Crain's New York Business, November 6, 2023

CRAINSNEWYORK.COM I NOVEMBER 6, 2023

Meet the inspiring young professionals revitalizing New York City Page 13

Left, Khalia Campbell; center from top, Annaleigh Ashford, Quemuel Arroyo and Mike Bosner; right, Coco Rocha. | BUCK ENNIS

Where mayor’s housing plan could have the most impact Experts say low-density areas may notice more changes if the effort to update New York’s 1961 zoning code succeeds

By Eddie Small and Nick Garber

Each day thousands of people in neighborhoods like Astoria, Riverdale and Bay Ridge walk out of their multistory apartment buildings and visit their neighborhood’s main commercial

street, where they do their grocery shopping or laundry in single-story buildings with no residences above the shops.

That common sight—singlestory commercial strips surrounded by taller residential buildings—is a result of zoning

rules Mayor Eric Adams’ administration wants to change to create more lively, mixed-use Main Streets. As it stands, developers are often unable to build housing above storefronts in low-density areas due to a combination of size limits, height

caps and parking mandates.

“If you go to any other city around the country, where is the first place they found they were able to build mixed-use? It’s on these commercial strips,” said Howard Slatkin, executive director at the Citizens Housing and

Planning Council. “It’s like New York is catching up to the rest of the country in its ability to build apartments over shops.”

Rethinking these corridors is just one of many proposals in See HOUSING on Page 51

VOL. 39, NO. 39 l COPYRIGHT 2023 CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. l ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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CRAIN’S EVENT Business leaders celebrate new members of Crain’s Hall of Fame.

WHO OWNS THE BLOCK West Eighth Street sits on the cusp of change.

CHASING GIANTS Startup dishes discounted lunches to workers.

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11/3/23 4:37 PM

Mount Sinai sets tentative July closure date for Beth Israel campus on 16th Street

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By Jacqueline Neber

DEC. 5 POWER BREAKFAST Join us for a live interview with James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. We’ll discuss the outlook for real estate in 2024, how to jumpstart more affordable housing, the impact of regulations including Local Law 97 and the implications of the city’s slow but steady return-to-office.

DETAILS Location: 180 Central Park South, NYC CrainsNewYork.com/ pb_whelan

Mount Sinai tentatively plans to close its Beth Israel 16th Street campus on July 12, 2024, according to an internal memo to staff reviewed by Crain’s.

Sinai, which is shuttering the campus due to insurmountable financial challenges, submitted a closure plan to the state Department of Health late last month, according to the memo signed by health system CEO Dr. Kenneth Davis and other executives.

“Over the past decade, we have invested more than $1 billion into MSBI, and evaluated and reevaluated every possible path forward.

But, in the end, this hospital—despite its brilliant, hardworking,

The note emphasizes that the hospital and emergency room will remain open as July approaches and that Beth Israel’s closure will not impact the other facilities on the Beth Israel license, such as its new behavioral health center on the Lower East Side. The New York Eye & Ear Infirmary’s specialty services “will not be affected” by the campus closing, it reads.

The execu- The Beth Israel campus at First Avenue and 16th Street | BUCK ENNIS tives also noted that Mount Sinai will nancial losses. Sinai spokeswomoffer unionized employees an Lucia Lee said in September jobs at the same pay else- that the hospital stands to lose anwhere in the system and Si- other $150 million this year on top nai will “make every effort” of the nearly $1 billion in losses it to find new positions for im- has already sustained. Labor and pacted non-union employ- supply costs at the hospital have grown while its inpatient census ees.

According to the health system, has dropped and Beth Israel, Lee Mount Sinai plans to close Beth Is- said in September, is running at rael because of unsustainable fi- 20% capacity.

Sinai is shuttering the campus because of insurmountable financial challenges. and loyal staff—simply cannot overcome the realities of modern-day health care,” the memo reads.

Mount Sinai Beth Israel is a 696bed teaching hospital that offers patients an emergency department, cardiology services, a comprehensive psychiatric emergency program, adult and pediatric surgery and inpatient and outpatient programs for New Yorkers with substance use disorders. It remains unclear what the space will be used for.

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2 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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CHASING GIANTS

Mary Biggins co-founded MealPal in 2016 after leaving ClassPass, another startup she co-founded. | BUCK ENNIS

Midtown startup dishes discount lunches to office workers

MealPal survived the Covid pandemic despite the fact that it lost 97% of its revenue ‘overnight’ The upstart: MealPal

M

How to slay the giant

ary Biggins had recently left ClassPass, the startup she When Biggins co-founded ClassPass, the primary aim was co-founded offering access to thousands of indepen- to provide great deals to members—sometimes at the expense dent fitness studios for a flat monthly fee, when she of business partners that didn’t profit on the venture. Before spotted a new opportunity for the business model—the office launching MealPal, she surveyed restaurant owners to learn lunch. what would serve them best. Many said their most profitable The result is MealPal, launched in 2016. Based in Midtown, segment was catering. Preparing the same meal for many dinthe startup offers a subscription for discounted takeout meals. ers requires far less labor than creating a different dish for each Customers buy credits by the month. A 70-credit subscription, customer. for example, costs $89 per month and will purchase about 12 Biggins modified the catering model for MealPal. Restaumeals, with the average meal requiring six to seven rant partners offer just one dish a day to MealPal credits. That works out to roughly $7 per lunch. Unmembers that it can prepare in large quantities— used credits can roll over. MealPal splits the revenue Chipotle, for example, offered a chicken quesadilla on each sale with the restaurant partner. to subscribers on a recent Wednesday. Labor costs The 15-employee company has 800 restaurant partare reduced by roughly two-thirds, so restaurants ners in New York City, including Sweetgreen, Chickcan offer a discounted meal while enjoying a higher fil-A and Dos Toros along with roughly 3,000 partners profit margin. “That’s the key,” says Biggins. “Our around the globe in 16 cities such as Los Angeles, Sinbusiness doesn’t work if it doesn’t work for restaugapore, Toronto and Sydney. While it won’t reveal its rants.” subscriber count, MealPal says it has booked 40 milAnother incentive for restaurants: MealPal guarlion meal reservations since its inception. antees a certain number of orders per day. If the Anne Kadet Diana Attina, a business manager who works out of meals don’t sell, MealPal eats the cost. “That’s how JPMorgan’s Midtown East office, says she started subwe got a lot of restaurants comfortable with the idea scribing to MealPal’s 35-credit plan last year. It covers 5-6 and willing to test it without any risk in the beginning,” she meals a month, which works well because she works at home says. on Fridays and sometimes packs leftovers for lunch. While she The startup focused its New York launch in Flatiron and appreciates the savings—the cost of a typical takeout lunch in Chelsea before expanding north and south. To draw customMidtown Manhattan has shot up to about $15, she observes— ers, it targeted workers in offices in each new neighborhood her main consideration is convenience. through LinkedIn, inviting them to a free food-tasting event There’s often a 25-minute line at many of the city’s most featuring samples from partner restaurants. Guests got a folpopular take-out lunch spots, she says. With MealPal, she can low-up email with a subscription offer. “And then people startselect a pickup time on the app, and her order is typically wait- ed to tell their coworkers about it,” says Biggins. ing at the counter. “It takes two minutes, so I have extra time to MealPal keeps its marketing hyperlocal—handing out flyers walk around or run an errand,” she says. at the escalators at Grand Central Terminal, for instance, is a surefire strategy, says Biggins.

The company raised $35 million in venture capital in 2017 The reigning Goliath: DoorDash and grew fast. By 2020 it had expanded to 16 cities around the San Francisco-based DoorDash is the largest food delivery globe and says it was operating profitably. Then the pandemic company in the U.S. Operating in 25 countries, it reported $6.6 hit. “We lost 97% of our revenue overnight,” says Biggins.

Biggins and her co-founder had to sideline the corporate billion in revenue last year and made 532 million deliveries in team. Reduced to a crew of 10, they took to fielding customer its most recent quarter.

calls on their own phones.

The setback had a silver lining. While half of MealPal’s restaurant partners went out of business during Covid, many strong, high-profile brands that had been reluctant to try something new were now eager to join the platform. “So our product is better than ever,” says Biggins.

MealPal also experimented with subscription offers to attract hybrid workers. Its 10-12 meal plan is now the most popular, accounting for 60% of subscribers. The company has also grown its Manhattan market share.

“I remember having serious conversations with the team about whether anyone would work in an office again. As drastic as that sounds today, that is what the company was facing at the time,” says Daniel Gulati, former managing director at Comcast Ventures, one of MealPal’s investors. “By right-sizing its operations quickly and adjusting the product portfolio to meet evolving needs of users, MealPal was able to come out of the acute phase of the pandemic a much leaner, fitter company that has the potential to be really large, but also very profitable.”

MealPal says it had a profitable 2022 and expects to return a profit again this year.

MealPal’s newest initiative: reusable packaging. The recycling program, launched in July, has several hundred Manhattan restaurant partners serving meals in bright red 50-ounce Polypropylene containers that members can return to any participating location. It has been adopted by about half of MealPal’s New York subscribers and has so far resulted in 20,000 meals served in the containers, with a 95% return rate.

The next challenge Having re-established in Manhattan, MealPal has raised additional funding and is regrowing its business in cities such as San Francisco, Seattle and London—focusing on the markets that performed the best pre-Covid.

“I feel very lucky and sort of humbled that MealPal was able to survive Covid,” says Biggins. “Every now and then we’ll see tweets, or people will email to say ‘How is MealPal still here?’

And I’m sort of like, ‘I know, it’s crazy, right? We did it!’”

Anne Kadet is the creator of Café Anne, a weekly newsletter with a New York City focus.

November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3

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WHO OWNS THE BLOCK 51 W. EIGHTH ST.

West Eighth Street in Greenwich Village sits on the cusp of change A buyer has purchased one of four properties that the Grundwerg family has owned for decades on a strip in the neighborhood

By C. J. Hughes

39 W. EIGHTH ST. In a world ruled by long-term leases, change can come incrementally. Uncle Sam’s Army-Navy Outfitters, which sold pea-green surplus-style military jackets, vacated one of the two retail berths at this site in 2018. But no new tenant seems to have moved in since. Made up of a pair of 1920s buildings—one with 9 stories and the other with 4—that together have 34 apartments, No. 39 also once also offered Da’Vinci, a shoe store that hung on into the 2010s, far longer than most of the block’s footwear vendors. It’s now Mint + Bella, a dental office. MWest Holdings, a California firm that invests in projects that “instill a sense of neighborhood, integrity and create a lasting, tangible value” appears to have purchased the property in 1992 through an affiliate for $975,000, according to a deed, and renovated it in the early 2000s.

52 W. EIGHTH ST. For all the ways West Eighth Street has evolved since its hippie heyday, one major piece of bohemian history endures.

It’s still home to Electric Lady Studios, which rock legend Jimi Hendrix developed on the lower levels of this 1920s building just a few months before he died. Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton attended its August 1970 ribbon-cutting, the company says, and David Bowie, Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny have all laid down tracks there since. The Rolling Stones also seem to have ducked into the studio recently to record some of their latest album, “Hackney Diamonds,” which came out in October. For many years the ground level offered the Eighth Street Playhouse, a second-run, 450seat theater known for cult classics like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” before it closed in 1992. In an unusual pairing, medical offices affiliated with Mount Sinai hospital occupy the upper stories today. But the owner since the mid-1980s has been someone associated with a much different milieu, Lawrence Friedland, a billionaire developer known for upscale retail holdings along Madison Avenue.

50 W. EIGHTH ST. One of several buildings co-owned by Gene Warren and the late Norman Buchbinder, this mixed-use brownstone building in the mid-2000s had an early outpost of the chain Insomnia Cookies, the 20-year-old company that initially sought to locate near college campuses. New York University is a major presence nearby. But despite its sprawling real estate footprint, NYU does not appear to own any buildings on West Eighth Street (although it does own a few on East Eighth). Goods for the Study, an old-fashioned penand-paper-focused stationery store connected with bookseller McNally Jackson, is a tenant today. Norman Buchbinder, who earned a diploma from NYU, bought his first Manhattan building in the 1950s, an apartment house on West 22nd Street in Chelsea, according to his 2007 obituary. But he’s probably most closely associated with this part of the Village, where in 1993 he helped found the Village Alliance, the Eighth Street-centered business improvement district, where the retail vacancy rate has fallen from 24% in 2021 to 11% this year, according to its most recent annual report.

44 W. EIGHTH ST. Investment firm T30 Capital bought this 1950s building, which housed a Goodwill store, a cannabis shop and a T-shirt vendor, from the Grundwerg family in October for $10 million. A development project is expected from T30, which has the same principal, David Schwartz, as Sugar Hill Capital Partners, a development firm behind several projects in Upper Manhattan. (David Schwartz of Slate Property Group is a different developer.) Sugar Hill’s Schwartz, who declined to comment, has run into foreclosure trouble in recent months at two of his sites: 4300 Broadway in Fort George and 121 W. 116th St. in Harlem. T30, meanwhile, counts 212 W. 93rd St., 150 Lexington Ave. and 475 Washington Ave. in Brooklyn among its investments, according to its website.

25 W. EIGHTH ST. The effort that began a decade ago to remake the block as an upscale restaurant row seems to have stuck at this site, which once featured businesses such as nightclubs (the Persian disco Darvish), shoe stores (by the names of Hardy and A.S. Beck) and drug-paraphernalia shops (Pieces of Eight, according to a 1990s police report). Today, eateries line the five-story red brick structure. Two are from chef Dan Kluger: Loring Place, which opened in 2017, and Washington Squares, which has sold pizzas since the pandemic. There’s also Malaysian restaurant Rasa, which has cooked up curried lamb and chicken dishes since 2013. Tzong Yih Jean has owned the 28,000-square-foot, 24-apartment walk-up building since 2006, when he paid $10.4 million for it, records show. The landlord borrowed $4.5 million from Dime Community Bank against the site earlier this year. A two-bedroom apartment there in 2021 rented for $5,000 a month.

30 W. EIGHTH ST. As full of quirks as Greenwich Village itself, this blockthrough site mashes together three buildings, including a structure that likely once served as a stable. Indeed, the street that runs behind the building, the narrow cul-de-sac MacDougal Alley, functioned as a mews, a British term for a collection of carriage houses. The landed gentry of the elegant townhouses along Washington Square Park parked their horses there. No. 30, a 7,000-square-foot spread with eight apartments, is owned by the landlord Buchinder and Warren, which controls many sites on the street, including the pair of buildings to the east, Nos. 26 and 28. In the 1970s, a bookstore occupied No. 30’s retail space, and in the 1990s, a branch of the Haagen-Dazs ice-cream chain called it home. But since 2013, its exposed-brick walls have echoed with the whoosh of steamed milk, courtesy of an outpost of the Portland, Oregon-based coffee chain Stumptown Coffee Roasters, which invested $1 million to build out the saloon-like interior. Peet’s Coffee, a sort of 1960s California version of Stumptown, owns Stumptown, and the German conglomerate JAB Holding Company in turn owns Peet’s.

38 W. EIGHTH ST. Daniel Straus, a health care executive turned developer who previously built a 10-unit luxury condo on East 74th Street, is at work on a long-delayed 41-unit offering at this site at MacDougal Street. In 2012, Straus bought the single-story retail complex that used to stand at No. 38 for $3.8 million.

That same year, he also acquired next-door 177 MacDougal, a five-story, five-unit prewar rental building, for $5.7 million, according to the city register. But it wasn’t until 2018 that Straus revealed plans for the site, in the form of a six-story, 41-unit residential complex. No. 177’s exterior, a landmark, will stay as is. But No. 38, demolished in 2020, will get a replacement that looks as if it is actually two separate buildings, one brick and one stone. The development began to climb out of the ground in recent weeks. The new No. 38 will have a gym, roof deck and pet spa, according to city filings, but it’s still not clear if it will offer condos or rentals, although the developer had not filed a condo offering plan with the state as of late October. The Straus Group did not respond to an email. A graduate of the law school at nearby New York University, Straus stepped down from the law school’s board in 2014 amid a controversy involving labor practices at some of his nursing homes. No. 38 is supposed to open next year, according to the website for project architect Morris Adjmi.

BUCK ENNIS, GOOGLE MAPS

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f a block’s personality is a function of who owns the most buildings on it, West Eighth Street in Greenwich Village might soon be giving off a whole new vibe.

The Grundwerg family, which has owned a clutch of properties there since the mid-20th century, has begun selling its holdings on the strip, a countercultural stronghold turned shoe emporium that has recently made strides toward a restaurant row.

But the block has had a hit-or-miss feel for decades, as upscale offerings have squeezed in like heels into new boots among mid-market retailers and empty storefronts.

“The block is probably going to get a facelift again,” said Clint Olsen, the managing director with the brokerage JLL who’s in charge of marketing the family’s portfolio, which encompasses four sites on West Eighth Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues plus two uptown properties. “And change is usually good.”

Olsen, who has shopped the sites around for much of this year, has already found one taker. Last month, T30 Capital closed on 44 W. Eighth St., a low-slung 1950s retail building that previously housed a Goodwill thrift store. An affiliate of the developer Sugar Hill Capital Partners, T30 paid $10 million for the 11,500-square-foot property, which comes with more than 8,000 square feet of air rights.

JLL marketed the site, listed at $11.4 million, as a development opportunity, though the block sits in a landmark district. Yet developer Straus Group did manage to bulldoze a similar building at next-door No. 38 and is building an apartment complex there.

Messages left at the New York office of T30, Sugar Hill and the New Jersey office of Stephen Grundwerg were not returned by press time.

Other Grundwerg properties up for grabs on West Eighth Street include No. 51, a five-story, 16-unit mixed-use prewar building whose storefront housed a low-key fabric shop for years but that appears to have been vacant since Covid hit. No. 57, a similar property, contains the massage business All Seasons Body Work as its retail tenant. Together they are asking $13.6 million.

No. 43, also mixed-use, had a footwear business called Mind Boggler for years, although the pandemic appears to have spelled the end of that shop as well. It’s listed at $7.7 million.

Real estate families that still operate portfolios several generations after the initial investments often find themselves rethinking ownership, brokers say. And Saul Grundwerg, who began buying real estate on the street around the time his store Stag Shop was a hip spot for bellbottoms, passed away years ago. “They have not managed these properties day-to-day for a long time,” Olsen said. “But what’s happening is not uncommon. Many families come to a point when they realize that it’s time to sell.”

4 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Q&A

with Venable Blue’s Hemu Nigam Q: If a company is hit with, say, a regulatory inquiry, what are the potential consequences, and how can Venable Blue mitigate those?

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10/27/23 11/3/23 4:20 4:44 PM

ON POLITICS

The right-wing views of new U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson are a gift to New York Democrats The Louisiana Republican is unlike any politician who has risen to the position in modern times

T

he new speaker of the House votes for Johnson.

The House chaos has been manof Representatives fought hard to overturn the results na from heaven for Democrats of the 2020 election, wants abor- hungry to retake the majority next tion banned nationally and once year. Republicans barely won it in advocated for the criminalization 2022 and will have to fight very hard to defend the New York of gay sex.

Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Re- House districts that Joe Biden carpublican, is unlike any politician ried in 2020. Given that at least one who has ascended to the speaker- of them, the indicted George Santos’ 3rd District, is likely to ship in modern times. He flip to the Democrats, Rewas virtually unknown to publicans can’t afford to most Americans and had lose the rest of their inspent less than a decade cumbents on Long Island in the House. On social and in the Hudson Valley. issues, he occupies the Hakeem Jeffries’ Demideological fringe of his ocrats refused to help Mcparty; he’s a proud evanCarthy remain as speaker, gelical Christian in a covthat the enant marriage that is leRoss Barkan understanding far-right lawmakers who gal in only three states. ousted him were going to Among other things, a covenant marriage limits the replace him with a weaker, less exgrounds for later seeking a divorce. perienced lawmaker. McCarthy, a Now, Johnson is the new face of Californian, was a prolific fundthe Republican Party after Kevin raiser and mainstream enough; McCarthy’s ouster. In last month’s Democrats campaigning next year vote, Johnson was able to win over were going to have a hard time the more moderate New York Re- fearmongering around his tenure.

Instead, they have Johnson, publicans because he was less combative than other speakership who has a long history of taking contenders, including Jim Jordan, alienating positions and making and didn’t appear eager to shut incendiary remarks. Johnson has down the government. Mike Lawl- been more conciliatory of late, but er, Marc Molinaro, Anthony D’Es- Democrats won’t let him outrun posito, and Nick LaLota all seem his past. Just as Republicans tried comfortable, for now, with their to make Nancy Pelosi, a San Fran-

cisco liberal, the bogeywoman in successive election cycles, Democrats will seek to do the same for Johnson.

