford, DE 19963. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, PO Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: all lawful purposes Notice of Formation of 42N Partners LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/26/19. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to the principal business address: 275 Greenwich St., Apt. 3-O, NY, NY 10007, Attn: Donald H. Nathan. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Notice of Formation of WF Industrial VI LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/10/20. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 80 8th Ave., Ste. 1602, NY, NY 10011. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168. Purpose: any lawful activity. Name: E M P I R E CSS, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 01/07/2020. County: Richmond County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 65 Broadway #1400, New York, NY 10006-2503. Purpose: to engage in any and all business for which LLCs may be formed under the New York LLC Law.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF KINGS DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, AS TRUSTEE FOR RESIDENTIAL ACCREDIT LOANS, INC., MORTGAGE ASSET-BACKED PASSTHROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-QS5, V. CHERYL JOHN; ET. AL. NOTICE OF SALE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure dated November 18, 2019, and entered in the Office of the Clerk of the County of Kings, wherein DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, AS TRUSTEE FOR RESIDENTIAL ACCREDIT LOANS, INC., MORTGAGE ASSETBACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2006-QS5 is the Plaintiff and CHERYL JOHN; ET AL. are the Defendant(s). I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the KINGS COUNTY COURTHOUSE 360 ADAMS STREET, ROOM 224, BROOKLYN, NY 11201, on February 20, 2020 at 2:30PM, premises known as 407 HAWTHORNE ST, BROOKLYN, NY 11203: Block 4815, Lot 61: ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, SITUATE, LYING AND BEING IN THE BOROUGH OF BROOKLYN, COUNTY OF KINGS, CITY AND STATE OF NEW YORK Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 521360/2016. Lawrence W. Schreier, Esq. - Referee. RAS Boriskin, LLC 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS, CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff, vs. IBEKLIS OLEA, ET AL., Defendant(s). Pursuant to an Order Confirming Referee’s Report and Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly filed on January 17, 2019 and an Order Pursuant to CPLR 2004 Extending the Time to Set Sale filed on December 19, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on February 20, 2020 at 2:30 p.m., premises known as 339 Wyona Street, Brooklyn, NY. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 3758 and Lot 13. Approximate amount of judgment is $930,919.86 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 508809/2014. Aaron D. Maslow, Esq., Referee Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Suite 590, Elmsford, NY 10523, Attorneys for Plaintiff Cash will not be accepted.

SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF KINGS CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff -against- JOHN MORALES, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated September 23, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Courthouse 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY on February 27, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, bounded and described as follows: BEGINNING at a point on the northerly side of St. John’s Place, distant 265 feet and 4 inches westerly from the northeasterly corner of St. John’s Place and Bedford Avenue; being a plot 131 feet by 18 feet 8 inches by 131 feet by 18 feet 8 inches. Block: 1245 Lot: 62 Said premises known as 679 ST. JOHNS PLACE, BROOKLYN, NY Approximate amount of lien $825,816.46 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney. Index Number 13974/2014. SHMUEL D. TAUB, ESQ., Referee David A. Gallo & Associates LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 99 Powerhouse Road, First Floor, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577 File# 7254.1134 {* CITY*} Formation of Jongro BBQ Franchising, LLC filed with the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/5/19. Office loc.: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The address SSNY shall mail process to Choi Kyung Rim, 1270 Broadway, Ste. 1107, New York, NY 10001. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

PARERGON PROJECTS LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 07/16/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 30 E 85th St., 8C, NY, NY 10028. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

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Notice of Formation of IDEAANDMAKER LTD filed with SSNY on January 2nd, 2020. Office: 154 Grand Street, NY 10016. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to REGISTERED AGENTS INC. 90 STATE STREET SUITE 700, OFFICE 40, ALBANY, NY 12207 . Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1325252, FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 3001 BROADWAY ASTORIA, NY 11106. QUEENS COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. MONTICELLO FOOD CORP.

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Formation of Wherever You Go Pictures, LLC filed with SSNY on December 16, 2019. Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 21 Egmont Place, Staten Island, NY 10301. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. SANDRA BURCH, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/14/2020. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 215 E. 95 St. #26G, NY, NY 10128. Reg Agent: U.S. Corp. Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave., Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of R/S FULCRUM LLC. Arts. Of Org filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/28/20. Office location: NY County. Sec of State designated LLC agent upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 153 E. 96th St., 1A, NY, NY 10128, principal business address. Purpose: any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of GENUINE LEADERS LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/14/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/13/20. Princ. office of LLC: 88 Leonard St., #714, NY, NY 10013. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