One difference is that Pelosi never migrated as far outside the American mainstream as Johnson has. Most Americas are not so religious or intolerant of abortion and same-sex marriage. The fall of Roe v. Wade was broadly unpopular, and even some conservative states, including Kansas, have sought to safeguard abortion rights.

Tough road The Republicans who have the toughest road ahead of them are here. Molinaro and Lawler, both moderates representing districts north of the city, are going to have to explain how they voted to support a speaker who holds political views so antithetical to those of their constituents. Their challengers will spend the next year lashing them to everything Johnson has ever said. The same will be true of D’Esposito, who represents a South Shore Long Island seat that has traditionally been in the hands of centrist Democrats.

This doesn’t mean Lawler, Molinaro or D’Esposito are doomed.

But it does mean that Democrats will have an easier time in 2024

New House Speaker Mike Johnson wants abortion banned nationally and once advocated for the criminalization of gay sex. | BLOOMBERG

than they did in 2022. If the migrant crisis and perceptions of elevated crime have aided Republicans in the suburbs, an increased Democratic turnout driven by fears of another Donald Trump presidency should boost down-ballot candidates, even as Joe Biden struggles.

In Johnson, Democrats have found a new vulnerability to exploit. Whether it will be enough to retake the House and make Hakeem Jeffries speaker remains to be seen. Within New York, Biden’s poll numbers have cratered of late.

Nothing is guaranteed.

Quick takes ◗ Democratic Socialists of America

politicians who were criticized for supporting Palestinians in the earliest days of Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians have not backed down. With Israel killing thousands of Gazan civilians with airstrikes, the socialists feel they have the moral high ground now. ◗ The conversion of the Flatiron Building into condos is good news and should be used as a model to alleviate the housing crunch.

Ross Barkan is a journalist and author in New York City.

The MTA’s improved finances win ratings upgrades from Fitch and S&P and an outlook boost from Moody’s

By Caroline Spivack

Wall Street heavyweights are taking notice of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s improved finances now that the agency has backed off the fiscal cliff it was teetering on earlier this year.

Fitch upgraded the MTA’s outstanding transportation revenue bonds last month to A from A- and assigned them a stable outlook.

The positive headwinds came less than a month after S&P boosted the MTA’s credit rating and outlook, and following Moody’s revision to its outlook of the authori-

cy’s payroll mobility tax approved by state lawmakers as part of a bailout package for the authority in New York’s April budget.

State help “This resulted in a substantial increase in recurring revenues for the operating budget,” states a Fitch report. “The ‘A’ rating incorporates the exceptional franchise strength of the MTA system and its importance to the regional and national economy, as evidenced by the PMT increase.”

In the spring state lawmakers increased the payroll mobility tax paid by large New York City businesses that benefit from the MTA’s services from 0.34% to 0.6%. The tax increase is expected to generate $6.6 billion in additional revenue for the MTA through 2027.

New York’s budget took into account an estimated $500 million in casino license fees in both 2026 and 2027 from the awarding of up to three downstate casino licenses. Gov. Kathy Hochul also included a one-time

Fitch said its upgrade “reflects a material improvement in the MTA’s fiscal outlook.” ty’s bonds from stable to positive.

The Fitch upgrade “reflects a material improvement in the MTA’s fiscal outlook,” the credit rating agency said. The lift is largely due to an increase in the agen-

payment of $300 million to the MTA and an extra $65 million specifically so transit officials could reduce a planned fare increase that took effect for customers in August.

The state aid allowed the MTA to release a five-year financial plan in July forecasting a balanced budget through 2027 — the first time in more than 20 years the MTA has projected a balanced budget for five consecutive years.

Fitch highlighted the five-year plan as a key factor to its upgrade: Fitch, S&P and Moody’s have all taken notice of the MTA’s improved finances. | BUCK ENNIS “The MTA-reported outyear gaps through 2027 have been secure financial state without said it looks to borrow through eliminated by the PMT increase, Gov. Hochul’s steadfast commit- capital markets because investors continued ridership recovery and ment to funding public transit in may accept lower interest rates to fare and toll rate increases, identi- this year’s state budget.” purchase the authority’s debt. The fied operating efficiencies and the MTA had $48.1 billion in outuse of remaining federal pandem- Helps grow confidence standing debt as of Oct. 20, MTA ic aid to support prepayments of records show. debt service and retiree benefit “Fitch’s improved rating and The Fitch revision, along with costs.”

S&P’s and Moody’s upgrades, outlook is another sign of confiMTA Chief Executive Janno Li- helps to grow confidence in the dence in the MTA’s ability to deeber acknowledged in a statement authority as Kevin Willens, the liver,” Willens said in a statethat “the MTA would not be in this MTA’s chief financial officer, has ment.

6 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 6, 2023

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11/3/23 1:13 PM

Serial 311 caller scores city settlement over illegal police parking near precincts

By Nick Garber

A police officer will pay a fine and lose vacation days for falsely impersonating a 311 operator in an attempt to discourage a man from reporting illegal parking at an NYPD precinct — a relatively rare instance of accountability in the department’s widespread conquest of sidewalks surrounding their stationhouses, and occasional harassment of civilians who report it.

The officer, John Madera, admitted to targeting Justin Sherwood, who filed 901 complaints to 311 over the course of nine months in 2021 about police officers parking their personal cars on sidewalks and in bike lanes near NYPD precincts. Most of Sherwood’s complaints concerned the 84th Precinct in Downtown Brooklyn, which, like many around the city, is surrounded by fleets of parked cars that can render sidewalks impassable for pedestrians.

After Sherwood’s complaints were forwarded to the 84th Precinct, where Madera works, he accessed Sherwood’s confidential contact information and called him. Identifying himself as a 311 operator named “Josh Hayden,” Madera falsely said Sherwood “might be barred” from calling 311 due to his “chronic” complaints, according to an enforcement agreement released by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board last week.

more welcoming and less fortresslike. It’s unclear how much progress was made in that endeavor, given Sewell’s resignation a few months later after reportedly being undermined in her role by allies of Mayor Eric Adams.

The settlement in Sherwood’s case is the latest example of a costly trend. Last year, the city paid out $121 million in settlements for police misconduct — its highest total since 2018. Additional payouts stemming from misconduct during

the 2020 George Floyd protests have followed this year, including a $13 million settlement agreed to in July.

Some watchdogs have floated reforms that would hold the NYPD more accountable for such claims.

City Comptroller Brad Lander has proposed that agencies be “fiscally responsible” for settlements, saying in May that the policy would incentivize agencies to “root out the causes of claims against them.”

After Sherwood began making his 311 complaints, he said he re-

ceived threatening calls and texts at The 84th Precinct in Downtown Brooklyn | GOOGLE MAPS least four times starting in August 2021. One mes- who works at another Brooklyn presage from an unknown number cinct, although neither has faced read: “Keep f---ing around,” ac- any penalty so far. Tiagom Reis, another officer at the 84th Precinct according to his lawsuit.

Some of the officers involved cused of making his own harassing have faced other kinds of discipline. call, had to forfeit one vacation day.

Madera’s 311 impersonation vioThe Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated claims of lated the City Charter, which bans threats of force and abusive lan- public servants from using configuage against Detective Sturman dential information to further a priand her relative, Arthur Sturman, vate interest, the COIB said.

Misconduct settlements Now, Madera has agreed to pay a $500 fine and lose 15 vacation days — a punishment that Sherwood’s attorney called “less than a slap on the wrist,” the website Streetsblog reported.

In September, the city agreed to pay more than $157,000 to settle a lawsuit that Sherwood filed over the saga, which also included claims that additional officers sent him harassing phone calls and text messages. Madera and a detective at the precinct, Samantha Sturman, were each forced to pay $500 toward that settlement, which included $24,000 for Sherwood and $132,500 to cover his lawyers’ fees.

Police in other jurisdictions have been caught making similar threats to civilians. Another Brooklyn man reported receiving voicemails with sexual innuendo and “animal noises” in 2021, after reporting illegal parking — and the city’s Department of Investigation later confirmed that a police officer was behind the calls, Streetsblog reported.

It’s illegal for anyone to park on the sidewalk in New York City, but police officials have chalked up their widespread practice to a shortage of available spots near precincts. One study published in May found more than 90% of the city’s 77 precincts had vehicles parked on the sidewalk, crosswalk or nearby streets.

In an interview at a Crain’s event in March, then-Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell described efforts to make the city’s precincts November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 7

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EDITORIAL

The city has a chance to correct a mindset from the 1960s to create more housing I

n the world of urban planning, it’s not every day that an opportunity comes along to correct an historic mistake.

New York can never bring back the original and grand Penn Station, which was allowed to languish before its 1963 demolition — an infamously short-sighted move that played a role in galvanizing a preservation movement that later saved Grand Central.

Nor can the city fully reverse the poverty, pollution and property-value destruction unleashed by the 1955 construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway, the first interstate highway in the U.S. that carved up an urban neighborhood.

But the city does have an opportunity — and an urgent need — to significantly boost housing production by reversing another relic of an era marked by urban decay and car-centric planning. The administration of Mayor Eric Adams wants to update several restraints on development that date back to the city’s 1961 zoning code, including size limits, height caps and parking mandates that have blocked mixed-use projects across large

swaths of the city.

The move, part of a plan known as City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, would allow developers to construct more housing in neighborhoods such as Astoria, Riverdale and Bay Ridge, particularly along low-rise commercial corridors that are now surrounded by taller residential-only buildings, as reporters Eddie Small and Nick Garber wrote in a cover story this week. The commercial strip proposal Single-story commercial strips, like this one on Church Avenue in Brooklyn, should allow for addi- could see more mixed-use development under Mayor Eric Adams’ tional 2- to 4-story apart- proposed pro-housing zoning changes. | BUCK ENNIS ment buildings along Although such neighborhoods cover outer-borough thoroughfares, while a provision focused on adding housing near 44.7% of land across the five boroughs, transit would allow 3- to 5-story apart- they are home to just 28.4% of the populament buildings in neighborhoods like tion, and their rate of permitting new Bensonhurst, Kew Gardens and parts of housing from 2010 to 2020 was much lower than the rate for the city overall, accordthe eastern Bronx.

ing to a 2022 Furman Center report.

Similar attempts to enact citywide zoning changes have often faltered, in part due to opposition from low-rise and low-income communities afraid of major development, so the Adams administration is emphasizing a shared responsibility to build “a little more housing in every neighborhood.” The planned changes are spread across almost every area and zoning designation: In high-density neighborhoods, for instance, developers could build 20% more, so long as they include some affordable housing.

The plan is thoughtful and comprehensive, and it would help make the city more livable and accessible for everyone. The City Council should guard against its tendency to greet with skepticism proposals that would add more housing to the city’s suburban-oriented neighborhoods, or an inclination to deny the mayor a win. All of New York’s neighborhoods must play a role for the city to truly confront its housing shortage and correct a 1960s mindset on urban planning that set up this mess in the first place.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

There will always be demand for quality Class B space — a modest difference.

Within our Williams Equities portfolio, we have experienced robust leasing activity over the last six months. This past quarter: ◗ Lacoste leased an 18,364-square-foot penthouse floor at 136 Madison Ave. ◗ UNDP renewed its lease for 200,000 square feet at 304 East 45th St. ◗ Ramp leased 66,000 square feet at 28 & 40 West 23rd Street.

Recently we’ve also seen several other leases signed in Class B office properties outside of our own portfolio: ◗ Two Sigma’s 265,000-square foot renewal at 100 Avenue of the Americas. ◗ Ralph Lauren’s 256,000-square-foot renewal at 601 West 26th St. ◗ Zocdoc’s 46,000-square-foot renewal at 568 Broadway.

These leases are evidence that the often-cited “flight to quality” phenomenon is occurring within asset classes as well as across them. The better-quality B assets are retaining and attracting tenants.

The challenges facing the office market are primarily driven by the paucity and cost of financing now that traditional sources have been sidelined. Investors’ debt service is doubling or tripling as existing mortgages are refinanced.

Regardless of asset class, only the most conservatively leveraged and well-capitalized investors will emerge from this

cycle unscathed.

Your building may be Class A, but your financing doesn’t care. It does care about the stability of your income stream and the expertise of the operator. And there always has been, is now and will always be demand for quality B office space.

Michael T. Cohen Principal, Williams Equities

Community-based efforts are raising voter turnout IN “4 IDEAS FOR New York City to increase voter turnout in local elections” [Oct. 30], reporter Nick Garber sets out the discouraging data on election engagement in New York City and suggests some solutions that include changing local elections to even-numbered years (which has proven effective in other jurisdictions) and demonstrating the value of democracy through improving peoples’ lives.

That connection between voting and real positive change is one that community-based nonprofits are well-placed to make. A recent evaluation of the work of about 20 neighborhood-based nonprofit organizations demonstrated strong success in increasing voter turnout over

CRAIN’S PHOTO ILLUSTRATION WITH GETTY IMAGES PHOTOS

INDUSTRY INSIDERS have speculated recently on the “death of the B building” as an asset class, contending these properties are functionally obsolete [“New York office building values will fall more than 40%, ‘doom loop’ economists warn,” Oct. 12]. Many proponents of this hypothesis own or invest in Class A and trophy office buildings. Their perspectives are biased, and their logic is faulty.

Class B buildings face the same challenges as other asset classes, mainly the precipitous rise in interest rates and a more efficient workplace thanks to the adoption of work-from-home strategies.

But the demand for well-maintained, conservatively financed, and well-located B buildings remains strong in spite of these challenges.

Data from Colliers International’s research team backs this up. Consider: ◗ Manhattan’s 2023 third-quarter Class A asking rent average ($80.67 per square foot) decreased by 5.2% since the first quarter of 2020. The Class B asking rent ($67.68 per square foot) remained mostly flat, decreasing by just 0.4% during the same period. ◗ Class B sublet supply grew by 60.5% since the first quarter of 2020. Class A sublet supply grew by 87.8%. ◗ Over the last two years, the average quarterly leasing volume in Class B buildings decreased by 27.7%, as opposed to 21.1% in Class A buildings

two recent election cycles. These nonprofits deployed relational voter outreach methods: talking directly about the importance of voting with their clients and constituents, who were then encouraged to talk with friends, colleagues and family members. By embedding voter mobilization into existing community programs, plus building on longstanding relationships and deep knowledge of local issues, turnout rates doubled.

The GoVoteNYC funding collaborative has supported these organizations to build civic engagement and increase voter turnout, neighbor to neighbor, from the ground up. It’s a model that needs to be expanded to more communities across the city.

Neill McG.Coleman Director, GoVoteNYC

Write us: Crain’s welcomes submissions to its opinion pages. Send letters and op-eds of 500 words or fewer to opinion@CrainsNewYork.com. Please include the writer’s name, company, title, address and telephone number. Crain’s reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity.

8 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 6, 2023

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11/3/23 3:32 PM

PERSONAL VIEW

Gov. Hochul should sign the LLC Transparency Act

N

Ukraine and the seemingly perew York’s Legislature has manent trafficking of women and wisely passed a bill that children, to name a few. Experts would eliminate the abiliestimate there are as many as 40 ty of limited liability companies million people enslaved today. to own properties under shell New York must not be complicit companies. The bill creates an and, with this bill, it stands to lead open database, the first of its the way. kind in the nation to publicly disHarnessing the power of artificial close LLC beneficial ownership. intelligence, those of us in the techThe LLC Transparency Act, Matthew sponsored by state Sen. Brad Leaney is chief nology-driven compliance sector are making great strides toward Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly- revenue officer flagging suspect transactions that woman Emily Gallagher, is sore- of Silent Eight, help global law enforcement do its ly needed. It will not only in- which uses job. We can only succeed with govcrease tax and labor fairness, but artificial ernment partners who acknowlalso prevent property within the intelligence to edge the need and commit their state from being used to launder fight financial full-fledged resources to the task. money intended for nefarious crime.

While the bill certainly has purposes. Without this legislation, New York — with its abundant multi- well-organized opponents who have reamillion-dollar investment opportunities son to fear change, the nonprofit reform — remains a deposit box for money of un- group Reinvent Albany notes that the bill determined origin. Real estate in particu- would require no additional reporting lar, in the hands of bad actors, is the per- burden for LLCs, who already have to disfect vehicle for taking “dirty” money and close beneficial owners to a federal (albeit making it “clean.” During transactions, too non-public) database.

Putting an end to secrecy is in everyfew ask questions when confronted with a one’s interest. By signing this legislation large check and a hefty commission.

Laundered money is used to fund the into law, Gov. Kathy Hochul would be takworst things on our planet: recent attacks ing a stand in the war against a very abuagainst Israel, continued attacks on sive practice.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher | GETTY IMAGES

PERSONAL VIEW

Tennis and NYPD partner to offer young people alternatives

DMITRY OSIPENKO/UNSPLASH

F

these youth realize or most New Yorktheir full potential and ers, the impact of contribute positively to tennis in New York their communities — City ended with the end and we believe that tenof the U.S. Open, which nis is a gateway to this was the highest-attendrealization. ed Grand Slam tournaSo when the city’s ment of all time, generDepartment of Youth ating hundreds of and Community Develmillions of dollars for Udai Tambar is the president opment asked NYJTL to the economy. But ten- and CEO of New York Junior offer its Cary Leeds nis supports our city Tennis & Learning, and Keith Center for Tennis & both on and off the Howard is the commissioner of Learning as the first court, providing oppor- the city’s Department of Youth tennis site for Saturday tunities for young peo- and Community Development.

Night Lights — the ple to remain physically and socially engaged. Sports, now more agency’s partnership with the New York than ever, are safe spaces to proactively Police Department to provide free, keep young people safe and out of trou- high-quality indoor sports programs to ble, especially as the country grapples New Yorkers ages 11 to 18 — NYJTL was thrilled to participate. with gun violence.

Now offered at more than 130 gyms An increase in youth violence can be driven by many factors, but providing citywide, Saturday Night Lights shows more community-driven programs is a how we can work together to shrink the potential solution. With the nation’s wid- physical-activity divide — opening spaces ening income gap, fewer and fewer chil- for programs without the constraints of dren from low-income families are partic- costly fees or inaccessible locations that ipating in sports and fitness programs, prevent students from participating. The meaning that many young people are program ensures that no indoor gyms are missing out on the social and emotional closed on Saturday nights — the time benefits that come with sports participa- where most New York City youth are availtion and are also left out of constructive able and need activities to keep them off the streets. Saturday Night Lights is just activities to keep them busy.

That’s why New York Junior Tennis & one of Mayor Eric Adams’ upstream soluLearning, the largest nonprofit youth ten- tions to combat gun violence and provide nis and education organization in the na- young people safe places to engage with tion, provides free tennis lessons and af- their peers and caring adults.

Critically, Saturday Night Lights gives ter-school programs for kids in underserved communities across all five kids the opportunity to practice physical boroughs each year, reaching nearly fitness alongside police officers, allowing 90,000 youth: We want to ensure that them to bridge not only the physical-ac-

tivity divide, but also the divide that too often exists between law enforcement and the community. This is a model that ­NYJTL also uses in its Serve and Connect program, and it has been so successful that kids come back every week and ask for more opportunities to spend time with the officers. Serve and Connect brings to-

gether NYJTL youth and uniformed police officers to create informal mentoring and relationship building, and to teach life skills to take off the courts. And it has proven to be effective: Two of our Serve and Connect participants were awarded college scholarships at our 2023 Mayor Dinkins Cup, receiving over $6,000 towards their education over the course of four years of study.

NYJTL does not just operate in the South Bronx at its Cary Leeds Center. The nonprofit is a citywide asset, with programs across all five boroughs of the city — and it doesn’t always host its activities inside a facility space. Notably, we also have a Community Tennis Program partnership with the NYPD in Springfield Park North in southeast Queens. Through this partnership, we have had youth in the community participate in the NYPD Summer Youth Academy who were also provided demonstrations in the areas of law, behavioral science, drug prevention and gang resistance.

The success of all of these kinds of programs — no matter where or through what medium they take place — demonstrates the need for more programs like this to exist around the city, and to support nonprofits and community organizations that make these programs possible.

Each community may offer different kinds of programs best suited for its people. But no matter what the program looks like, by working together to provide kids the space and the resources to practice amongst their peers for free, and alongside public safety officers, we can ensure kids are set on the right path toward a lifetime of success.

November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 9

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11/2/23 5:17 PM

ON REAL ESTATE

Replacing city’s expired affordable housing tax break is a good start—but it’s not enough Officials will need to do more than replace old programs to address New York’s housing crisis

O

ne of the many combina- bitious housing plan filled with tions of letters and num- new policies, not with a plan to bers that comprise New replace J-51 and go home. And York’s property tax code is return- Mayor Eric Adams, who praised ing, and it’s good news for the the state’s J-51 replacement announcement, is similarly trying to city’s residential market.

The program, known as J-51, push through a host of new housessentially gave developers a tax ing policies at the city level, albreak if they renovated their mul- though it remains to be seen if he will have better luck with tifamily properties. It the City Council than Hohad expired in June 2022, chul did with the state but Gov. Kathy Hochul Legislature. just signed legislation last month authorizing the city to replace it, ‘Bigger, better version’ pulling a win out of an otherwise ineffective And the J-51 replacestruggle to move housment does not appear to ing reform through the be a carbon copy of the state Legislature. original. State Sen. Brian Eddie Small The replacement, Kavanagh, who spondubbed the Affordable sored the bill, described it Housing Rehabilitation Program, as “a bigger, better version” of the should provide a boost to build- old program, while the Adams adings throughout the five boroughs ministration stressed that it that need upgrades, especially would be streamlined to target some of the city’s struggling co- properties most in need of its ops. But to truly make progress on benefits. And, hey, the new name makes a lot more sense too. The Affordable Housing Rehabilitation Program is pretty clearly meant to help rehabilitate affordable housing, whereas J-51 sounds more like something a New York’s housing crisis, city very confused Bingo host might and state officials will need to do call out. much more than replace pre-exStill, between this and the proisting tax programs. gram Hochul announced for Hochul knows this, to be fair. Gowanus projects over the sumIt’s why she came into this year’s mer as a replacement for that othbudget negotiations with an am- er affordable housing tax break

The more ambitious proposals remain nothing more than proposals.

Gov. Kathy Hochul | OFFICE OF GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL

that expired in June 2022 (421-a— ever heard of it?), it can be hard not to feel as if most of the housing proposals officials are actually implementing are just reinstating programs that existed in the 2010s, which was not exactly a golden age of affordability in the city. The more ambitious proposals that would add elements to the state’s housing rules rather than replace what was already there—most notably implement-

ing growth mandates to increase the housing supply—remain nothing more than proposals.

Given the amount of pushback Hochul’s broader housing plan faced in the Legislature during the budget fight and the blame game that ensued after a broad plan didn’t make it through the legislative session either, the fact that any housing policies got through the morass and into law counts as a pleasant surprise. The

J-51 replacement, along with the two other bills Hochul signed increasing the city’s flexibility to fund affordable housing projects and increasing the Housing Development Corp.’s bonding capacity, should indeed help bring more affordable housing to a city that desperately needs it. But New York’s housing crisis has been decades in the making, and solving it will require a lot more than resurrecting old tax breaks.

Hochul signs three affordable housing bills, including a tax break program that could help co-ops in particular The city should be getting at least one affordable housing tax break back on the books.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed legislation that will authorize the city to replace the J-51 program, which expired in June 2022. It had provided developers with property tax exemptions in exchange for

property owners financial support to keep their buildings affordable, officials said.

The new program could help coops in particular, many of which have been struggling with increasing prices for repairs, insurance and energy that have sparked significant cost-of-living increases for their residents.

Hochul signed the legislation as part of a package of three housing bills meant to boost affordable housing in the city. The other two give the city more flexibility to provide affordable housing projects with loans and grants and increase the bonding capacity of its Housing Development Corp., which funds municipal affordable housing construction, to $19 billion.

“In light of New York’s housing crisis, I am proud to sign this legislation, which will allow for the con-

Hochul supports replacing the expired 421-a program, but the state Legislature has shown virtually no appetite for doing so. renovating multifamily buildings.

The new effort, called the Affordable Housing Rehabilitation Program, will target properties most in need of the benefits and give

struction and preservation of more affordable, sustainable and sorely needed housing in New York City,” Hochul said in a statement.

421-a expiration The J-51 program is not the highest-profile affordable housing tax break that recently expired. That would be 421-a, which provided an incentive to developers in exchange for making 30% of the units in their buildings affordable. Although Hochul supports replacing that program as well, the state Legislature has shown virtually no appetite for doing so. Multiple real estate groups have blamed New York’s extremely slow pace of housing production on its expiration, and Hochul did launch a pilot replacement program for it over the summer

BUCK ENNIS

By Eddie Small

but only for projects in Gowanus.

Hochul had much more ambitious plans for housing reform at the beginning of the year, but

broader packages that included a J-51 replacement failed to make it through budget negotiations and the legislative session.

10 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Why it pays to fund underrepresented startup founders Since securing initial funding— interestingly, her first institutional investor, Slauson & Co., is a venture capital firm founded by two Black men—Smart has worked just as hard to build a support network. Penelope is part of ‘McKinsey InNYC’, the Firm’s startup accelerator program that offers dedicated firm resources to help founders unlock sustainable and inclusive growth. McKinsey provided Penelope with competitive research, demographics and messaging, also giving it tools to acquire customers. In addition, Smart is active in networking groups for female professionals and leaders.

“You have to get off your computer and go talk to people,” she said, “and at every meeting ask for another meeting.

The ecosystem and allyship are really helpful.”

Still, the McKinsey study found that the immense effort required from founders like Smart makes their success less likely.

From left: Anil Nathan, Expert Associate Partner, Leap by McKinsey; Jean Smart, Founder and CEO, Penelope; Frederick P. Gabriel, Publisher and Executive Editor, Crain’s New York Business. Photo by Buck Ennis.

W

hen it comes to who receives venture capital funding, the statistics are shocking: Just 1% goes to Black founders, 1.3% to Hispanic founders, and 1.9% to female founders. The difficult reality behind those figures— and what can be done to change the equation—were discussed at an important “Ask the Expert” panel held at Tech Summit, a Crain’s and Tech:NYC event held on October 11.

The subject at hand was unlocking more funding for underrepresented start-up founders.

were discussing: “In the context of this conversation, we’re talking about founders of color, female founders, and founders from the LGBTQIA+ community. All founders face challenges when creating new businesses, but the challenges that these groups face are greater.”

see unequal amounts of funding going to underrepresented founders.”

The discussion also benefited from insights from McKinsey’s recently released study, “Underestimated start-up founders: The untapped opportunity.” It identified three systemic challenges: a lack of

And that leaves a lot of possibility on the table. “From a pure business standpoint, there is opportunity being squandered here,” said Nathan. “The best investors are those who find opportunities where others do not.

It’s not just product-market fit, it’s founder-market fit. You have people like Jean, for instance, who understand the communities they’re looking to serve better than anyone else.”

“Whether your organization invests in companies directly or you’re from a large organization that has a supply chain and procures services, look at how you can engage with companies that have underrepresented founders.”

He noted that for Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs in the U.S., there is a $3 trillion untapped opportunity which would emerge if investment parity would increase among that set.

Smart started Penelope because she is passionate about helping small businesses and their employees

build wealth, having grown up with immigrant parents who were small business owners. After working in financial services for more than 20 years, she sought to do something personally meaningful. Perhaps for the best, she did not know how rarely venture capital funding went to female founders.

“If I thought about those numbers, the weight would have stopped me in my tracks,” Smart said. Instead, she put in the extra labor required to secure financing: “I took it as a math problem—if I need to have 100 meetings, that’s five meetings every day and I’ve got to do the LinkedIn search, figure out who knows them, who the decision-maker is… I thought of it like flipping burgers and I just told myself to keep flipping the burgers,” she shared.

“Being an underrepresented founder requires so much more grit and resilience,” said Nathan. “With the amount of roadblocks these founders encounter, it’s not surprising that you see such significant drop-off compared to their peers. When you don’t have the same support networks available, you bear a really heavy burden.”

What will shift the landscape? Is there hope?

“Whether your organization invests in companies directly or you’re from a large organization that has a supply chain and procures services, look at how you can engage with companies that have underrepresented founders,” Nathan said. “See how you can give them a shot. I think it’s incumbent upon every organization in this room to do more on this front—not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it’s a truly compelling economic opportunity.”

- Anil Nathan associate partner at Leap by McKinsey

Panelists Jean Smart, founder and chief executive officer of the startup Penelope, a retirement savings platform for small businesses, and Anil Nathan, an associate partner at Leap by McKinsey, the firm’s business building offering, offered valuable context and advice for both underrepresented founders and the business leaders looking to provide support and make smart investments.

But first, moderator Fred P. Gabriel, Crain’s publisher and executive editor, defined exactly who they

systemic access to funding, mentoring and customer networks; prevailing investor bias; and the added mental health burden of persevering through these additional challenges.

“We all agree that venture capital firms are not actively saying ‘We’re not going to invest in these people,’” said Nathan. “But implicit bias exists in all of us, and we’re generally more likely to put our money with people who feel familiar and look like us. So, when funder representation does not mirror our society writ large, you’re going to

Anil Nathan, Expert Associate Partner, Leap by McKinsey

Jean Smart, Founder and CEO, Penelope

CRAIN’S CONTENT STUDIO

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11/1/23 9:58 AM

Judge denies state attorney general’s emergency request for independent monitors at Long Island nursing home

By Amanda D’Ambrosio

A state judge denied the attorney general’s emergency request to appoint independent monitors at Cold Spring Hills Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Woodbury last month, stating that the request for financial and operational oversight is unwarranted without further evidence, court filings show.

Attorney General Letitia James filed a petition in a Nassau County

court in September to request an independent health and financial monitor at the nearly 600-bed nursing home. The monitors would have supervised funds and resident care at the home until the state appointed a new caretaker entirely—a request that has been made in a separate case against Cold Spring Hills by the Department of Health.

James requested more oversight at the nursing home amid a period of heightened scrutiny. Earlier this

year, over 400 employees represented by the health care union 1199 SEIU alleged that the Cold Spring Hills stopped paying their health benefits for three months, shortchanging them by around $5 million, the union said. Additionally, last year the attorney general found that Cold Spring Hills’ owners siphoned $22.6 million in federal funding away from resident care through its own network of related businesses.

The attorney general’s petition

for independent monitors at Cold Spring Hills was based on the nursing home’s alleged Medicare fraud, and did not cite the nursing home’s conflict with its employees. In the recent decision, Judge Lisa Cairo said that “although the allegations considered as a whole paint a picture of potential misuse of facility funds for personal profit,” independent monitors are unwarranted at this time without further evidence.

Cairo did decide, however, that

the nursing home was on the hook for all missing payments to 1199 SEIU’s health benefit fund.

Separate request “1199 SEIU caregivers are grateful that Judge Cairo recognized that stability in the workforce is essential to providing proper resident care, and that protecting employees’ health insurance is crucial to such stability,” said Rose Ryan, a spokeswoman for the union.

Ryan did not respond to an inquiry from Crain’s about how much money Cold Spring Hills was required to pay back to the benefit fund, and that amount remains unclear. In a separate filing

The state health commissioner also has requested a new caretaker at Cold Spring Hills. $

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Oxford $0 deductible plans are available for New York-sitused employers and can be paired with either the Freedom, Liberty or Metro network. $0 24/7 Virtual Visit copays apply to all Oxford fully insured plans. Plans sold in New York use policy form numbers: OHINY_SG_GEA_2023 and POL20.OHI.2019.LG.NY. 24/7 Virtual Visits is a service available with a Designated Virtual Network Provider via video, or audio-only where permitted under state law. Unless otherwise required, benefits are available only when services are delivered through a Designated Virtual Network Provider. 24/7 Virtual Visits are not intended to address emergency or life-threatening medical conditions and should not be used in those circumstances. Services may not be available at all times, or in all locations, or for all members. Check your benefit plan to determine if these services are available.

1

B2B EI232427410.0-OXF 8/23 © 2023 Oxford Health Plans LLC All Rights Reserved. 23-2421699-G

in the Department of Health’s case against Cold Spring Hills, nursing home representatives said that administrators actually overpaid the benefit fund in previous months, and are eligible for a credit towards the recent court-ordered payments.

John Martin, an attorney with Garfunkel Wild who is representing Cold Spring Hills, said that he cannot comment on pending litigation.

Although the attorney general’s request for an independent monitor was denied, the court is still considering further evidence around allegations that the owners diverted public money, according to court documents. The administrators will appear in court regarding this case in early December.

As the attorney general’s case continues, the court is also considering the separate request from state health officials for new operators at Cold Spring Hills. In early September, New York state Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald asked the court to appoint a new caretaker following the allegations of missing employee benefit payments. He said a new caretaker was necessary to stabilize operations at the facility, including “by ensuring staff will receive all wages and benefits and by employing sufficient staff to care for the residents.”

McDonald also cited the attorney general’s fraud investigation in his petition, noting that administrator actions have put residents’ health and safety at risk.

It is not clear whether the court will approve the health department’s call for a caretaker at Cold Spring Hills following resolutions around employee benefit payments. The court will hold an additional hearing around a new caretaker on Nov. 15.

12 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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“

Storytelling does good things for the brain and the heart.”

Meet the class of 2023

N

ew Yorkers really know how to get stuff done, and the young professionals on the following pages are no exception. They each have climbed the corporate ladder, at times charting a new path where one never existed. They are solving essential city issues such as getting rid of rats, prioritizing constituent needs in local government, and helping their clients strategize and make deals in the legal and real estate spaces. They are also leaving their stamp on the arts and Broadway, assisting their fellow New Yorkers in attaining affordable housing and advising other entrepreneurs in finding success.

Crain’s 2023 class of 40 Under 40 honorees includes some of the most talented young people in New York. Read on to be inspired by the professionals doing the hard work well.

—TELISHA BRYAN, MANAGING EDITOR

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BUCK ENNIS

CrainsNewYork.com/awards/40under40

Annaleigh Ashford, 38 Actress, Sweeney Todd

O

ne of Annaleigh Ashford’s biggest dreams growing up in Denver was to be a New Yorker.

Ashford, an acclaimed actress, singer and dancer who has starred on Broadway as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street since earlier this year, figures she’s earned the title after over 20 years in the city, which charmed her in person once she arrived at Marymount Manhattan College at age 17.

Now 38, Ashford describes the city as the “epicenter of magic and art and life and commerce.” Her wish for Broadway is that it continues telling diverse stories that change how people view the world, and her hope for the city is that it can get the cost of living under control.

“I wish there was some recognition that the rent is too damn high,” she said.

Her best advice for fellow performers builds on a lesson she learned from James Earl Jones: “You are forever a student no matter your age,” she explained. “Never look side to side. You’re not in a race with someone else, or with yourself. Just look forward.

Follow your own journey, because it’s the right one.”

Ashford may have chosen her city, but she’d rather not choose between stage and screen. Her film and TV credits include Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales, HBO’s Bad Education and Showtime’s Masters of Sex. Her prior stage credits include Sunday in the Park With George, Kinky Boots, Hair, Legally Blonde and Wicked.

She says part of the magic of Broadway is that, while 90% of the show is set, the audience adds a 10% variable each night, as a new scene partner. Ashford’s current role has her following in the footsteps of icons Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone, who she says gave her “an incredible road map to follow.”

Sweeney Todd, also starring Josh Groban, is one of the highest-grossing shows on Broadway. The week that ended Oct. 15, it brought in more than $1.7 million, with 99% of seats filled, according to the Broadway League.

When she greets appreciative audience members at the stage door, “it reminds me that what we do is also an act of service,” Ashford said. “Storytelling does good things for the brain and the heart.”

—CORY SCHOUTEN November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 13

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Ke

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Mitchell is the first Black chef in New York City to achieve a Michelin star.

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such Th atte “W Po affo has issu H by r spea La push from “T its p cons

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Anna Daher, 35 Chief financial officer, Multiverse Group

A

n October 2021 Charlie Mitchell was an out-of-work chef waiting for the phone to ring when the phone actually rang. A Brooklyn Heights restaurant was reopening, and its owner wondered what Mitchell was doing.

“I told him, ‘Right now, I’m sitting in my apartment running out of money,’” Mitchell recalled. “‘So, OK.’” The restaurant, Clover Hill, reopened in February 2022. Eight months later it was awarded a Michelin star, making Mitchell the first Black chef in New York City to achieve that distinction. The 26-seat restaurant, which had been serving maybe eight people a night when the monumental news hit, now does two separate seatings every evening.

Mitchell grew up in Detroit and learned his profession at Schoolcraft College, a community college near the city, because he’d never heard of the Culinary Institute of America or other fancy cooking schools. Emerging debt-free from school gave him options and, after an apprenticeship at a suburban restaurant, he was ready to move to San Francisco. But his family persuaded him that was too far, so he relocated to New York in 2016 and landed a job at the renowned 11 Madison Park.

Clover Hill specializes in seafood and serves a 10-course tasting menu costing $265 per person. But the restaurant feels more relaxed than most in its class. There are no tablecloths, for instance, because Mitchell wants diners to feel that they belong.

When he isn’t working 14-hour days in the kitchen, Mitchell and his wife like dining out for fried chicken.

“I love to cook,” he said, “but I also love being cooked for.”

nna Daher grew up in a small Brazilian town and sold her clothes and jewelry so she could study business and law simultaneously in Sao Paolo. She managed to live off the proceeds by limiting her caloric intake to one hot dog per day and carefully monitoring how often she rode the bus.

But when a scholarship she’d been counting on fell through, she sat in a stairwell and cried. Then she got lucky: An accounting professor overheard her and helped get her the financial support she needed.

After finishing school, Daher landed in investment banking and helped Latin American telecommunications companies raise financing. Her big break came during a business breakfast when she noticed one telecom CEO, who was Muslim, looking uncomfortable around all the bacon.

She took the bacon away and found him food he could eat. The CEO sang her praises to the bosses in New York, and soon she was transferred.

“It’s the bacon that got me here,” she said.

Today she’s a top executive at a company that trains workers for better jobs.

Multiverse has nearly 900 employees globally, including about 200 in New York. The firm trains people to write software for outfits including Verizon Communications and Google, and helps line workers at Taco Bell and KFC prepare for white-collar jobs at owner Yum Brands. The Britain-based company had about $35 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, and was valued at more than $1 billion in its latest venture-funding round. The firm has served 7,600 trainees.

“Talent is everywhere, and people are overlooked,” said Daher, who has worked at Multiverse since February 2022. “It almost happened to me.”

—AARON ELSTEIN

—AARON ELSTEIN

Charlie Mitchell, 31 Executive chef, Clover Hill

I

14 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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Keith Powers, 39

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eith Powers is one of the most powerful people in city government, shaping legislation as majority leader of the City Council and representing District 4, a moneyed area that contains Midtown Manhattan and parts of the Upper East Side. But he demands less of the spotlight than might be expected of someone of such influence.

That’s because Powers, a Democrat, is keenly aware that “politics rewards bad behavior” when it comes to attention-seeking.

“When I look back at my career, I want to be proud of what I accomplished, not how loud I was,” he said.

Powers has accomplished plenty during his five years in office. He secured a deal to preserve hundreds of affordable housing units at the East Side’s Waterside Plaza complex, presided over the construction surge that has followed the Midtown East rezoning and has played a behind-the-scenes role in negotiations over citywide issues such as how to close Rikers Island.

He said he tends to serve as a “balancer and a mediator” on the 51-member council, which he sought to lead by running for speaker in 2021 before ending up as a top lieutenant to Adrienne Adams, who ultimately won the speaker role.

Lately Powers has shown a willingness to wade into the always-thorny topic of housing development, helping push a plan to rezone a chunk of his district to facilitate more office-to-apartment conversions. That won him praise from Dan Garodnick, the City Planning Commission chair, who preceded Powers in the same City Council seat.

“The council always needs people who can raise their hand in the room and question the practical impacts of its policies,” Garodnick said. “With Keith in a leadership position, we know we have someone who will always consider all sides of an issue before taking action.”

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—NICK GARBER

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Dr. J. Isabelle Choi, 38 Director of research and clinical director, New York Proton Center

W

hen Dr. J. Isabelle Choi was finishing her medical training, it wasn’t common to go into proton therapy.

There were limited proton centers across the country, and only a handful of academic programs trained residents in the treatment.

But despite limited career pathways, Choi was struck by the potential for the treatment to improve the lives of cancer patients. Proton therapy, a type of radiation, targets tumors with more accuracy and precision than photon therapy, allowing clinicians to kill cancer cells without damaging as much healthy tissue.