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Notice of Formation of JIA LEE LLC filed with SSNY on August 5, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 57-59 2ND Ave, Apt. 74, New York, NY 10003. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of NORTHPOINT TECHNOLOGY, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/24/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/15/20. NYS fictitious name: NP TECHNOLOGY, LLC. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o ACA Compliance Group, Attn: Andrea M. McNamara, 8401 Colesville Rd., Ste. 700, Silver Springs, MD 20910. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Formation of LIVE BY REHAN, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/7/20. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 550 W. 54th St., Apt. 3D, NY, NY 10019. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Duggan Bertsch, LLC, 303 W. Madison St., Ste. 1000, Chicago, IL 60606. Purpose: all lawful purposes. Notice of Formation of 116 SULLIVAN CASA, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/28/20. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 116 Sullivan St., NY, NY 10012. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

February 10, 2020

Notice of Auction

Notice of Auction Sale is herein given that Access Self Storage of Long Island City located at 2900 Review Avenue, Long Island City, N.Y. 11101 will take place on WWW. STORAGETREASURES. COM Sale by competitive bidding starting on February 25, 2020 and end on March 6, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. to satisfy unpaid rent and charges on the following accounts:

Notice of Auc-t i o n Sale is herein given that Citiwide Self Storage located at 45-55 Pearson Street, Long Island City, N.Y. 11101 will take place on WWW.STORAGETREASURES.COM Sale by competitive bidding starting on February 25, 2020 and end on March 06, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. to satisfy unpaid rent and charges on the following accounts:

Contents of rooms generally contain misc. #433-Gabriel Sanchez; 3 garbage bags, 1 cooler, 2 dressers, 1 plastic tote with clothes. #2122-Peter Hargrove; boxes and bags...misc. items#-2403-Avery Bock; Clothing rack filled with clothing, 2 crates of records, 7 plastic containers, 15 boxes, rocking chair, living room chair, lamp, picture frame, 2 tote bags, 1 plastic bag, 1 tool box#3435-Cinema Plus LP; 40+ boxes#4304-Carmen Dionicio; 1 computer desk, 1 office chair, 2 chairs, 20 boxes, full mattress, 1 pillow, toy car and racing track. #6001-Michelle Hill; A queen mattress, 8 boxes, 4 plastic totes, 4 plastic bags, futon mattress, 2 chairs, folding table, 1 kitchen shelving, 1 wooden rack. The contents of each unit will be sold as a lot and all items must be removed from the premises within 72 hours. Owners may redeem their goods by paying all rent and charges due at any time before the sale. All sales are held “with reserve”. Owner reserves the right to cancel sale at any time.

26 CEDAR, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/07/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Larocca Hornik Rosen & Greenberg LLP, 40 Wall Street, 32nd Fl, Attn: P. McPartland, NY, NY 10005. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Jessica White #2A17: Boxes & Plastic bins. Andres L Helm #3L24: 10+ Bags, Boxes, Luggage, Shopping cart, Misc. furniture. Stephanie Thompson #4J27: 9 Boxes, Misc. items. Windsor Fleury #5G09: Several Boxes, Fold up table, 1-Movers dolly, 2-Luggage bags, Several storage bins, 1-Rug. Louis Flores #5K08: Roughly 50 boxes, 2-Stools, Mattress, 2-Lamps, Misc. furniture, Roughly 5-bags. Alfredo Villamar #5T08: Several bags/boxes, Shoe boxes, Misc. clothes, 1-Guitar case. Carmelo Mallia #6P51: Boxes, 1-Wooden chair. Carmelo Mallia #6R02: 1-Mirror, 2-Beach chairs, 1-Picture frame. Carmelo Mallia #6R05: Beach chair, Boxes. Carmelo Mallia #6S06: 2-Beach chair, Misc. items. Lisbet Crowley #7q17: Packing materials, 4-Cases of sletzer water, Cooler, 1-Box of cups, Loose packages of cups. The contents of each unit will be sold as a lot and all items must be removed from the premises within 72 hours. Owners may redeem their goods by paying all rent and charges due at any time before the sale. All sales are held “with reserve”. Owner reserves the right to cancel sale at any time.

Notice of Qualification of PMPGL, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/15/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of On and Offshore Quality Control Specialists, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/18/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in TX on 5/2/05. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168. TX and principal business address: 111 Congress Ave., Ste. 900, Austin, TX 78701. Cert. of Form. filed with TX Sec. of State, 1019 Brazos St., Austin, TX 78701. Purpose: any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of RAHF IV FC Holdings, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/9/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 551 5th Ave., 23rd Fl., NY, NY 10176. LLC formed in DE on 6/22/16. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 122 E. 42nd St., 18th Fl., NY, NY 10168. DE addr. of LLC: 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