“I recognized that this was a really exciting tool that could positively impact a lot of future cancer patients,” Choi said. But she also recognized that research was needed to improve clinical outcomes and access.

After finishing her residency in 2016, Choi joined the California Protons Cancer Therapy Center in San Diego to help build its research program. Two years later she was working as the clinical lead at the University of Maryland’s proton center when the opportunity to build a consortium came up in New York.

The New York Proton Center—a project that was 10 years in the making—was nearly complete, and administrators were looking for an oncologist to lead research and clinical operations. The center would be the first in the state to specialize in protons, partnering with Memorial Sloan Kettering, Mount Sinai and Montefiore.

“I thought it was a really great opportunity to build a clinic from scratch,” said Choi, who serves as director of research and clinical director of the proton center, “and really deliver cancer care in the way—maybe an idealistic way—I think cancer care should be delivered.”

Since the New York center launched in 2019, it has treated over 4,000 patients and launched more than two dozen clinical trials. In addition to leading research efforts, Choi has advanced her own research around proton therapy for breast cancer, improving clinical understanding and reducing cost barriers, said Jonathan Weinbach, CEO of the New York Proton Center.

Choi also treats breast cancer patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering a few days a week. “The care she shows every patient is world class,” Weinbach said. “I know that’s probably what she takes the most pride in.”

—AMANDA D’AMBROSIO

Channon Lucas, 39 Chief administrative officer, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation

I

n 2018, during the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation’s first few months, Channon Lucas’ boss made it clear to the team that it needed to find a way to disburse the foundation’s total assets to New York-based nonprofits by the end of its first year.

“Monsignor [Greg Mustaciuolo] was like, ‘No, no. This money isn’t for us. We’re not going to sit back; we’re going to get cash out the door,’” Lucas said. “We had no people, no phones, no [Wi-Fi], but we made it happen.”

By the end of 2019, Lucas, the foundation’s chief administrative officer, had hired more people, and the nonprofit—established following the sale of Fidelis Care, a nonprofit health insurer run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn—was able to distribute $150 million in grants to nonprofits and programs that support the health care needs of underserved and low-income New Yorkers across the state.

“That’s always been a part of my life: thinking how I can make it easier for somebody else in a healthrelated space,” she said.

But just as the foundation was preparing for its second year, the Covid-19 pandemic swept in, highlighting the need to support programs providing health care and social services to vulnerable New Yorkers.

In her role, Lucas oversees both the day-to-day administrative and operational functions of the foundation, along with its external communications, community and public policy teams. She also spends a lot of time probing her colleagues about the foundation’s long-term goals.

“We did this, but so what? What’s the next step?” Lucas said she asks the staff. “We’re shifting out of the pandemic, and that headline is not there anymore. We’ve got to still maintain that fire and keep that fire burning. We want to make sure we’re not in this position again.”

Now in its fifth year, the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation has so far awarded around 2,200 grants, amounting to $635 million.

“

That’s always been a part of my life: thinking how I can make it easier for somebody else in a health-related space.”

—OLIVIA BENSIMON November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 15

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Par Gar

Joseph-Goldman calls the internet “a core resource that everyone should have access to.”

I

Jack McGarry, 34 Managing partner and co-founder, The Dead Rabbit

T

amille Joseph-Goldman can trace her professional trajectory to a series of well-timed phone calls when she wasn’t necessarily looking for a new job. After years of working in government, as a special adviser and director of intergovernmental affairs for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and as deputy comptroller of public affairs under former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, among other roles, one of those calls came from Charter Communications.

“I thought it was an interesting time to think through what working in the private sector could be for something that I thought, even at that time, was a core resource that everyone should have access to, and that’s the internet,” Joseph-Goldman said.

In her eight years at Charter, she’s risen in the ranks to oversee and manage government affairs and telecommunications regulatory strategy for the entire Northeast region. Joseph-Goldman supervises teams that lobby for new legislation, work on compliance, respond to filings and reports, and introduce ideas and partnerships in the states Charter serves, from Maine to New Jersey, that would expand access to communities currently lacking internet or wiring.

As the Covid-19 pandemic made it abundantly clear that internet service is essential to people’s daily lives, the digital divide in New York City became less a question of access and more about helping residents learn about the available options, Joseph-Goldman said.

With her help, Charter worked with Mayor Eric Adams’ administration to roll out the Big Apple Connect program, which has provided free cable and broadband to over 150,000 households in 220 New York City Housing Authority developments since its launch in 2022.

he Dead Rabbit has been a mainstay on lists of the best bars in North America for years.

That’s due in part to the close attention to detail and authenticity Jack McGarry brings to the pub, located in the Financial District.

“The Irish pub in America is synonymous with a dive bar, and what we wanted to showcase with The Dead Rabbit is that the Irish pub could be both a beacon for hospitality and an area that’s known for excellence,” said McGarry.

Everything found inside the pub— from the music to the furniture to the artwork—comes from modern Irish and Northern Irish artists. McGarry works with a music director who has a finger on the pulse of the latest acts coming out of Derry, a creative agency in Belfast to source art for the bar and a spirits director from Galway.

He sees this meticulous work as a responsibility to showcase a genuine image of contemporary Ireland and breathe new life into the changing paradigms of the culture, rather than holding on to enduring stereotypes.

The Dead Rabbit predicts its 2023 revenue will top $10 million.

“I see ourselves not just as a New York company but as a brand ambassador for Ireland,” said McGarry, who grew up in Belfast.

The details elevate The Dead Rabbit’s sought-after cocktails. The bar’s Irish Coffee has been called among the best in the world.

In September the company opened a new bar, The Irish Exit, in Moynihan Train Hall. McGarry describes The Irish Exit as a concept that combines the culture of present-day Ireland with the transitory nature of the establishment’s location. And although it’s just getting started, McGarry sees potential in opening Irish Exits in more train stations, airports and sports arenas across the country.

“It could be similar to the success of Bennigan’s,” said McGarry. “In its heyday, it had 200 to 300 stores.

There’s no reason why The Irish Exit couldn’t be on the same type of trajectory because of its scalability.”

—OLIVIA BENSIMON

—TAYLOR NAKAGAWA

Camille Joseph-Goldman, 38 Group vice president, government affairs, Northeast region, Charter Communications

C

16 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 6, 2023

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Laura Turano, 38

Danny Taing, 38

Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Founder and CEO, Bokksu

W

hen Danny Taing moved back to New York City after four years in Tokyo, he developed a craving for the snacks and foods he’d left behind. “I was looking around and was like, ‘Oh, there’s only Pocky and Hi-Chew here.’”

Living in Japan opened Taing’s eyes to more than just snacks. He was able to experience no longer being a minority and having to deal with the stereotypes associated with being othered.

Confronting prejudices and racism upon returning to the United States frustrated Taing.

That feeling, in addition to his desire to get a hold of his favorite snacks, put him on a path to entrepreneurship.

The result is Bokksu, launched in 2015. The company, based in Midtown and Tokyo, gets its name from a rough translation of “box” in Japanese. Bokksu offers an online subscription snack service that includes over 20 treats per box that have a seasonal theme and are sourced from regional distributors across Japan. October’s “Full Moon Rising” box, for example, featured milk manju, a sweet and chewy, rice-based dessert with condensed milk, from Hiroshima and gourmet edamame chips from Niigata. Taing says the company has shipped nearly 2 million snack boxes worldwide.

Bokksu announced a $22 million Series A funding round at a $100 million valuation in January 2022 to power its growth. The company has launched new verticals, including Bokksu Market, which offers drinks, sauces and pantry items, and Bokksu Boutique, where

I

n some ways for Laura Turano, law feels like wedding planning. An attorney representing public companies in mergers and acquisitions, Turano has spent 11 years helping firms navigate the stressful but pivotal event of coming together.

Turano is drawn to the “transformational” scope of transactions between public companies. She said she thrives on guiding executives through the pressure that comes with hashing out multibillion-dollar deals while helping them remain true to their vision.

“My favorite part [of each deal] is translating the complexities into something simple that a client can really grasp in their hands to make a decision,” Turano said. “M&A is a complicated puzzle that’s always changing, and I love figuring out that puzzle and giving them the advice they need to achieve their goals.”

After an eight-year career specializing in M&A for law firm Davis, Polk and Wardwell, Turano joined the M&A practice group at Paul, Weiss in 2019 as a partner.

Defying what’s been widely considered an M&A drought this year, she has advised on nine publicly announced deals so far in 2023, with an aggregate value of over $52 billion.

These include representing Estée Lauder Co. in its acquisition of the Tom Ford brand and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter in connection

“

with a long-term agreement that renews his partnership with D’usse.

Turano also manages staffing for the firm’s M&A deals and is passionate about creating opportunities for women associates of color to enter the space.

“Laura is one of the top M&A lawyers of her generation,” said Scott Barshay, corporate department chair at Paul, Weiss. “Her command of the legal and business aspects of deals and superb leadership qualities have made her an irreplaceable adviser to many of the world’s largest companies.”

M&A is a complicated puzzle that’s always changing, and I love figuring out that puzzle.”

—SHELBY ROSENBERG

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customers can find a variety of tea and ramen sets.

Snacks, Taing says, are among the best ways to introduce people to new cultures. The Japanese variety, especially, are beautifully packaged and don’t require any prior knowledge to enjoy. “If they like it, hopefully that opens their palates and opens their minds and they will be a little less racist,” said Taing. “It’s just an easy format.”

—TAYLOR NAKAGAWA

G T LAW.CO M

LEADERSHIP | VISION | DEDICATION Greenberg Traurig congratulates our own Peter Borock on his recognition on Crain’s New York “40 Under 40” list.

Your commitment to clients, colleagues, and the community has earned you the respect as a trusted leader and role model.

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GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP

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W O R L D W I D E LO CAT I O N S

United States, Europe and the Middle East, Asia, Latin America

AWA November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 17

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Achal Patel, 32 Co-founder and chief executive officer, Cabinet Health

H

ealth care is a family affair for Achal Patel.

He grew up learning about the industry from his parents, who were physicians in small-town Virginia, and his grandfather, who built an acetaminophen factory in India. “[When] most kids were learning the ins and outs of camp games,” he said, “I was learning the ins and outs of acetaminophen manufacturing.”

His aunts and uncles are in pharmaceuticals, and his brother works in health care as well, which helped Patel develop a “deep appreciation” for the world they’re all part of. That appreciation led him to co-found Cabinet Health, a Williamsburg-based company that aims to make medicine more sustainable by selling medications in reusable glass bottles to consumers and retailers.

The company raised $17 million at the end of 2022 and used it to launch in 700 CVS stores this past summer as well as to partner with large pharmaceutical companies to move them away from plastic bottles faster. In the five years since founding the firm, Patel has seen a growing demand for sustainability in medicine—and a growing opportunity to help the industry get there.

Going forward, Patel said, Cabinet’s goals are “more of the same”: bringing the company into more retailers while getting more sustainable medicines into patients’ hands and keeping some plastic out of landfills.

Patel says his strengths as a leader come down to the way he grew up: surrounded by family.

Carrie Rich, who manages the Global Impact Fund, Cabinet’s lead investor, called Patel a humble, reflective chief executive who excels at listening.

“Everyone’s family looks a little different,” she said of Patel. “He’s built a culture that I really admire for the respect he has for diversity in that form.”

—JACQUELINE NEBER

“

[When] most kids were learning the ins and outs of camp games, I was learning the ins and outs of acetaminophen manufacturing.”

Margo Sivin, 33 Senior brand director, Hot Bread Kitchen

W

hile working as a designer for a Texas-based grocery delivery company after college, Margo Sivin discovered a deep connection to the food system. She visited local farms where the produce was sourced and created ads that celebrated the farm-to-fork model.

Having earned degrees in graphic design and photography from St. Edward’s University, she realized that the food world bridged art and purpose.

“If I’m not a believer in what an organization is doing, it would feel really difficult for me to work there,” said Sivin. “I think that, combined with loving food and the food industry, has defined my path.”

In 2017 she started at Chelsea-­ based Hot Bread Kitchen, a social enterprise nonprofit that was also running a small bakery and selling at green market stands. Sivin was drawn to Hot Bread’s mission of elevating women and gender-expansive people by helping them build their own food businesses or train for a career in the food industry.

Sivin has spent the past six years designing a marketing platform for the nonprofit that centers its culinary training participants and food entrepreneurs as the heroes in their journey toward establishing fulfilling, financially secure careers.

For her, that means giving agency to Hot Bread’s 700 “breadwinners” in the campaigns she designs: using direct quotes and embracing language that focuses on their aspirations and contributions.

With Sivin helming the nonprofit’s brand presence, in tandem with the grant-writing team’s efforts, Hot Bread has increased its annual fundraising from $1.3 million in 2017 to $6.4 million in 2022.

“Too often, nonprofits are congratulating themselves on ‘helping people,’ but it’s our members who are doing the work,” she said. “One of my guiding principles is that people might not remember what you say, but they will remember how you make them feel, and people remember people’s stories.”

—SHELBY ROSENBERG

18 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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Kathleen Corradi, 34 Citywide director of rodent mitigation, New York City

I

n the months since Kathleen Corradi was appointed the city’s first-ever “rat czar” in April, she’s been approached countless times with what she calls “snake oil” pitches: entrepreneurs trying to sell New York on some new rodent-trapping technology.

She appreciates their enthusiasm. But what Corradi wants to tell them is that the real rat-fighting secrets are “kind of mundane.”

“How we really drive rat populations down and keep them down are daily sanitation practices: managing our waste better, making sure our built environment doesn’t have harborage conditions,” she said. “While there are novel approaches to all of that, it really comes down to the brass tacks.”

That pragmatic approach is likely why Mayor Eric Adams picked her for the high-profile job after a much-publicized search and what Corradi called a “grueling” interview process with City Hall leadership.

Unlike many figures in Adams’ administration, Corradi was not part of the mayor’s orbit before she was tapped for the job, having spent seven years in the Department of Education working on sustainability and waste reforms. Her new job involves coordinating anti-rat efforts across the city’s sprawling bureaucracy, tracking data on rodent activity and often venturing out to observe rats in person alongside residents or inspectors.

Rat activity is notoriously hard to track, although a modest decline in 311 complaints this year is a sign that her efforts may be paying off.

Corradi has encountered little resistance within city government in her quest for rat reforms. Instead, her biggest challenge is changing New Yorkers’ behavior—persuading them, for instance, to store their trash in containers instead of dumping it on the sidewalk.

“What’s my top priority might not be yours,” she said. “So how do we build a kind of collective consciousness around everyone? Taking small steps can lead to a big change.”

—NICK GARBER

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Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig LLP

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very time Peter Borock goes to his office at 1 Vanderbilt, he is reminded of the hours he put in as a real estate lawyer working as outside counsel on a number of matters related to the MTA’s $11.1 billion Grand Central Madison expansion, which gave Long Island Rail Road riders access to Grand Central Terminal, right next to his workplace. On the wall of his office is a framed golden ticket from the inaugural ride, near a painting by his daughter.

“It’s very rewarding. It’s very gratifying,” he said. “And that’s definitely the reason I became a real estate lawyer.”

As a shareholder in the real estate practice of the law firm Greenberg Traurig, Borock is tasked with ensuring the legal documents his clients sign reflect the intent of the corporations involved, while also planning for hiccups and solving problems that may come up.

“You’re almost setting up a marriage, and what you’re doing is trying to think through, ‘OK, well, if this happens in the future, what are we going to do?’” he said. “Because you can’t just get divorced once something’s in the ground.”

A fourth-generation New Yorker and the son of a public school teacher and a social worker, Borock says that what guides his practice is the chance to work on projects that help the city grow and expand for the future. Beyond those related to the MTA, Borock also helps clients figure out office-to-residential conversions.

Borock is counseling the MTA as it embarks on a multidecade, multibillion-dollar project to rehabilitate the 110-year-old train shed structure that supports Park Avenue and surrounding streets. The work, he says, will touch other portions of the transportation network, public and private utilities, and private buildings, all in Midtown, one of the densest business districts.

“It’s not sexy, right? You don’t look at it and say, ‘Wow, that’s really cool,’” he said. “But at the same time, you —OLIVIA BENSIMON realize how much happens underground in the city and how important the work is.”

Shana L. Dacon-Pereira, 36 Assistant vice president, corporate health system affairs, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, Mount Sinai Health System

S

hana L. Dacon-Pereira likes to joke that the field of diversity, equity and inclusion found her, thanks to a 2010 summer program for underrepresented graduate students through the Greater New York Hospital Association. That’s where she met Pamela Abner, a fellow Black woman and a leader in the health care industry. Dacon-Pereira later interviewed for a diversity program manager role Abner had open at Continuum Health Partners, which merged with Mount Sinai in 2013.

Since taking that role, Dacon-Pereira has ascended to become the assistant vice president of corporate health system affairs in the Office for Diversity and Inclusion at Mount Sinai Health System. She manages a fellowship program for individuals pursuing a career in health care administration. The goal is to develop participants’ skills, hire them into managerial roles and, ultimately, increase diversity among Sinai leadership. To date, 34 fellows have matriculated through the program, and one more is set to begin in July 2024. Her role also involves supporting the system’s Executive Diversity Leadership Board and overseeing Sinai’s diversity councils and employee resource groups. She is a certified unconscious bias educator as well.

Abner, Dacon-Pereira’s mentor, said she excels at recruitment, including working with the city and community organizations to find high school and college students.

For Dacon-Pereira, her role contains “full-circle” moments made possible by seeing Abner in a leadership position all those years ago.“I was able to strive for that once I saw her,” she said.

Her job is also an opportunity to help Mount Sinai leadership understand the community the hospital serves and avoid the complacency she sees among other health systems.

“It’s very easy to say, ‘Oh, we’re so diverse here,’ but there are still issues,” she said. “One of the ways to avoid complacency when it comes to diversity is to make sure that we have leadership … who have buy-in into launching and carrying forward a DEI initiative. Without that support, it’s very difficult to get an entire organization on board with that mission.”

ERG

UNDER

READ MORE profiles from this year’s class.

PAGE 38

—JACQUELINE NEBER November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 19

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SPONSORED CONTENT | S1

INSIDE

A special section in partnership with NewYorkCIO

2023 LEADERSHIP RECIPIENT FROM OUR CHAIR LEADERSHIP AWARD Steven Randich Andrea Markstrom PAGE S3 Executive Vice President PAGE and ChiefS4 Information Officer | FINRA

Steven Randich

+

Steven J. Randich, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO), oversees technology at F

Previously, Randich served as Co-CIO at Citigroup, and CIO and Global Head of Technology for Citigroup’s Institu Group. Prior to joining Citigroup, he was Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology and CIO at NASD was responsible for all aspects of NASDAQ technology, including applications development and technology inf

The annual New York ORBIE® Awards program honors chief information officers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. Winners in the Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Large Corporate, Corporate & Healthcare categories will be announced November 9 at Ziegfeld Ballroom.

P021_036_CN_20231106.indd 21

WHO’S WHO OF NEWYORKCIO Meet the Advisory Board & Members of NewYorkCIO PAGE S5

From 1996 to 2000, Randich served as Executive Vice President and CIO for the Chicago Stock Exchange. He wa for all technology, trading-floor and back-office operations, and business product planning and development. Prio Chicago Stock Exchange, Randich was a Managing Principal at IBM Global Services and a Manager at K

10/30/23 9:26 AM

CONGRATULATIONS 2023 NEW YORK ORBIE NOMINEES JOHN BRESNEY

PARAG AGRAWAL Chobani Inc.

DR. SAM AMIRFAR

The Brooklyn Hospital Center

MARCO ARGENTI

Selective Insurance

First Eagle Investment Management

TIMOTHY CONNOLLY

VIVEK DHAYAGUDE LIDO Advisors

USI Insurance Services

STEW GIBSON

MICHAEL JANIAK

DAVID BREZEE

TARA COOK

PATRICK DINEEN

MICHAEL GOTIMER

DANIEL JOHNSON

Barnes and Noble Education

SHANNON BRITTON

Goldman Sachs

Shiseido Americas Corporation

PATRICK ARNOLD

PETER BROWN Foot Locker

FuboTV

Proskauer

Nielsen

PETER COUSINS

SASTRY DURVASULA

WorkFusion

TIAA

NICK COUSSOULE

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

CRAIG CUYAR

Northwell Health

SUNIL DADLANI

Hackensack Meridian Health

ERIC BRUNNETT

ABU BAKAR

The Trump Organization

Summit Health

PAMELA DYSON

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

LUIS EGUREN

PAUL CAPIZZI

KHEM BALKARAN

Fox Corporation

MARK EIMER

DANIEL BARCHI

STEVEN CARRINGTON Panasonic North America

ROBERT BASTIAN

New York Life Insurance

NICK DAFFAN

JOHN ELBASAN Wilkie Farr

ROBERT ENTIN

WILLIAM CASSIDY

Vornado Realty Trust

BOB DAS

GULI BASU

WALTER FAHEY

DR MARC CHASIN

Westchester Health Network

PAUL DAUGHERTY

Movado

Earnest Research

ASSA ABLOY

Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey

JERRY FLASZ BD

Trincentis

KRISHNA BHAGAVATHULA National Basketball Association

CAROL CLEMENTS JetBlue

CHRIS COLLA B&G Foods

ROBERT GUILBERT

Davis Polk & Wardwell

VIPIN KAMATH

JOHN KAPP

WAEL KASHOU Assurant

VIVEK GURUMURTHY

JON HARDING

CHRISTOPHER KINGSBURY

GILL HAUS

PETER DELGIACCO

National Hockey League

VIKRAM DEWAN Jefferies

SHARON DHALL Kroll

MIKE HEALY

DONAGH HERLIHY

HUGUES HERVOUET Shutterstock

ALEXANDRE FOURNIER Tower Research

PATRICK BENSON

Weill Cornell Medicine

IBM

TSI

JEFF KINSEY Dataminr

DAVID KLINE News Corp

SWAMY KOCHERLAKOTA S&P Global

Subway

DAVID DELAUS

Wegmans Food Markets

RANDY CLEGHORNE

KATHRYN GUARINI

Equitable

YONATAN FELDMAN

SRINI CHITTAMURU

Danaher

DAVID BENIVEGNA

Maimonides Medical Center

Accenture

MELISSA BELL

New York Life Insurance

JP Morgan Chase

Munich Re

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

BILL GRIGONIS

MANUEL KAKKANATTU

Volunteers of America, Greater NY

Conair LLC

Verisk Analytics

Prudential

Guardian Insurance

Verizon

Atlantic Health System

CommonSpirit Health

Mizuho Bank

Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Omnicom Group

Minerals Technologies

First Quality

KAREN HIGGINS-CARTER Gilbane Building Company

MARC KRONENBERG

Wildlife Conservation Society

ROB KRUGMAN

Broadridge Financial Solutions

Bunge

MICHAEL HITE

WARREN KUDMAN

Saks Fifth Avenue

JASON GALVIN

JOSEPH INZERILLO

RASHMI KUMAR

DEXTER FRYE

Travelers

SiriusXM

Turner Construction

Medtronic

Driving Enterprise Excellence and Powering Progress Getting to the

FUTURE

Fueled by AI and Emerging Technologies

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SPONSORED CONTENT | S3

2023 NewYorkCIO CHAIR

Technology leaders accelerate the art of the possible T

oday’s technology leaders are strategic business partners, involved in every aspect of moving business forward.

For nearly twenty-five years, the Inspire Leadership Network has helped CIOs succeed in today’s most challenging C-suite executive role. NewYorkCIO members grow their leadership through year-round, member-led programs and interaction. Working together, CIOs across public and private business, government, education, healthcare and nonprofit organizations collaborate, share ideas and best practices, and create enormous leadership value.

ANDREA MARKSTROM 2023 Chair, NewYorkCIO Chief Information Officer Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

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There is no textbook for how to be a great CIO or CISO. But relationships with other leaders facing similar challenges sharpen leadership acumen. Every leader’s perspective is valuable and contributes to the conversation – and everyone wins by joining a peer leadership network.

The ORBIE Awards bring together leaders facing similar challenges – and this year – the Inspire Leadership Network will grow to 30 chapters, including the first international chapter in Toronto, and 3 chapters exclusively for Chief Information Security Officers.

"Every leader’s perspective is valuable and contributes to the conversation – and everyone wins by joining a peer leadership network."

Security is top of mind for every leader and organization, and the same principles that have served CIOs can be applied to CISOs as well.

Member-led, non-commercial programs build meaningful professional relationships with colleagues facing similar challenges, solving

problems and avoiding pitfalls. Successful leaders understand the ‘superpower’ of trusted relationships. In any gathering of technology leaders, the answer is in the room.

Together, we are transforming our economy using technology and security, and enriching our region and our world. On behalf of NewYorkCIO, congratulations to the nominees and finalists on their accomplishments and thank you to the sponsors, underwriters, and staff who make the ORBIE Awards possible.

Sincerely,

Andrea Markstrom 2023 Chair, NewYorkCIO Chief Information Officer Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

10/30/23 9:26 AM

LEADERSHIP AWARD S4 | SPONSORED CONTENT

2023 LEADERSHIP RECIPIENT

Steven Randich

Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer | FINRA Steven J. Randich, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO), oversees technology at FINRA. Previously, Randich served as Co-CIO at Citigroup, and CIO and Global Head of Technology for Citigroup’s Institutional Clients Group. Prior to joining Citigroup, he was Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology and CIO at NASDAQ, where he was responsible for all aspects of NASDAQ technology, including applications development and technology infrastructure.

From 1996 to 2000, Randich served as Executive Vice President and CIO for the Chicago Stock Exchange. He was responsible for all technology, trading-floor and back-office operations, and business product planning and development. Prior to joining the Chicago Stock Exchange, Randich was a Managing Principal at IBM Global Services and a Manager at KPMG.

Redefining how the world buys, builds and manages everything cloud APPLICATION MODERNIZATION | FINOPS | SOFTWARE SOURCING MANAGED CLOUD | SAP SERVICES | PUBLISHER ADVISORY SERVICES INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS | IT ASSET MANAGEMENT | DIGITAL WORKPLACE

< Connect with us !

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11/1/23 10:29 AM

SPONSORED CONTENT | S5

ADVISORY BOARD OFFICERS CHAIR

VICE CHAIR

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR

PROGRAMS CHAIR

ANDREA MARKSTROM Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

SUVAJIT BASU Goya Foods Inc

GARY SORRENTINO Zoom Video Communications

PARAG AGRAWAL Fanatics

PROGRAMS CO-CHAIR

PROGRAMS CO-CHAIR

AWARDS CHAIR

FOUNDING CHAIR

ROBERT FIELD Precipart (fmr)

PETER SCAVUZZO Marcum LLPl

LOOKMAN FAZAL NJ Transit

STEW GIBSON USI Insurance Services

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS

GREG BELOTTI Elementis (fmr)

SHANNON BRITTON Shiseido North America

KALICHARAN DURGAMPUDI Zelis

CARMINE LIZZA Lazard

EILEEN MAHONEY PVH Corp

ASHISH PARMAR Tapestry, Inc.

NICHOLAS PARROTTA HARMAN International

ANNA RANSLEY Godiva (fmr)

ATTI RIAZI Hearst

NEW YORK CIO MEMBERS Nicolas Avila, GLOBANT

Reju George, HARMAN International

Ketan Pandit, QBE USA

Abu Bakar, Summit Healthcare (fmr)

Mike Gioja, Paychex, Inc.

Sarthak Pattanaik, BNY Mellon

Dan Bosman, TD Securities

Vivek Gurumurthy, Verizon

Michael Poser, Morgan Stanley

Shane Brauner, Schrodinger

Jon Harding, Conair LLC

Scott Saccal, Cambrex Corporation

John Bresney, Selective Insurance

Fred Hoffmann, Future Tech Enterprise Inc.

Arvind Sahu, KariOut (fmr)

Sal Cucchiara, Morgan Stanley

Warren Kudman, Turner Construction Company

Scott Schwartz, Chelsea Piers

Nick Daffan, Verisk Analytics

Brent Lanier, Vista Equity Partners

Michael Smith, The Estee Lauder Companies

Sastry Durvasula, TIAA

Sophy Lu, Northwell Health

Ratna Subrahmanyam, MetLife

Mark Eimer, Hackensack Meridian Health

Abu Moniruzzaman, Connecticut State Colleges and Universities

Kaarthick Subramanian, Atlas Systems

Remy Evard, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Kristin Myers, Mount Sinai Health System

Lookman Fazal, NJ Transit

Ajit Naidu, TIAA

Ken Finnerty, UPS

Lakshman Nathan, Paramount

Jason Galvin, Travelers Insurance

Brian Neuhaus, Vectra Ai Inc.

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Manoj Thopcherneni, Cox Automotive Francis Verdier, Neuberger Berman Alan Yang, MSC Industrial Supply Vlad Yekelchik, EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

10/30/23 9:26 AM

S6 | SPONSORED CONTENT

GLOBAL FINALISTS Over $12 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations MARCO ARGENTI CIO Goldman Sachs

DONAGH HERLIHY CDO & CIO Subway

BOB MCCOWAN SVP & CIO Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Marco is the chief information officer of Goldman Sachs. Marco joined the firm as a Partner in 2019 after spending 6 years as vice president of technology of Amazon Web Services (AWS), overseeing all aspects of the product lifecycle of Cloud Services.

Before that, Marco spent several years at Nokia Corporation as senior vice president and global head of developer experience and marketplace, overseeing Nokia’s developer ecosystem and app store.

At Subway, with sales of $17B, Donagh's teams enable business in 38,000 restaurants globally: enabling growth through digital commerce, delivery and loyalty programs; developing personalized digital marketing capabilities to drive consumer engagement and contemporizing the Restaurant tools including Point of Sale and Menu Platforms; building analytics to optimize restaurant operations and the consumer experience; delivered by an agile technology organization. Before Subway, Donagh also served as the CIO of Duracell, Wrigley, Avon Products and Bloomin Brands.

Bob is SVP and CIO at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals with over 30 years of global experience. Bob provides strategic leadership to the IT organization and is responsible for technology-supporting research & development, commercial, cyber security, G&A functions, and enterprise operations. He and his team continually deliver award-winning transformational technology solutions supporting Regeneron’s mission of using the power of science to bring new medicines to patients. Bob is a well-respected leader with a diverse international background.

I joined Goldman Sachs in 2019 to help lead the storied financial institution through a time of heightened digital transformation. I lead our team of 12,000+ engineers – about a quarter of the organization – who play an increasingly important role across every aspect of our business and have further positioned Goldman Sachs at the forefront of innovation in the industry. I’ve introduced new cultural mechanisms that reimagine developer culture and embed engineers within our businesses, further enabling the team to power businesses across the entire firm, drive commercial impact, and bring scalable, impactful solutions to our wide range of clients.

The Subway Tech organization built the platforms to enable our growth in digital channels - Digital Sales have grown to over $2B. By streamlining the consumer journey we have increased conversion rates significantly. Digital sales are both higher check and more profitable. Our Loyalty program membership has grown to over 30 million members, loyalty members spend visits more frequently and have a higher average check. POS and Menu platform have been rebuilt to enable greater efficiencies in the restaurant operations resulting in significantly increased franchisee satisfaction. As a result, we have enjoyed 10 successive quarters of positive same-store sales growth.

My greatest accomplishment as CIO has been building and leading a highly capable and innovative technology team that modernized our Information Technology platforms, enabling us to accelerate scientific discovery and help bring lifechanging medications to those in need. By shifting to a “connected data vision” our scientists and leadership can use data to accelerate decisions and provide insights not previously possible. What we do matters. For example, it allowed for the accelerated selection of antibodies to create REGN-COV, used to treat COVID-19, helping us get the product to patients faster and ultimately saving lives. What more could you ask for?

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10/30/23 9:26 AM

SPONSORED CONTENT | S7

LAKSHMAN NATHAN EVP & CIO Paramount Global

KATHERINE WETMUR CIO for Cyber, Data, Risk & Resilience Morgan Stanley

Lakshman is EVP and CIO of Paramount Global, one of the world’s leading producers of media and entertainment content.

He manages and oversees all of Paramount’s application services and business technology liaisons, including corporate applications, commercial systems, client/production services, and end-user technology. He has dedicated over a decade to running major technology initiatives across CBS divisions and has supported many major integration initiatives to bridge legacy systems across multiple integration areas.

Katherine serves as the CIO for cyber, data, risk and resilience at Morgan Stanley. Since joining in 2002, she has held several senior leadership positions in technology. Katherine is an advocate for STEM education, an Executive Sponsor for the Morgan Stanley Pride and Ally Network, and a member of the Firm’s Mental Health Advisory Board. She also serves on the Boards of Sheltered Harbor, the Analysis & Resilience Center (ARC) and SustainableIT.org.

Since joining CBS in 2009, I have played many roles within the Technology organization. I grew my career by building strong relationships with business partners and technology colleagues, while continuously delivering on projects. When CBS and Viacom merged, I had a unique opportunity to bring all the enterprise services for the company under one umbrella. Over the last three years, Paramount has experienced tremendous growth and change. My team played a major role, working across all major corporate and commercial teams, to rationalize applications, reduce the application landscape, and migrate most of our applications to the cloud.

Using technology to solve problems has been a common thread throughout my 34-year career from chemical engineering to technology in financial services. As I’ve risen through the organization, I’ve elevated diverse leaders, built programs that foster diversity and acted as an educator and mentor to diverse employees. I’ve given talks to inspire other women to take on more challenging roles in technology. I’ve made sure that cybersecurity is top of mind and important to everyone in the Firm across seniority levels and ensured we’ve built a platform that’s equipped to keep the Firm safe and stable now and in the future.

“There is no textbook for how to be a great CIO or CISO. But relationships with other leaders facing similar challenges sharpen leadership acumen.”

– Andrea Markstrom, NewYorkCIO Chair

ANNUAL MEMBER CONFERENCE

DALLAS, TX | AUGUST 13-15, 2024 SCAN & REGISTER

Converge24 registration is exclusive to Inspire Leadership Network members

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10/30/23 9:26 AM

S8 | SPONSORED CONTENT

LARGE ENTERPRISE FINALISTS Over $12 billion annual revenue SASTRY DURVASULA SEVP, CIO & CSO TIAA

WARREN KUDMAN SVP & CIO Turner Construction

JASON GALVIN SVP & CIO Personal Insurance Travelers

Sastry is the chief information officer and client services officer at TIAA, responsible for leading the global technology and client services organizations, and a member of the company’s Executive Committee.

Sastry is also responsible for the company’s Global Data and AI, Global Capability Centers, Client Tech Labs and FinTech Partnerships across retirement services, asset management, wealth management and other businesses and subsidiaries, and serves on the boards of TIAA India and non-profit Girls in Tech.

Jason is the SVP & CIO of Personal Insurance at Travelers for the $14 billion business segment.

Previously, Galvin led digital enablement, enterprise architecture and emerging technologies. He held several senior positions during his 20-year career with a distinctive background in strategy, technology and experience design spanning across the insurance value chain.

As a visionary leader, Galvin delivers business value through digital transformation and building customer-centric organizations. Galvin holds an MBA from Quinnipiac University.

Warren is SVP and CIO for Turner Construction, an international leader in construction services.

Since joining Turner, Warren has led Turner’s IS group to modernize technology platforms and to provide new automation and analytics capabilities. Warren is also vice chair and Finance Committee Chair of the Board of the NY City Children’s Theater and serves on the Industry Advisory Board for Workforce Opportunity Services. In 2013, Warren was recognized as a Computerworld 100 Premiere CIO.

Our organization is positioning TIAA as a primary driving force in delivering lifetime income solutions, unlocking innovative ways of serving clients, simplifying the way we work and transforming into an “AI-first” company. Our greatest accomplishments include: launching RetireTech 2.0 platforms and products in the 403(b) retirement market and advancing TIAA into the 401(k) corporate retirement market; launching AIpowered Client Services to revolutionize the way we serve our clients in Retirement, Wealth and Asset Management businesses; unveiling TIAA Client Tech Labs, to enable client co-innovation; launching Nextgen Fraud Prevention for retired participants; and building a robust Guild Network for talent development.

I lead a team of innovative technologists that fuel the company's $14 billion Personal Insurance business. I credit my team's success to their agile ways of working, applying modern architectural principles and the strategic combination of packaged and proprietary solutions to deliver differentiated capabilities and personalized experiences. My unwavering dedication to aligning passion with purpose created an empowered and inclusive technology organization that cultivates customer-centric and high performing teams that are instrumental in leading Travelers’ digital transformation.

Our success is based on our evolution from a team that used to operate in "the back room" and now we are supporting Turner's entry into new business services. We have learned we should not wait for our partners to ask for a new capability. Rather we must be leaders and innovators that can leverage our understanding of Turner's strategic goals and priorities to bring new value added capabilities to our company and our partners.

Attracting and developing talent is fundamental to the success of every great technology leader. An exclusive benefit of Inspire membership is access to the Inspire Leadership Academy, offering leadership development programs for CIOs & CISOs, executive leadership teams & high-potential leaders in your IT organization.

Make today’s investment in tomorrow’s leaders.

NGC Empowering leaders to transform organizations.

INSPIRELEADERSHIPNETWORK.COM/ACADEMY

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SPONSORED CONTENT | S9

LAURA MILLER CIO Macy's, Inc.

RAVI SIMHAMBHATLA EVP, CDO & CIO Avis Budget Group

Laura is the chief information officer (CIO) of Macy’s, Inc., where she is responsible for the company’s information technology platforms and teams, including the company’s data and analytics center of excellence.

These areas support Macy’s, Inc.’s data-first approach to modernization through personalization, AI/ML solutions, warehouse automation, labor optimization and more. Laura is also a member of the board of NCR Voyix. Previously Laura served as CIO at IHG responsible for global technology solutions.

Ravi leads Avis Budget Group's global technology organization and is responsible for delivering one of the largest transformations in company history. He has a wealth of technical, leadership, global and transformational expertise from roles at Google Cloud, United Airlines, Air Lingus and Tesla Motors. He was responsible for introducing new technologies for employees and customers, and the modernization of airline platforms at United. He's also been a Medical Center Board Member at the Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago since 2019.

One of the most critical successes of my tenure as CIO at Macy’s, Inc. has been the creation and development of our robust data and analytics center of excellence. This department helps to democratize the company’s data, providing colleagues across the enterprise with critical information that allows them to quickly react to evolving customer needs, behaviors and the overall market. Our data journey enhances several aspects of colleague’s workflows from how we leverage AI to the efficiency and effectiveness of sales forecasts, customer recommendations, personalized offers and labor forecasting.

In the last 12 months, Avis Budget Group has reached several significant milestones on its journey to deliver a seamless rental experience for its customers. These improvements include reducing customer's need to interact with an agent at check out, exiting the lot and returning a vehicle. By positioning its digital transformation at the core of its growth strategy, Avis Budget group has eliminated many operational pain points, improved employee productivity, increased customer satisfaction and received record employee engagement scores.

The ORBIE signifies exceptional leadership, innovation, and vision; representing the characteristics and qualities that inspire others to achieve their potential.

www.fortinet.com

The Worldwide Cybersecurity Leader Making possible a digital world you can always trust  Most Devices Deployed

 Most Patents

 Most Third-Party Validations

 Most Zero-Day Threats Discovered

 Broadest Portfolio

Congratulations to the 2023 New York CIO of the Year Award Winners and Nominees

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S10 | SPONSORED CONTENT

ENTERPRISE FINALISTS Over $2.5 billion annual revenue JON HARDING SVP, Global CIO Conair LLC

STEWART GIBSON SVP & CIO USI Insurance Services

CARMINE LIZZA CIO & Global Head of Technology Lazard

Stewart has been the chief information officer for USI Insurance Services, one of the largest insurance brokers in the world, for the past 17 years. As a business leader with a focus in technology, he has spent his career leveraging innovative technology to grow companies ranging in size from private startups to public large-cap conglomerates, and has worked across many business functions including manufacturing, distribution, sales, operations, HR, legal, finance and accounting.

Jon is Global CIO of Conair LLC, a consumer products company.

Jon has worldwide responsibility for IT support of day-to-day business operations and growth. Earlier, Jon held various IT leadership positions within Kellogg Company - first in Europe and later in USA. Jon is a graduate of the University of Sheffield in England. He is a member of “Consumer Goods Technology” Executive Council, SAP's Consumer Products Council, and AWS's Consumer Goods Industry Advisory Board.

Carmine is managing director, chief information officer and global head of technology for Lazard.