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Notice of formation of Hospitality GS LLC. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy of State of New York (SSNY) on January 24, 2020. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to One World Trade Center, Suite 47A, NY, NY 10007. Purpose: any lawful act. Notice of Formation of BABYGRAND LLC filed with SSNY on March 22, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 82 Irving Place, 1B, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Public Notice AT&T proposes to modify an existing facility (new tip heights 60’) on the building at 127 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY (20200076). Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-8091202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties. Notice of Formation of Villavicencio Landscape Architect, LLC with SSNY on October 17, 2019. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Villavicencio Landscape Architect, LLC. 20 North Broadway Apt. F327 White Plains, NY. 10601. Purpose: any lawful act or activity NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1325394, FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 832 DEKALB AVE BROOKLYN, NY 11221. KINGS COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. BURLY CAFÉ INC.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

Notice of Qualification of &VEST DOMESTIC FUND II L.P. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/28/20. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/09/20. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership, 3 Minetta St., NY, NY 10012. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. HSMH, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/27/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Basil Hamadeh, 149 E. 23rd Street, #1904, NY, NY 10010. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. Notice of Qualification of Antares Associates LLC. Appl. for Auth. filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/23/19. Office location: New York County. NY Sec. of State designated agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served, and shall mail process to The LLC, c/o The Corporation Trust Company, Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. DE addr. of LLC c/o The Corporation Trust Company, Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901 on 12/11/19. Purpose: any lawful activity. Principal business location: 80 Columbus Cir, Unit 75 AB, New York, NY. mokanyra, LLC. Filed with SSNY on 01/16/2020. Office: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail copy to: 1808 Arnow Ave, Bronx, NY 10469. Purpose: Any lawful.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) proposes to collocate wireless communications antennas at a top height of 56 feet on a 64-foot building at the approx. vicinity of 669 E 5th St, Brooklyn, Kings County, NY 11218. Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Lauren Schramm l.schramm@trileaf.com, 1395 South Marietta Pkwy, Building 400 Suite 209, Marietta, GA 30067, 678-653-8673

SprintCom, Inc. proposes an antenna and equipment installation atop an existing 152’ building at 141 E 56th St in Manhattan, New York City, NY; an existing 101.3’ water tower at 56 Browning Dr in Ossining Village, Westchester County, NY; an existing 83.2’ building at 1451 Crotona Pl and an existing 57’ building at 4459 Matilda Ave in the Bronx, NY. SprintCom, Inc. also proposes to replace an existing wood pole with a new 48.6’ wood pole at 430 Milford Street in Brooklyn, Kings County, NY.

Notice of Qualification of COMPASS LONG ISLAND, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/29/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/27/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of 180 BEDFORD SUBDSO, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/31/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/16/20. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543, regd. agent upon whom and at which process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

In accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended and the 2005 Nationwide Programmatic Agreement for Review Under the National Preservation Act; Final Rule, SPRINT is hereby notifying the public of the proposed undertaking and soliciting comments on Historic Properties which may be affected by the proposed undertaking. Accordingly, if you would like to provide specific information regarding potential effects that the proposed undertaking might have to properties that are listed on or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and located within ½ mile of the above address, please submit the property’s address and your comments to: Charles Cherundolo Consulting, Inc. at 976 Tabor Road, Suite 4B, Morris Plains, NJ 07950 or via email at tcns@cherundoloconsulting.com.

Villavicencio Landscape Architect LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on October 17, 2019. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Villavicencio Landscape Architect LLC. 20 North Broadway Apt. F327, White Plains, NY. 10601. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS CALIBER HOME LOANS, INC., Plaintiff against PIERRE DUBOIS A/K/A PIERRE GERALD DUBOIS; MRS. “DOE” DUBOIS, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on December 18, 2019. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on the 12th day of March, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. premises described as follows: All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn. County of Kings, City and State of New York. Said premises known as 543 55th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11220. (Block: 824, Lot: 68). Approximate amount of lien $ 216,620.62 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale. Index No. 515510-15. Joel E. Abramson, Esq., Referee. Stern & Eisenberg, PC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff Woodbridge Corporate Plaza 485 B Route 1 South – Suite 330 Iselin, NJ 08830 (732) 582-6344 *For sale information, please visit www. auction.com or call 800280-2832* Notice of Formation of 1345 EASE AOA PROMOTE LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/20. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 299 Park Ave., 42nd Fl., NY, NY 10171. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Attn: General Counsel at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

PUBLIC NOTICE SUPREME COURT - COUNTY OF KINGS CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff -against- JOHN MORALES, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered herein and dated September 23, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Courthouse 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY on February 27, 2020 at 2:30 p.m. premises situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, bounded and described as follows: BEGINNING at a point on the northerly side of St. John’s Place, distant 265 feet and 4 inches westerly from the northeasterly corner of St. John’s Place and Bedford Avenue; being a plot 131 feet by 18 feet 8 inches by 131 feet by 18 feet 8 inches. Block: 1245 Lot: 62 Said premises known as 679 ST. JOHNS PLACE, BROOKLYN, NY Approximate amount of lien $825,816.46 plus interest & costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment and Terms of Sale. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to a return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee or the Mortgagee’s attorney. Index Number 13974/2014. SHMUEL D. TAUB, ESQ., Referee David A. Gallo & Associates LLP Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 99 Powerhouse Road, First Floor, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577 File# 7254.1134 {* CITY*}