Previously, Carmine was a managing director at Bankers Trust in Institutional Services and Global Markets businesses and Head of Equity Systems/Operations at Alliance Capital Management. He started his career at Lear Siegler Avionics, designing simulation software for military avionic systems. Carmine has an MBA from Columbia University, and a BE in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Over the past 17 years, my team at USI has leveraged technology to transform a $500M holding company to a $2.6B growth company, achieving a 22% CAGR. Since 2006, we unified segmented IT teams and strategies, resulting in a cohesive force of 264 members who integrated 200+ acquisitions within an average 45 days post-close. Our IT operational quality achieved a 97.27% satisfaction rate in 2022, while promoting flexibility; 53% of our IT staff work remotely, contributing to under 5% turnover. We're proud of our 43% female representation, managing costs at 4.2% of revenue, and investing 23% in areas like AI.

During my time as CIO the IT team became, and has remained, closely aligned with the rest of the global business to ensure we provide valued IT services while adding in new technologies to enable business improvement. Newly acquired businesses, and new overseas businesses have been smoothly integrated into one single global ERP (SAP) and surrounding systems. This simplification has enabled IT operating expenses to remain under 1% of revenue. Recently we have accelerated and leaned into transformational projects to modernize Digital Commerce, Finance and Supply Chain.

These transformational initiatives are helping to significantly improve EBITDA in future years.

My greatest accomplishment is the global organization and business centric IT culture I have built. My team’s belief and trust in me to lead through multiple business and technology cycles has been central to our successes and to my professional growth. Over the last 25 years I have had the privilege of leading our global technology organization, originally as the first CIO of Lazard Asset Management and beginning in 2005 as Global CIO of Lazard. Lazard is one of the most respected names in global financial services and I take immense pride in our contributions to our global growth.

FURTHERING HUMAN PROGRESS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY Lumen congratulates the New York CIO of the Year ORBIE Award winners

Learn more at lumen.com Services not available everywhere. ©2023 Lumen Technologies. All Rights Reserved.

Networking

P021_036_CN_20231106.indd 30

Edge Cloud

Security

Collaboration

10/30/23 9:26 AM

SPONSORED CONTENT | S11

ASHISH PARMAR SVP & CIO Tapestry

GARY SORRENTINO Global CIO Zoom Video Communications

With more than 20 years of leadership experience across multiple industries, Ashish serves as Tapestry's Global chief information officer (CIO) and a member of the executive committee. He is responsible for the group's technology strategy, leading information security, technology operations, and overseeing the data science and analytics function. He serves as Board Director, LL Flooring, Inc. (NYSE: LL) and serves as a Board Trustee, Arcadia University, Pennsylvania.

Gary serves as Zoom’s Global CIO, after spending over two years as our Global Deputy CIO. A former managing director for J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, Gary was the Global Head of Client Cyber Awareness and Education. With almost 40 years of experience in information technology, Gary has served in various other IT leadership positions in firms across the financial services industry.

Our people are at the heart of the transformation, delivering for our brands and stakeholders. Our teams have developed new ways of working; embracing a digital first mindset, and data driven decision-making. Our technology advancements leveraging multi-cloud, cloud-first architecture and advanced data science & analytics have infused agility in our ways of working - as we operate at the speed of the consumer.

One of the greatest accomplishments was at the beginning of the pandemic.The world was looking for ways to connect students, patients, employees and families in a secure manner. I started the Zoom CISO Council. A group of 40 CIOS's across different industries and regions to help understand and make suggestions on how to make the UCAAS solution secure. We needed this technology during the pandemic (Virtual Classrooms/Telehealth and it had to be secure otherwise most industries would not be able to deploy it and keep connected.

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The ORBIE Awards is the premier technology executive recognition program in the United States. Since inception in 1998, over 700 ORBIE winners have received the prestigious ORBIE Award.

S12 | SPONSORED CONTENT

LARGE CORPORATE FINALISTS CHRISTOPHER COLLA VP, IT & CIO B&G Foods, Inc.

Over $1 billion annual revenue JOHN ELBASAN CIO Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

VIKRAM NAIR SVP, IT Amneal Pharmaceuticals

Chris is a technology executive with over eight years of experience as the CIO of B&G Foods. He has two master's degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology. At B&G Foods, he transformed networking and implemented a global ERP system. Chris has also redesigned load balancing and backup systems and utilized a transformational approach to acquire an outstanding Suite for cybersecurity. His expertise and leadership have been instrumental in driving the success of B&G Foods.

John has been championing digital transformation within the intersection of law & technology for over 20-plus-years. Building integrated teams of high achievers inspires John to forge the very next expression of technology in the industry. The concepts of ethos and mission are hallmarks of the talented people John has had the good fortune to work alongside. Their current collective passions encompass the charting of the “Software Defined Law Firm.”

Vikram serves as the global head of information technology at Amneal Pharmaceuticals, overseeing digital, data and tech solutions, as well as digital transformation and AI efforts. Under his leadership, Amneal IT has saved millions of dollars across company functions, from product development to commercialization, through automation and data-driven insights.

Service levels have improved by 70%, while IT expenses have decreased. Previously, Vikram held global IT leadership roles at Viking Cruises, Carnival Cruises and Pfizer.

I am the first CIO at B&G Foods, Inc. Since my employment, the network has been fully transformed to a hyperconverged storage and compute system. The telecom utilizies SD-WAN and SASE model with CATO Networks and SD-WAN Intelipeer. Implemented Global ERP system with JD Edwards and EPM & Demand/S&OP Oracle Cloud.

Put in Cloud based RF Scanning and WMS with Oracle Advanced WMS. Redesigned Load Balancing and Backup with new COMMVAULT and F5 suite.

Utilizing Varonis and Cisco Complete Cybersecurity Suite for Cyber Security. I have been in a leadership position with seven acquisitions for the company.

I provide advisory services to Firm clients on their overall Information Security & Governance initiatives and sit on client steering committees focused on technology strategy and information governance.

The future of the CIO in many companies must go beyond the four walls of the company. It is very rewarding to provide value add to our clients directly in their own initiatives. Within the Firm, I am most recently proud of our investments in software development, which has been yielding bespoke market leading platforms responsible for driving better decision making for our clients with marketing leading custom developed matter management platforms.

As Amneal diversifies into new and more complex pharmaceutical categories, we are transforming our systems and processes. We are also fostering a culture where colleagues can think and act differently to innovate, grow and create value.

I’m exceptionally proud of the achievements TEAM IT is delivering as integrators of processes and information across Amneal. Together we are elevating enterprise IT capabilities and producing measurable outcomes that are driving real business value for Amneal. Equally as important, we are creating an engaged team who is energized by our shared progress and advancing in their personal and professional aspirations.

Cloudflare Zero Trust Stop data loss, malware and phishing with the most performant Zero Trust application access and Internet browsing platform.

Our network now spans 275 cities

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10/30/23 9:26 AM

SPONSORED CONTENT | S13

PETER SCAVUZZO Principal, CIO & CDO Marcum

FRANCIS VERDIER CTO Neuberger Berman

Peter is a principal and CIDO of Marcum LLP. He creates and executes the strategic technology roadmap across all Marcum companies. He is the firm’s leader in digital transformation and advocates leveraging technology to ensure long-term viability and competitiveness.

He earned his BS/MS in engineering from Polytechnic University. Peter serves as Chair of the ECOVIS International Technology Task Force, is on multiple AICPA’s committees, speaks at association events, and is often quoted in trade publications.

Francis has been the chief technology officer at Neuberger Berman since 2019, previously served as the chief information officer at Apollo Global Management. Prior roles include leadership positions at JPMorgan, including managing director and chief information officer for the Private Bank. He also worked at HBOS Treasury Services and began his career at Effix Reuters and Morgan Stanley. Verdier graduated with a Software Engineering degree from Ecole Supérieure d’Informatique, d’Electronique et d’Automatique in Paris, France in 1992.

In 16 years, my contributions and enablement have helped transform Marcum LLP from 2 offices with 300 associates and $100M in revenue to one of the nation's largest accounting and advisory firms.

With 40 offices, 4,500 associates, and over $1B in revenue, technology has been accepted and weaved into the organization’s fabric. Using technology as a driver for growth, I have spearheaded state-ofthe-art products and solutions to seamlessly fuse technology into the Firm’s everyday initiatives.

These strategies have improved the operational efficiency of Marcum and our clients and positioned the organization as a leader in the accounting industry.

As CTO of Neuberger Berman, I have led a transformative journey over the past four years.

We have unified our technology groups under the Global Technology organization, fostering a culture of innovation and strategic vendor partnerships. We have modernized our digital experience for Private Wealth clients and advisors and implemented robust data governance, optimizing our technology investments. I am particularly proud of our commitment to diversity, reflected in our improved gender ratio and the successful launch of our Global Technology Apprenticeship Program. These initiatives have truly established Global Technology as an equal business partner within the firm.

NewYorkCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of Greater New York chief information officers.

proudly honors Jon Harding on being recognized as a CIO Finalist in the New York CIO of the Year ORBIE Awards

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10/10/23 9:28 AM 10/30/23 9:26 AM

S14 | SPONSORED CONTENT

CORPORATE FINALISTS SHANNON BRITTON CIO Shiseido Americas Corporation

Up to $1 billion annual revenue ROBERT GUILBERT CIO Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C.

ANDREA MARKSTROM CIO Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

Shannon is a senior business executive, skilled in leading companies through large scale digital transformations and applying pragmatic approaches to problem solving.

Known for being a business-savvy technologist, with experience in IT, sales, marketing and supply chain, Shannon can distinctively pair strategic business understanding with practical solutions to advance business results. She is an inclusive, decisive and creative leader, focused on helping companies thrive and grow.

Rob Guilbert is CIO at Epstein, Becker & Green, a national law firm with 19 offices across the country.

As CIO, his primary duties are to help develop and oversee all technologyrelated strategic and operational initiatives.

Specifically, ensure that the firm’s information systems effectively support both the delivery of exceptional service to the firm’s clients and the daily operation and strategic direction of the firm.

Other responsibilities include information security, innovation, knowledge management and business systems.

Andrea is the chief information officer for Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. She partners with the Executive Committee to identify and implement technology solutions that align with the firm's goals. Andrea has 30 years of experience leading global IT organizations for large law firms and corporations. She founded i.WILL, a professional women's networking organization and serves as Chair for NewYorkCIO Inspire Chapter, mentors for Columbia's Executive programs and on the board for several LegalTech companies.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the beauty industry saw several dynamic changes in consumer purchasing behavior. To meet the challenges of this rapidly changing environment, the Shiseido Americas IT team implemented several key transformative programs, including, digitally evolving our supply chain processes and tools, automating manual practices and optimizing operational efficiency; launching innovative beauty technology and personalizing online engagement with our consumers; creating a sustainable technology landscape through cloud transformation, reducing our on-premise footprint and increasing reliability; and automating our customer and employee experience via AI and automation tools, improving productivity and reducing complexity of key processes.

Under my leadership, Epstein Becker & Green has become a firm that pushes the envelope on technology and innovation. As a law firm, protecting our data and the data of our clients is paramount to being able to practice law. Leveraging the cloud, making strategic technology decisions and creating a security first culture has allowed the firm to grow and provide our clients exceptional service. This has also allowed all Firm employees, whether remote or in the office, to work effectively without sacrificing security, efficiency, or speed.

As CIO, my success is my team. Over the past 30 years, I've had the opportunity to mentor, inspire and develop high performing and extremely talented teams for large law firms and corporations.

These teams create, develop and transform their ideas into products and services that provide value for our internal and external clients. Having the opportunity to lead these teams, learn from them and be a part of their success, is the greatest reward as their leader. We don't win alone. We win together as a team. I'm grateful and honored to be a part of an amazing team.

SCOTT SACCAL VP, Head of IT Cambrex Corporation

VLAD YEKELCHIK CIO EPIC

LIN ZHOU SVP & CIO The New School

Scott is vice president, head of information technology for Cambrex Corporation. He has more than 30 years’ experience in IT. Scott has held information technology roles at Merck Sharp & Dohme and Johnson & Johnson, including vice president, chief information officer for J&J ALZA. Scott holds an MBA from Fairleigh Dickenson University and MS/BS degrees from NJIT. Scott and his wife Teri live in New Jersey. Scott enjoys sporting activities, diy projects and a sunny beach.

Vlad joined EPIC as CIO in June of 2019. In his position, Vlad plays a key role in EPIC’s Technology Strategy and Digital Innovation. Prior to joining EPIC, Vlad held various senior leadership positions with leading global banking and insurance organizations. Vlad earned a Bachelor of Science with honors in Computer Science from Pace University in New York. In his spare time, Vlad enjoys spending time with his family, reading and riding his motorcycles.

Lin is the senior vice president and CIO at The New School which is revolutionizing the intersection of technology and education. He founded the university's trailblazing Quantum Initiative and Innovation Center, garnering esteemed accolades such as the FutureEdge50 and CIO100 Awards. With a legacy of leadership from IBM Watson to global stages like SXSW, Lin isn't just adapting to the future; he has been creating it.

I’m blessed to have had such amazing experiences throughout over 30 years in IT. In this time, I have had tremendous mentors, business partners, and teammates that have helped me to grow and shape my thinking. I’ve learned that learning itself is lifelong and that the humans are amazingly complex and dynamic. My success as a leader today is 100 percent a function of creating an environment in which every individual knows that they are valued and that I care about them achieving their purpose in life. I only hope to continue to help everyone to release their full potential.

Every importer of cargo into the United States must carry verifiable proof of Customs Bonds insurance, as per Customs and Border Patrol regulations.

EPIC's Transportation and Logistics group partnered with IT to create a streamlined and digital experience for processing Customs Bonds. This entailed development of a client-facing portal to manage Bond issuance and risk underwriting, realtime integration with US Customs and Border Patrol as well as with EPIC's operational and accounting platforms, and enablement of rich analytics and reporting capabilities. This innovative platform improves customer experience by expediting decision-making while delivering operational efficiencies in line with EPIC’s digital strategy.

Through strategic collaborations, we've elevated education, forged expansive career paths and driven transformative growth. Winning top industry awards like the CIO-100 and FutureEdge50 attests to our excellence. In three years, we've more than doubled our IT Net Promoter Score and boosted revenues across the board, including a 15% YoY growth in professional education. Pioneering efforts like our University Innovation Center and Quantum Computing Initiative have made us industry leaders, while data-driven platforms like our University Data Lake demonstrate our unwavering commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

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11/1/23 9:49 AM

SPONSORED CONTENT | S15

HEALTHCARE FINALISTS SUNIL DADLANI CIO Atlantic Health System

Healthcare & nonprofit hospital organizations MARK EIMER SVP, Associate CIO & CTO Hackensack Meridian Health

SOPHY LU SVP & CIO Northwell Health

Sunil currently serves Atlantic Health System as EVP & CIO. In this role, he oversees the company’s IT system-wide and advances the system’s usage of IT strategies and platforms. Sunil is driving digital transformation and innovation agenda leveraging next generation technologies like Generative AI, ML, NLP, VR and AR, advanced predictive analytic platforms, and cloud computing enhancing realtime digital health care capabilities while improving patient outcomes, health equities and making healthcare affordable and accessible.

Mark serves as SVP, associate CIO and chief technology officer at Hackensack Meridian Health in Edison, New Jersey, where he is accountable for the totality of IT infrastructure and operations across New Jersey’s largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network. Mark is responsible for implementing nextgeneration information technology infrastructure and for world-class delivery of all third-party and internally managed information technology infrastructure used for all clinical, research and business processes across the network.

Sophy is the senior vice president and CIO for Northwell Health. Sophy is commited to reimagine experiences and raise health for consumers, clinicians and team members. She has her B.S in Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and served as an executive in healthcare for 20+ years. Sophy has thrived on solving the impossible, leading teams of diverse talented individuals, organizing chaos into calm, helping people, making a difference, and always enjoying the journey!

An outpatient in their 30s came to Atlantic Health System for a follow-up CT scan – a procedure that may ordinarily take more than a day to get results from. However, thanks to recently implemented technology, an unsuspected possible pulmonary embolism was reported to the oncology team less than an hour later. Anticoagulation therapy was started later that day, potentially preventing a life-threatening situation. This encounter is a perfect example of how making smart investments in technology, such as AI, based on patient and caregiver needs can intercept the conventional prioritization and allow for expedited intervention and care.

HMH announced an expansion of its strategic partnership with Google Cloud to deploy generative AI solutions to improve patient care and reduce the administrative burden on clinicians, caregivers and hospital operators. The partnership will leverage Google Cloud's generative AI technologies to develop and deploy solutions that will help HMH allow clinical staff to focus more on care, improve overall decision-making and better personalize the patient experience. Google Cloud and HMH are currently working together on a broad digital transformation initiative, including programs that leverage analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

My team’s recent accomplishments include accelerating the digital transformation agenda for a large integrated health system to deliver care for our communities and personalizing joyful experiences to all constituents (patients, clinicians and team members). Our strategy goes back to a foundational approach and the continuous dedication of our team. We focus on modernizing the technology stack and data platforms to hybrid cloud and standardizing the thousands of applications to a new electronic health record platform (inclusive of personalized multi-channel engagements with constituent relationship management). These efforts continue in addition to the work of everyday operations, growth and expansion for the organization.

MICHAEL MAINIERO SVP, CDO & CIO Catholic Health

Michael boasts a 25-year career as a seasoned leader in the digital health industry. He is driven by his passion to enhance healthcare delivery and patient experiences.

Throughout his career, he has spearheaded digital transformation strategies, innovation and design in diverse settings such as start-ups, fortune 100 companies, academic medical centers and healthcare.

Our IT department has been a driving force in overcoming the challenges of this year. We've developed a platform that focuses on Social Determinants of Health, which helps provide healthcare services to marginalized communities and has increased digital appointment bookings.

We've also streamlined Emergency Department workflows in six hospitals, resulting in a reduction in patient throughput time. This has not only enhanced the patient experience but also made care more efficient. Our cybersecurity measures have been strengthened, resulting in response time, which has helped improve the trust of patients and stakeholders. These achievements reflect our commitment to using technology to improve healthcare.

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NewYorkCIO is one of over 30 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, a national membership organization comprised exclusively of CIOs from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare and nonprofit institutions.

10/30/23 9:27 AM

THANK YOU TO THE 2023 NEW YORK ORBIE® AWARDS SPONSORS PRESENTED BY

NEWYORKCIO Markley __________________________________ SPONSORED BY __________________________________

MEDIA SPONSOR

P021_036_CN_20231106.indd 36

NATIONAL PARTNER

10/30/23 9:27 AM

H E A LT H CA RE

NOVEMBER 15 | 9–11AM

180 CENTRAL PARK S.

F I RES I D E C H AT TO P I C

The Mental Health Crisis in NYC F I RES I D E C H AT S P E A K E R

Dr. Ashwin Vasan Commissioner The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

PA N E L D I SC USS I O N

Insights and Best Practices on Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace

L E E A N N E P. E N G E LS *

G A RY R . B E A RD,

M SW, LCSW - C, 6 S I G M A M B B * VP Talent Strategy and Employee Wellbeing, Director of Behavioral Market Human Resources and Services Insights & Strategy Cigna Cigna HealthCare – Solutions & U.S. Commercial Markets *Sponsored Speaker

PRESENTING SPONSOR:

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Lincoln Restler, 39 Councilman, New York City Council

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icknamed the Queen of Pose, Coco Rocha started her modeling career in Canada when she was 14 turning 15. Since then she has appeared on more than 100 magazine covers, walked the runway for luxury fashion houses and amassed almost 52 million followers across her social media accounts.

But this head-turner is more than just a pretty face. She has used her platform to advocate for the health and safety of young models, including working to get a law on the books in New York state in 2013 requiring those under age 18 to be recognized as child performers. And in 2018 she opened Coco Rocha Model Camp, which teaches new and established models how to be confident as well as how to read their contracts. The four-day camp is $2,695 per student, which includes their local accommodations and meals. So far more than 4,000 models have gone through the program, which takes place every few weeks.

“I do really take my job as a big sister or mom to these other models very seriously,” Rocha said. “I want them to know that there’s someone who really cares.”

Rocha, a mother of three, is looking toward the future. She runs a global talent agency, Nomad MGMT, with her husband, James Conran. And she invests in and advises tech startups based on ideas she finds interesting, such as Bumo, which focuses on early childhood care and education. But she isn’t abandoning her roots, keeping her eyes on the next phase of fashion. And she wants to leave a legacy as a businesswoman and a role model.

“I want people to recognize that I was the model who made a difference, made it easier for the next models of any race, of any background, of any age,” she said.

“That’s all I really want is just a better place for these models.”

—TELISHA BRYAN

I do really take my job as a big sister or mom to these other models very seriously.”

ince City Council member Lincoln Restler was elected to represent northern Brooklyn in 2021, he has become something of a liberal foil to moderate Mayor Eric Adams.

Restler, who grew up in Brooklyn Heights, will not mince words—and frequently doesn’t—on his criticism of the Adams administration’s policies. He has proposed his own legislative solutions on a number of issues, from street safety to housing to climate measures.

“I’ve never shied away from a tough fight,” said Restler. “When someone is not doing their job to the standards that New Yorkers should expect, I feel it is my responsibility to call that out—to call out mismanagement, ethical lapses, and to call out failures to deliver for our communities.”

The co-chair of the council’s progressive caucus first rose to prominence as a founder of the New Kings Democrats, a political club dedicated to reforming the Brooklyn Democratic Party.

Before running for City Council, Restler held several positions in municipal government, where he helped implement programs such as IDNYC, which provides photo identification to undocumented residents.

Apart from his policy kerfuffles with the mayor, Restler says much of his energy in his current role is poured into “solving the problems of the people of the 33rd Council District.” He points to three core priorities: tackling the city’s affordability crisis, working toward pragmatic solutions to climate change, and improving transit and street safety.

He also prides himself on helping to realize community benefits long promised to Downtown Brooklyn, such as a new school and parks, as part of a 2004 rezoning that enabled high-rise developments to rise rapidly in the sought-after neighborhood.

“We are following through on the promises that were made to our communities,” said Restler.

—CAROLINE SPIVACK

38 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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Sonam Velani, 36 Co-founder and managing partner, Streetlife Ventures

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hen she was a child, Chicago’s aspirational spirit lured Sonam Velani’s family to emigrate from Mumbai.

Velani and her parents were undocumented, so her father initially worked as a busboy at a Popeyes, while her mother took on babysitting gigs. Growing up, Velani experienced life in a basement apartment that often flooded, and in the winter her parents sometimes turned on the stove to heat their home.

“These are things that many families in such situations face and are becoming more and more prevalent, especially given climate change,” she said. “For me, it was always, ‘How do I make sure other people don’t live like this?’ And it’s also how I became very fascinated by infrastructure and how the physicality of your neighborhood really shapes your worldview.”

After graduating from Harvard University, Velani worked on the infrastructure finance team at Goldman Sachs and then as a sustainable cities and climate change specialist at the World Bank.

She joined the de Blasio administration in 2014 as senior adviser to the deputy mayor for housing and economic development, then Alicia Glen, helping implement initiatives to build climate-smart infrastructure and affordable housing, and create quality jobs.

One initiative she’s particularly proud of her work on is OneNYC, the city’s sprawling plan to get to net-zero emissions by 2050.

The mandates of OneNYC factored into Velani co-founding Streetlife Ventures, a venture studio and investment fund that supports entrepreneurs developing sustainable infrastructure for cities, with Laura Fox, Citi Bike’s former general manager.

Streetlife Ventures, which works with climate-tech startups, is helping to connect companies with urban testbeds and deployment sites for their products while they’re in the early stages of research and development to speed up the path toward commercialization. The firm is also in the process of raising a $30 million fund.

“I’m all about, how do you take climate solutions out of PDF reports and bring them into the real world?” said —CAROLINE SPIVACK Velani. “And I think Streetlife is a manifestation of that.”

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Brandon Singer, 37 CEO, Retail by MONA

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ike the woman smiling knowingly in the famous portrait of Mona Lisa, Brandon Singer seems to have a secret.

Though other brokers may focus solely on traditional vendors, Singer believes the future of retail depends on dramatically rethinking how spaces are used, to the point where they may not seem like actual stores at all.

“Business has changed and shifted. The ones that have an omnichannel strategy are the ones who will survive,” Singer said. “So we’re focused on the new age of retailing.” Indeed, the MONA in Retail by MONA is an acronym for “making of a new age,” he pointed out.

In fall 2020, as Covid-19 lay waste to the city, few were thinking about it as an opportune time to start a business revolving around in-person interaction, especially in a city where new retail brokerages are rare.

But Singer, a 17-year veteran then working for Cushman & Wakefield, teamed with colleague Michael Cody to launch MONA as a lean, two-person operation. “The people at Cushman looked at me as if I were crazy,” he said.

An investment in the firm for an undisclosed amount from RFR Holding’s Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs, major commercial landlords for whom the pair had worked—MONA is now marketing RFR’s berths at the Chrysler Building—may have soothed some startup fears. The bold swerve was a smart play. In the past three years, the firm, which now employs 20 agents and four support staff members, has completed more than 110 deals on behalf of an even mix of landlords and tenants for about $900 million.

A proud wearer of the disrupter label, Singer has tweaked the conventions of his business along the way. For-lease signs in store windows, for instance, aren’t a jumble of multiple agents’ names but bear only the firm’s. “We figured we would have only one identity for the company,” he said.

But there’s nothing offbeat about MONA’s upcoming plans to expand from its current mostly Manhattan market to —C. J. HUGHES the suburbs. “The harder you work,” Singer said, “the luckier you get.”

Annie Evans, 36 Partner, Akin

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hen Annie Evans was promoted to partner at the law firm Akin last year, it was the culmination of almost 11 years of hard work building connections and practicing white-collar defense and investigations.

Her team represents a variety of institutional clients, financial institutions, hedge funds, public and private companies, and individuals undergoing all sorts of investigations. In one recent case, Evans’ team represented a former trader at JPMorgan who was one of several individuals in a larger sweep over charges of spoofing—a form of market manipulation—at different banks. Evans worked on the case for four years, and although the client was ultimately found guilty, she found the work rewarding.

“As a litigator, and particularly in the white-collar practice, so much of what we do is almost prelitigation; it’s very investigative,” she said. “It’s a lot of the behind the scenes and pulling the threads and figuring out what really happened, and then building that back up into the narrative that will be compelling and true and persuasive and favorable for your client.”

Evans jokes that she went through a phase in her teenage years when she rejected the idea of becoming a lawyer—as one might if one’s parents and grandparents are lawyers too. But a history teacher set her on a course of learning how to form an argument, defend her view and gather facts to support her side.

Within her first year at Akin, and while working pro bono representing women and victims of domestic violence in family court, a unifying theme for her practice emerged.

“There was so much more to the lawyering that we were doing,” she said. “There were these soft skills that I was seeing that really spoke to me and the sort of understanding of the psychology of what your clients need.”

She cites as examples the idea that a lawyer will pick up the phone whenever a client calls or answer what might seem like silly questions.

“It was not the fact that I had gone to law school that made these clients want to trust me—of course, it was relevant that I had the legal experience that they needed,” Evans said. “But I could just sort of be their confidant and somebody they could trust and somebody who was advocating for them.”

Evans’ team represents a variety of clients undergoing all sorts of investigations.

—OLIVIA BENSIMON

VACK

November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 39

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Quemuel Arroyo, 34

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Chief accessibility officer, Metropolitan Transportation Authority

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undamentally, Quemuel Arroyo sees his job as rewriting for whom New York is designed and created. As the first chief accessibility officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Arroyo and his team are working to combat systemic underinvestment in accessibility in the subway and throughout the region’s mass transit.

“We’re creating a New York City where everybody gets to come out and play,” said Arroyo, “not just those who are fit and able.”

That means recognizing that accessibility goes far beyond elevators and ramps. For Arroyo, it’s helping people with low vision, emotional disabilities or language barriers; parents with strollers; riders with bikes or luggage; older New Yorkers; and others better navigate the system.

Before joining the MTA in 2021, Arroyo served as global head of community for Charge Enterprises and was the first chief accessibility specialist at the city’s Department of Transportation. In his current role, he helped the authority reach a 2022 landmark settlement that resolved two lawsuits filed by disability rights advocates. Under the terms, the MTA will add elevators and ramps by 2055 to at least 95% of the subway’s more than 350 stations that lack accessible infrastructure. The agreement requires that the MTA dedicate some 15% of each of its multibillion-dollar, five-year capital plans to station accessibility. That figure cannot drop below 8%.

Still, Arroyo is no stranger to difficult conversations with straphangers who may still have a years-long wait for projects to improve their quality of life at their local station.

“There’s always a healthy tension at my table,” said Arroyo. “We know that we have a long road ahead, and we know how difficult it’s going to be.

But we have all the players that I need at the table to be successful.”

—CAROLINE SPIVACK

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Jade Bailey, 38 Director of alternative delivery, New York City Department of Design and Construction

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hen Jade Bailey was growing up in south Queens, one of her frequent hangout spots was the Roy Wilkins Recreation Center in Roy Wilkins Park. Now, as director of alternative delivery at the city’s Department of Design and Construction, she will play a major role in building a new rec center for the Jamaica park.

“It’s nice to come full circle and see that this neighborhood is getting some attention,” she said. “I remember going there and it being a part of my life as a child, going for after-­ school services and summer camp and using the pool that they have.”

The new rec center is poised to add to Bailey’s impressive track record at DDC, the agency that builds civic facilities for the city, such as libraries and firehouses. She has already managed more than two dozen successful projects valued at up to $250 million.

These include the Midtown performing arts venue New York City Center and the Covid-19 Center of Excellence in Queens, a health facility for the entire borough devoted to providing Covid patients with long-term care.

She currently oversees nine projects in DDC’s design-build program, which puts the same company in charge of designing and constructing projects in an effort to finish them faster, helping to ensure they are delivered on time, on budget and up to the city’s standards.

Bailey worked in the private sector before coming to DDC, and although she does not have an overall preference between private and government work, she does appreciate the faster pace at private companies and hopes the design-build program will bring more of that to the city.

“Private work is great. It doesn’t have to contend with some of the bureaucracy and red tape that public work has to contend with, unfortunately, which is why I’m really excited about what I’m doing now,” she said.

“The design-build world tries to cut through some of that red tape. That’s exciting.”

—EDDIE SMALL

40 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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Michael Bosner, 37

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ichael Bosner remembers exactly when he decided he wanted to be a Broadway producer.

He was interning at the Muny, a regional theater in his hometown of St. Louis, when Paul Blake, the executive producer, called a meeting that turned Bosner’s “whole world upside down.” It was then he learned of the business behind the scenes.

“There were unions, and there were payments and schedules, and all of the things I didn’t know of,” Bosner said. “In that moment, I said, ‘I want to do that.’”

After Bosner graduated from the University of Miami with a business degree, Blake asked him to help produce Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. The show grossed more than $270 million and picked up seven Tony Award nominations.

With newly minted “keys to the kingdom,” Bosner learned about a country musical called Shucked and decided that if anyone would produce it, it would be him.

“Who knew that when they were talking about a song called ‘Corn,’ that this is what it would look like?

There it is in front of us. To even say it, I have goosebumps.”

At that moment in the interview, a bus plastered with a bright yellow ad for the show cruised by. Bosner confirmed he did not arrange for the drive-by. Shucked has grossed more than $22 million since it opened in April and received nine Tony nominations.

Working at the Muny as a college “kid getting coffee and showing people their seats,” Bosner also caught the attention of now-mentor Thomas Schumacher, chief creative officer at Disney Theatrical Group.

“Mike is here to usher in a new generation of how we entertain,” Schumacher said. “As a producer, you have to walk out of a room where someone says you can’t afford what you want to do, then walk into a room full of artists and tell them how to make their dreams come alive. It’s about being clever. Mike is perfectly poised to navigate that.”

—AMANDA GLODOWSKI

“

Xiaohui (Hui) Lin, 39

I enjoy being part of a company’s life cycle.”

Partner, Simpson Thacher and Bartlett

W

hile going through Simpson Thacher and Bartlett’s rotation program, Hui Lin found her home in the firm’s capital markets practice, learning about companies’ and brands’ stories and goals, and working alongside C-suite executives to bring those plans to fruition.

“The details are fascinating: what their business model is, what differentiates them, their growth strategy and the biggest risks they face. It’s almost like getting a practical MBA,” said Lin. “I enjoy being part of a company’s life cycle, seeing them through the various milestones and all the ups and downs that come with it.”

Having joined the firm in 2007, straight out of Columbia Law School, Lin has spent much of the past 16 years advising companies on IPOs, debt offerings, acquisition financing, corporate governance and more.

Since she made partner in 2017, Lin has worked on transactions totaling over $240 billion in value.

For example, she has advised Dell Technologies in many complex, high-profile transactions, including the financing for its $67 billion acquisition of EMC Corp.—widely reported as the largest-ever tech deal at the time—and subsequent multibillion-dollar refinancings.

She also represented Mediterranean restaurant chain Cava in its $318 million IPO. With a closing price that almost doubled Cava’s valuation to nearly $4.9 billion, it was the most successful debut since July 2022 for a company launching in the U.S. She’s also part of the firm’s legal talent development committee and is passionate about mentoring lawyers through all stages of their career.

“Hui is a true star because she is a classic five-tool athlete: She’s highly intelligent, very creative and always commercial while also having great judgment and a very high EQ,” said Ken Wallach, co-head of Simpson Thacher’s global capital markets practice. “Clients seek her counsel, and the opposing side always respects her.”

—SHELBY ROSENBERG

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Dr. Ted Long, 39 Senior vice president for ambulatory care and population health, New York City Health + Hospitals

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r. Ted Long was driving to his primary care clinic in the Bronx last fall when he first got a call about assisting with the asylum seeker crisis.

Migrants were continuing to arrive in New York City, but the Department of Homeless Services was at capacity. Dr. Mitchell Katz, president and CEO of New York City Health + Hospitals, asked Long to help set up immediate and temporary shelter to meet the influx of arrivals.

“It started off as, ‘We’re going to put a tent somewhere,’” said Long, senior vice president for ambulatory care and population health at Health + Hospitals, the city’s public health system.

Now H+H provides health care and case management to all migrants entering the city. The public hospital system operates 15 humanitarian emergency response and relief centers for more than 22,000 asylum seekers. Health workers provide medical services to migrants but also help them connect with family members or get legal documents, Long said.

It’s not the first time Long has led the hospital system through an emergency; he launched New York City’s Test & Treat Corps at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Long oversaw a massive contact-tracing effort, which ultimately reached a third of all city residents. The hospital system also rolled out a program to provide New Yorkers with food, medicine and, in some cases, hotel rooms for quarantine and isolation.

Long also oversees one of the nation’s largest federally qualified health centers and is responsible for transforming H+H’s ambulatory care portfolio, which currently sees 5.8 million outpatient visits a year. He said the health system is integral not only to providing medical care, but also to serving New Yorkers during public health emergencies.

“What we do for asylum seekers is a function of primary care,” Long said. “We are looking after everything that somebody needs and figuring out how to help them with all the problems they have.”

MALL

—AMANDA D’AMBROSIO

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A meeting at a theater in his hometown made Bosner want to be a Broadway producer.

Producer, Bosner Productions

“

What we do for asylum seekers is a function of primary care.”

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Melissa Mash, 39

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Chief executive officer and co-founder, Dagne Dover

Dagne Dover was born out of the desire to create performanceoriented bags at a “friendly” luxury price point.

M

elissa Mash has always been a bag person—“ever since high school.”

“Something that had an understated design, where the designs always spoke for themselves, was always really important for me,” she said.

But in 2009, when she was helping Coach establish its first location in the European Union, she felt there weren’t enough modern and functional options at a price point she could afford. Dagne Dover, the accessory brand she co-founded in 2013, was born out of the desire to create performance-oriented bags at a “friendly” luxury price point.

“Functionality is not always a super-sexy word,” Mash said, “but for us, it’s really about smart organization, and we incorporate that into everything we do.”

The functionality aspect goes beyond just the bags’ design. After working in retail for years, Mash and her co-founders, Deepa Gandhi and Jessy Dover, were also interested in promoting policies and a workplace culture that they didn’t necessarily experience in previous corporate settings. For example, the company offers a generous PTO and work-from-anywhere policy and provides three months of fully paid parental leave, with an additional three months of part-time scheduling with full pay to ease the transition for new moms and dads.

As CEO, Mash oversees the brand’s retail partnerships with wholesale partners including Nordstrom, Equinox, Babylist and ShopBop. She’s also in charge of company culture and does a lot of work speaking and writing on behalf of the brand. In a decade of business, Mash said, Dagne Dover has sold over 1 million bags in different styles, sizes and materials—neoprene being the most popular. A fanny pack−type bag goes for $95, while a large tote is around $360.

The word “dagne” means “dawn” in Norwegian, a nod to the brand’s aim to bring to light a bag not yet seen in the market: one with a detachable key leash, a laptop sleeve that’s flush to one side and a beverage holder that keeps drinks upright, among other features.

“All these tiny details are the reason why customers are attracted to us and why customers come back to us,” Mash said.

—OLIVIA BENSIMON

Victor DeStefano, 38 President, Empire BlueCross BlueShield

V

ictor DeStefano started thinking about health care costs long before he became president at Empire BlueCross BlueShield.

Early in his career, DeStefano took a sales job at UnitedHealth, where he worked with employers to renew their insurance plans. Executives frequently told him that their companies couldn’t afford higher premiums year after year—pushing many to cut back on staff or other necessary expenses.

“That sparked a really thirst-­ quenching question in my head of, why are the premiums that high?”

DeStefano said. “Why is health care so expensive?”

That question has been motivating him for more than a decade. He began pursuing a master’s degree in health policy and management from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in 2013, aiming to better understand the drivers of health care costs.

He oversaw the individual exchange program in New York and New Jersey during the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in 2013. Later, he became the executive director of Medicare Advantage in the downstate region, where he worked with hospitals to implement value-based payment models centered around preventive care.

DeStefano joined Empire BlueCross BlueShield in 2019 and was selected to serve as interim president in June.

In October he became president. In the role, he oversees more than 3.5 million New Yorkers in commercial programs. He is passionate about using digital health tools to better serve New York’s diverse workforce. In 2019 Empire’s parent company launched Sydney, an app that uses artificial intelligence to connect patients to care.

Since it launched, around 700,000 New Yorkers have downloaded it, DeStefano said.

Howard Margolies, a mentor to DeStefano, said that the president is more than prepared for his role.

“He’s one of the rare people in the health insurance industry who want to make a difference,” Margolies said.

“He’s a student of health care.”

—AMANDA D’AMBROSIO

42 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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Stephanie Grayson, 33 Co-founder and co-CEO, Cambio AI

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hile completing her bachelor’s in government economics at Harvard, Stephanie Grayson became fascinated by how the public sector could leverage its influence to promote socially responsible business practices.

As a commercial real estate investor for Goldman Sachs and KKR, that ethos propelled Grayson to search for opportunities to make the large portfolios she managed more environmentally sustainable.

“Real estate drives 40% of global emissions, so driving scalable support for the world’s largest portfolios is critical to combating climate change,” said Grayson.

She quickly realized how difficult that task was, however, as she struggled to align stakeholders and grappled with the “hugely undigitized” nature of the industry.

Taking those challenges head-on, Grayson pivoted from investing into entrepreneurship, launching tech startup Cambio AI in 2021 alongside co-founder Leia de Guzman.

Using AI and input from data scientists, Cambio ingests live data to automate buildings’ carbon footprint measurements and plots a path to decarbonization compliance, looping in landlords, tenants, investors, engineers and regulatory specialists to coordinate those changes faster.

Grayson says Cambio has created action plans for thousands of buildings, targeting energy savings of 10% to 30% for large-scale organizations including the General Services Administration and Twilio.

The company has received investments from startup accelerator Y Combinator, which selected just 2% of 19,000 applicants for its cohort, and venture capital firm Fifth Wall. It has raised several million dollars so far, with plans for additional rounds, Grayson said.

Grayson, a first generation Cuban American, and her co-founder, a Filipina immigrant, advocate for diverse female leadership to be represented in the push for real estate to be a solution to climate change after decades of having been part of the problem.

“Diversity is coming to the industry, and we’re proud to be a part of that,” said Grayson. “It’s so important that future generations see people who look like us driving disruption in this space.”

—SHELBY ROSENBERG

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Grayson pivoted into entrepreneurship, co-founding tech startup Cambio AI in 2021.

Nabiha Syed, 38 CEO, The Markup

N

abiha Syed vividly remembers sitting at the family computer as a child, armed with AOL 30-day trial CDs, marveling as the online world challenged everything she knew.

Syed loved the internet so much that she became a media lawyer to defend it. For several years she advised outlets including The Guardian and BuzzFeed on whether to publish hacked and leaked materials, oversaw access litigation around police disciplinary records and privatized services, and counseled two former presidents on free speech issues.