PUBLIC NOTICE Cellco Partnership and its controlled affiliates doing business as Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless) proposes to collocate wireless communications antennas at two (2) locations. Our client proposes to collocate antennas at a top height of 66 feet on a 67-foot building at the approx. vicinity of 1175 Wheeler Avenue, Bronx, Bronx County, NY 10472. Our client proposes to collocate antennas at a top height of 67 feet on a 73-foot building at the approx. vicinity of 1027 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, Kings County, NY 11211. Public comments regarding potential effects from this site on historic properties may be submitted within 30 days from the date of this publication to: Trileaf Corp, Laura Elston, l.elston@trileaf.com, 1395 South Marietta Parkway, Building 400, Suite 209, Marietta, GA 30067, 678653-8673.

Notice of Formation of Birch Speech Therapy, LLC filed with SSNY on December 23, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 115 Washington Place #24, New York, NY 10014. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of REVANTAGE CORPORATE SERVICES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/29/20. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/13/17. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

38 CityAndStateNY.com

February 10, 2020

CITY & STATE NEW YORK MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING CEO Steve Farbman, President & Publisher Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Comptroller David Pirozzi, Business & Operations Manager Patrea Patterson, Administrative Assistant Lauren Mauro

Who was up and who was down last week

LOSERS

DIGITAL Digital Marketing Director Maria Cruz Lee, Project Manager Michael Filippi, Digital Content Manager Amanda Luz Henning Santiago, Digital Marketing Strategist Caitlin Dorman, Digital Marketing Associate Chris Hogan, Web/ Email Strategist Isabel Beebe

JOE STRASBURG The leader of the Rent Stabilization Association has absorbed more than a few slings and arrows from tenant groups and Democrats alike in the past year. Now, new state regulations are requiring landlords to pay real estate brokers to find tenants rather than the other way around. It’s just one more sign that Strasburg doesn’t have the sway he once did in Albany. Hopefully, the landlords saved a few bucks here and there from all those sky-high rent hikes they’ve imposed in recent years.

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

HARRY BRONSON

MARSHA P. JOHNSON

MATHYLDE FRONTUS

ELISE STEFANIK

MICHAEL MIRANDA

GIOVANNI DA VERRAZZANO

GREGORY RUSS

Well, it turns out dodging the Iowa caucuses was a fantastic idea. East River Park will be renamed after the LGBTQ activist and Stonewall leader. She’s a new MAGA hero after going on the attack for Trump during the impeachment. It took just over half a century to hit “ctrl-Z” on those Verrazzano Bridge typos.

CREATIVE Art Director Andrew Horton, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Vice President, Advertising and Client Relations Danielle Koza dkoza@cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillan-Grace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Legal Advertising Executive Shakirah Gittens legalnotices@ cityandstateny.com EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Event Coordinator Amanda Cortez, Editorial Research Associate Evan Solomon

Vol. 9 Issue 5 February 10, 2020

CAN'T BUY ME LOVE... YET SHOULD NEW YORK ALLOW SEX WORK?

Don’t get on the Rochester mayor’s bad side. She’ll run her chief of staff against you. The new assemblywoman lost or fired almost a dozen employees last year.

THE PHILANTHROPY FIFTY CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

February 10, 2020

Cover Alex Law

Eight vodkas, crashing, threatening cops ... just a day in the life of a state judge. News flash: Things are still not good at his New York City Housing Authority.

WINNERS & LOSERS is published every Friday morning in City & State’s First Read email. Sign up for the email, cast your vote and see who won at cityandstateny.com.

CITY & STATE NEW YORK (ISSN 2474-4107) is published weekly, 48 times a year except for the four weeks containing New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas by City & State NY, LLC, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to City & State New York, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. General: (212) 268-0442, subscribe@cityandstateny.com Copyright ©2020, City & State NY, LLC

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DONALD TRUMP Nothing like dodging a presidential impeachment to make you feel like a real champ! Which is probably why President Donald Trump took a victory lap in the White House East Room while “Hail to the Chief’’ was blasted over loudspeakers after the Senate acquitted him. But that’s not the only reason why Trump had such a great week – he also got to take political shots at his estranged home state and revel in the mess made by Democrats at the Iowa caucuses. Sad!

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WINNERS

We’re proud to announce that City & State is switching up the voting process for Winners & Losers. All our readers are invited to head to a local school gymnasium and/or VFW hall and stand in the designated corner for your preferred winner. Very participatory! We’ll even have satellite meetings for our fans outside of New York. Results will be processed on a new app, and we’ll name the winner quickly. How could we not – the world is watching!

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