She joined the founding team of The Markup ahead of its launch in 2020. The investigative journalism startup’s mission of exploring how powerful actors use technology to reshape society for better or for worse resonated with her.

To foster transparency and trust in an era of media skepticism, The Markup makes all of its reported data open source. It also creates free digital tools such as Blacklight, a privacy inspector that identifies data trackers on websites, to help people engage with technology more mindfully.

In her three years as CEO, Syed has challenged her reporters to consider one question.

“How do you capture people’s attention and motivate them to change the future without miring them in despair?” she asks them to consider. “In journalism, it’s easy to tell stories in a voyeuristic, agency-depleting way, but I want us to center on people’s humanity.”

Syed contributes occasional articles of her own, but her priority is giving The Markup’s reporters the resources and support to boldly speak truth to power. So far the team’s work has been cited in more than 20 congressional investigations and has inspired 35 class-action lawsuits.

“My job is to clear all blockers out of the way so [they] just fearlessly pursue the truth,” she said. “When I think of my role, it’s to say, ‘OK, that’s a beautiful spark. Let’s turn that into a flame.’”

—SHELBY ROSENBERG

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Ephraim J. Pierre, 37 Partner, Seyfarth Shaw

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hen Ephraim Pierre was a teenager, he helped his mother, an immigrant from Haiti, study for her U.S. citizenship test. Their shared study of the law lit a spark.

“While I’m sitting here taking history, she’s learning about American history. So we’re sort of teaching each other,” he said. “By virtue of that, I gained a true appreciation for this country and a lot of the processes and law behind it.”

His interest grew during college, when he read a book about the Brown v. Board of Education decision that outlawed school segregation.

“It was inspiring to me,” he said. “To dismantle that regime of segregation, it took years of work and several different cases and plaintiffs raising their hands to say, ‘This is wrong.’”

Now, Pierre is an accomplished employment lawyer. He started at his firm, Seyfarth Shaw, as a summer associate in 2011 and made partner in January 2022. Pierre represents companies dealing with everything from harassment claims to government investigations. Most end in settlements, but he is proud of the cases in which he’s managed to fully vindicate his clients before a fact-finder.

In his work, Pierre sees the need to understand both his client and the person lodging a complaint.

“Employment law really gives me that full-throated look at humanity,” he said, “in a way that you don’t get in other forms of litigation.”

Pierre also finds fulfillment as a board member for Legal Outreach, a Queens nonprofit that enrolls Black and brown students in a law-based curriculum to prepare them for higher education.

“It’s a great experience to see kids 13, 14 years old essentially get up and argue many of the cases that I do,” he said. “Even more important than that is seeing their development, how much they pour themselves into the work.”

—NICK GARBER

Pierre sees the need to understand both his client and the person lodging a complaint.

November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 43

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Melanie Dascenzo, 39 Senior director of operational finance, White Plains Hospital

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ince Melanie Dascenzo joined White Plains Hospital’s financial team, the facility has grown from bringing in $400 million in patient services revenue in 2014 to about $1.3 billion annually. Her supervisor and mentor, Mark Mercurio, partially attributes that growth to Dascenzo’s confidence, knack for financial analytics and support for leadership as they make decisions.

Dascenzo collaborates across departments and uses data to analyze how White Plains Hospital can allocate its resources, which can be challenging at a time when many institutions’ resources are scarce.

“We really utilize data to help inform decisions about how the hospital is running, help provide the senior leadership team with key information as they are making decisions,” Dascenzo said, “[and] help them decide

Laitsas points out that MMA’s 650 million fans make it the most popular sport behind soccer and basketball.

Adam Laitsas, 38

Executive vice president, Professional Fighters League

S

ports has shaped Adam Laitsas’ life from the get-go. Playing basketball at age 4 allowed a shy child to come out of his shell. And hoops helped him build confidence as a high-schooler. His team’s only loss in their 30-1 season came at the hands of budding superstar LeBron James. The game also was a reason Laitsas came to New York, to attend college at St. John’s, whose team he walked on to as a shooting guard.

Years later, after detours on Wall Street and at Adidas and Nike and a stop at Harvard for an MBA, MSG hired Laitsas to handle brand strategy for the New York Knicks.

But if his first few decades were about basketball, Laitsas is more about mixed martial arts today. Last spring the eight-year-old Professional Fighters League hired him to help expand the cage-match-hosting sport into the Middle East and Northern Africa.

“I was drawn by the chance to build something,” said Laitsas, who manages a team of 10 in New York and is currently hiring the operating staff that will be based in the region, while also overseeing the makeup of the new league’s roster. And he hopes to replicate the new league globally down the road. After all, Laitsas points out, mixed martial arts’ 650 million fans make it the most popular sport behind soccer and basketball.

And some investors have noticed. In August a fund tied to Saudi Arabia’s government became a minority partner in PFL after investing $100 million. Thirty-two fighters will start throwing punches in Saudi Arabia in April. And the new league, expecting up to 5,000 fans per event, could help push PFL’s revenue past $1 billion, Laitsas said. He’s in the process of securing $50 million to $100 million in sponsorship deals.

When not traveling, he is home in Brooklyn with his wife, who is an oncology nurse, and their puppy. But athletics never seem far off. He rises before dawn five days a week to work out. “I love being able to outline my day before the noise starts,” Laitsas said. “You can get a lot done before 9 a.m.”

—C. J. HUGHES

Dascenzo said her strategy is driven by her belief in the hospital’s mission. what the strategic direction of the hospital is going to be.”

Her strategy, Dascenzo said, is driven by her belief in the hospital’s mission. That connection pushed her to leave a media career to work in hospital administration, beginning at what was then called NYU Langone Medical Center before moving to White Plains. She said she enjoys helping frontline staff serve the community, though she is not directly involved with patient care.

Mercurio noted that Dascenzo’s strengths were on display during the pandemic, a stressful point for the hospital and its finance department.

“We didn’t know at that time where our next dollars were coming from when the government shut down all our services,” he said. “But Melanie was right there. She took things and ran with [them] and worked directly with senior leadership to provide and manage our way through that period.”

—JACQUELINE NEBER

44 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 6, 2023

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Tiana Liriano, 33

Director of real estate and property management, Greater Jamaica Development Corp.

T

iana Liriano believes leasing commercial space below market rate can go a long way toward alleviating affordability issues in the city.

In her role as the director of real estate and property management at the Greater Jamaica Development Corp., Liriano leads a team of nine and oversees a portfolio of 175,000 square feet of commercial space. Her primary objective, to provide below-market-rate sites for local firms, contributes to the creation of a more affordable environment by lowering costs for small businesses, she said.

Liriano is overseeing the redevelopment of the parking garage at 90-15 Parsons Blvd. in Jamaica into a property that will include 500 residential units and commercial space. She also oversaw the launch of a coworking location at 89-14 Parsons Blvd. known as Greater Nexus.

She studied public policy at SUNY Albany, where she says her eyes were opened to the shortfalls of state and federal housing policy. After she completed an internship in Bangalore, India, in late 2012, she returned to the city and joined real estate development nonprofit Enterprise Community Partners.

“Having safe and stable housing at an affordable price really does have an effect on your wellbeing,” she said. “They are the building blocks for a better life, so I wanted to focus on how to help.”

Liriano’s interest in development, housing and policy led her to the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, the development nonprofit the Community Builders and the MTA before she joined the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. She started at the organization as a senior project manager in November 2021 before being promoted to director of real estate and property management six months later.

“We want to help the members of the community around us grow and start their businesses,” Liriano said. “Similar to affordable housing, if you have an affordable place where you can run your business, you can put more of your money toward helping build that business.”

—MARIO MARROQUIN

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Hilary Leichter, 38 Author, “Terrace Story” and “Temporary”

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ilary Leichter’s second novel, “Terrace Story,” is about a family that lives in a cramped apartment. One night they discover a spacious terrace hidden in their closet. Eventually they figure out that the terrace appears only when their friend Stephanie is visiting.

Leichter calls it “an investigation into things that are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside, like the ways that we fail to completely see the full picture of another person sitting in front of us.”

She is on a book tour this fall after the August publication of “Terrace Story,” and she has playfully made the book itself more spacious. A short story, “Alcove,” is tucked inside the back jacket cover of 250 copies.

“It’s like my little Willy Wonka golden ticket,” she said, “except you don’t get a chocolate factory. You just get a short story.”

Fifteen thousand copies were printed for the book’s first run, and as of press time, almost half had already been sold.

Now a writing teacher and an undergraduate creative writing adviser for fiction at Columbia University, Leichter first started as a performer. Growing up in New Jersey, she spent her extracurricular time participating in the theater.

She moved to New York after college and had a one-woman cabaret show. At the same time, she became drawn toward writing. She entered Columbia’s MFA program in 2009 and published “Temporary” in March 2020. It’s a story about a young woman working temp jobs and ruminating about permanence. The novel was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Fiction Prize.

“I think her work resonates because she speaks to the social dislocation and uncertainty and surreality of this often disturbing era,” said Samuel P. Lipsyte, one of her professors.

Leichter received a $3,000 advance for “Temporary,” and her next two books were sold in a “significant deal,” in the lingo of book publishing, at auction.

A member of Leichter’s writing group, Diane Cook, said her friend is both brilliant and an everywoman.

“She turns the indignities of everyday life into fairy tales accessible to anyone,” Cook said.

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Liriano’s primary objective is to provide affordable space to run a small business.

—ANNE MICHAUD

Kevin Kelly, 36 Executive managing director, Cushman & Wakefield

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s a geography major at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Kevin Kelly studied data science and geographic information systems. An internship at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health showed him how to use both disciplines to track infectious diseases.

Now he uses his knowledge to help companies figure out the best places to put their offices.

Kelly switched coasts and started working at real estate firm KLG Advisors in New York in 2010.

In his current role as an executive director at real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, where he began working in 2022, Kelly assists businesses in making decisions related to workforce relocation and talent retention. This involves managing a team of 10 data scientists, management consultants, brokers and financial experts to analyze geographic data and provide insights to help organizations find the perfect balance between remote and in-office work amid the ongoing shift to a hybrid environment.

“The interaction and the learning that occur in the physical space are not going anywhere,” Kelly said of in-office work. So, he says, the ability to quantify and study what workers want out of the office “is really more important today than it was before.”

Kelly has helped relocate and expand a workforce comprising approximately 50,000 employees across the country. His data-driven approach, he says, provides more objectivity and ultimately translates into enhanced productivity and employee satisfaction.

As companies continue to adapt to the new normal, Kelly envisions a future where employees feel more motivated and excited about their organization’s direction.

“Office space can help [employee culture] flourish,” he said. “It can facilitate interaction and innovation. And from a location perspective, it can encourage after-work activities and collaboration between employees even outside the confines of a traditional office.”

—MARIO MARROQUIN

Kelly assists businesses in making decisions related to workforce relocation and talent retention.

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Khalia Campbell, 30 Company member, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

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eople search for inspiration in all sorts of places.

Khalia Campbell found it on a city bus.

The South Bronx native remembers seeing members of the renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ride to work and vowed one day she’d travel with them. She joined the company in 2018.

“It felt familiar,” she said.

Dance has been a part of her since before she was born. She started kicking whenever her father, a Prince fan and DJ, played music next to her pregnant mother.

He died in an accident when she was 1. Her mother, a Fairway supermarket manager, cultivated her daughter’s talent, and by age 3, Campbell was on the church dance team. At 4, she led classes when the teacher didn’t show up on time.

Doors started opening when she landed at LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts.

There was Dance Theatre of Harlem, a tour of Taiwan with the musical version of Aida, The Wiz at Central Park SummerStage and a stint with Ailey’s junior company, among other roles. She just completed a European tour with Ailey, and a monthlong run at City Center is next. The Washington Post called her work “statuesque and lyrical.”

About the only thing she regrets is bypassing college at age 18 to dance professionally. She got wait-listed and didn’t want to wait. But now she’s only one semester short of her degree and keen to learn the business side of the performing arts so she can bring the stories in her mind to the stage and provide opportunities for newcomers.

In her spare time, her workout music is gospel, and she volunteers at her Midtown church to help others learn how dance can get them in touch with God. “My purpose in life is to uplift people,” she said.

—AARON ELSTEIN

“

My purpose in life is to uplift people.”

Brian Harwitt, 30 Partner, CoVenture

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n many ways, Brian Harwitt began his journey into the world of credit financing when he sought his bachelor’s degree in applied economics and management at Cornell University.

That’s where the Los Angeles native met Ali Hamed, and the two bonded over entrepreneurship and venture investing.

“He was getting CoVenture started while we were in college,” Harwitt said. “I would help him put together presentations on very interesting industries that were potential investment areas.”

In 2014 Hamed launched CoVenture, which specializes in providing credit and credit-oriented investments for early and late-stage companies in mainly the consumer fintech sector and the creator economy. Harwitt joined the company as a senior associate in 2016, after he worked as an analyst at Guggenheim Securities. He became a partner in 2021. He oversees a team of 12 and has sourced or structured over 20 trans-

“

Harwitt is a board game enthusiast who won New York’s Settlers of Catan title last year. actions since he joined the company.

CoVenture has deployed approximately $1.7 billion since its inception and is looking to raise its profile in the market despite the state of the tech sector, Harwitt said. Since 2022 tech companies have found fewer funding sources, and at the same time, firms have sought financing that allows them to preserve their equity. Harwitt says this provides his team with opportunities to creatively structure deals.

“In a zero-interest-rate environment, you had a lot of larger asset management coming into our space because they saw that there was an opportunity to earn reasonable yields,” Harwitt said.

“Now that there are larger deals and higher interest rates, we’ve seen a lot of those larger asset managers go back to the deals they usually do. And that creates a little bit more space for us.”

Outside of leading CoVenture’s credit business, Harwitt is also a board game enthusiast. Last year he won New York’s Settlers of Catan championship and competed in the Settlers of Catan national championship.

—MARIO MARROQUIN

46 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 6, 2023

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Eli Dvorkin, 37 Editorial and policy director, Center for an Urban Future

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li Dvorkin found out about the Center for an Urban Future while working as co-director of Bushwick’s Silent Barn, an arts organization that helped put together thousands of concerts for young musicians in the city. A researcher from the center was compiling a report on New York’s creative economy and found the work Silent Barn was doing interesting.

“I thought, How fascinating that there’s a think tank here in New York City that’s ever heard of Silent Barn, a DIY venue in Bushwick,” Dvorkin said.

That researcher later followed up with Dvorkin to let him know the center was hiring. He jumped at the opportunity to join the organization, where he now works as the editorial and policy director, overseeing work on the center’s publications.

Dvorkin wanted to work there because of its impact on the city. One report he cited focused on expanding entrepreneurship opportunities for public housing residents, which sparked policy proposals at the City Council and a $1 million donation from a private foundation to launch a startup competition within months, he said.

“It’s not always such a quick turnaround from report to recommendation to reality,” he said, “but that was one example I was really thrilled about.”

The center also recommended launching a program that would help New Yorkers with some college credits return to the City University of New York and finish their degree. The city funded this idea, and more than 17,000 New Yorkers have been able to re-enroll in CUNY because of it, according to Dvorkin, who has worked at the center since 2016.

“The thing that you spend all this time and energy crafting, interviewing, researching, analyzing data and crafting the language for isn’t just going to sit on some shelf somewhere, unread in somebody’s inbox,” he said. “If you do it right, it can actually change people’s lives.”

—EDDIE SMALL

“

the ator y he m

Sabrina Lippman, 38

We seek to be a role model for other developers in the greening of our assets.”

Senior vice president, New York City Economic Development Corp.

R

oses first drew Sabrina Lippman to Hunts Point in the Bronx. As a child, she and her father would trek at dawn from their Queens home to the city’s produce market there to buy bunches of the flowers to sell at the family’s gas stations in Jackson Heights and Maspeth.

“He made a killing on the roses,” said Lippman, who also enjoyed a side hustle near the pumps washing windows.

Today, as an executive helping manage the vast 64 million-square-foot portfolio of city-owned real estate, Lippman is back in the Bronx but with more than just blossoms on her mind.

She’s a key player in the $650 million redevelopment of that same fruit and vegetable market, a 1 millionsquare-foot facility supplying a quarter of New York’s produce that’s showing its age after 56 years. To modernize the facility and make it more eco-friendly, the market will add charging stations so the diesel trucks blamed for polluting the surrounding low-income area can give way to cleaner electric vehicles.

To support the project, Lippman, who manages 40 of the EDC’s 550 workers, secured a hefty $395 million in public subsidies from city, state and federal sources. An as-yet-unnamed developer will kick in $255 million.

“We seek to be a role model for other developers in the greening of our assets,” she said. “We need to walk the walk and talk the talk.”

The project won’t break ground until at least 2025. It’s true, development moved more quickly at previous jobs Lippman held in the private sector, such as with mall landlord Simon Property Group. But instead of shareholders, Lippman now answers to friends and family, including those who regularly gather around her table for homemade Latino dishes. (A specialty is the soupy, plantain-based mofongo.)

“We really see ourselves as representing all New Yorkers,” she said, “and not just a subset.” —C. J. HUGHES

ans-

.

Ahmed Tigani, 39

n he

First deputy commissioner and chief diversity officer, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development

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ent, ee nity aid. d ot ack t .” edit me

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QUIN

Dvorkin wanted to work at the Center for an Urban Future because of its impact on the city.

A

hmed Tigani became interested in government because he was helped by the government. He was raised in a single-parent household and credits the social safety net with letting him focus on school and contribute to his community.

“My mom raised my sister and me,” he said. “Government connected and touched our family in a very real way at a very early part of our lives.”

Tigani now works as first deputy commissioner and chief diversity officer at the city’s ­Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where he aims to make sure the government continues to help families as much as it helped his. He has focused on projects including reversing attrition at the agency and establishing the city’s emergency housing voucher program, which aims to help people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The city has distributed 7,788 of these vouchers since 2021—2,050 through HPD—and 91.3% have been used to find permanent housing.

Tigani came to HPD after working at the Department of Buildings and holding positions in the mayor’s office and the Manhattan borough president’s office. While at City Hall, he helped spearhead multiple neighborhood rezonings meant to increase housing in areas such as Inwood and East Harlem, but he acknowledged that a lack of supply remains a major housing issue, one that all New Yorkers should care about.

“We’re not yet at the level of community dialogue where the consensus sees all of this as our shared responsibility,” he said. “We still need to do more to get the word out that every neighborhood needs to be part of the housing solution.”

Tigani himself already feels plenty of ownership around this issue.

“I honestly feel like I have an obligation to give back to the city,” he said. “This community has given my family and me so much that I have an obligation to pay that forward.”

—EDDIE SMALL

November 6, 2023 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 47

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11/2/23 7:58 PM

95-year-old landlord ups the ante in fight with Hochul over Penn Station project, which would raze two of his buildings

By Aaron Elstein

Before Vornado Realty Trust can build 10 supertall towers around Penn Station and Gov. Kathy Hochul can use some of the proceeds to rebuild the dismal rail hub, they’ll need to reckon with a combative Midtown landlord old enough to remember the original, beautiful station.

Arnold Gumowitz, 95, filed suit last year to block the neighborhood redevelopment plan that would demolish two buildings he owns near Penn Station. He al-

Notice to appeal dismissal Now Gumowitz’s firm, AAG Management, has filed a notice to appeal a September state court decision dismissing his suit. The judge who heard the case ruled she was in no position to second-guess the state and allowed the Penn redevelopment plan to proceed.

Gumowitz’s attorney, Richard Emery, said an appeal is necessary because the lower court ruling effectively gives state authorities “carte blanche.”

“The judge’s ruling opens the door to any state agency doing whatever it wants without review. The state doesn’t need to show anything beyond some vague plan. No financial underpinnings are necessary, no explanation of the plan’s ability to serve the public interest,” Emery said. “That can’t be the law.”

Redevelopment of his site “would require a negotiated, mutual agreement on a transfer of property rights.”

— Matthew Gorton, spokesman for Hochul administration’s economic development arm leged that the Hochul administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously by failing to show how much money Vornado was estimated to make from developing 18 million square feet of mostly commercial space, essentially creating

versary in Gumowitz, who is continuing the court fight after community nonprofits that had filed a parallel action dropped out after the ruling. He did not return multiple calls.

another Hudson Yards. Nor did the state disclose what sort of tax incentives were offered or how much money would go to rebuilding the nation’s largest commuter hub.

‘I just want to be left alone’

Arnold Gumowitz | BFA

Matthew Gorton, a spokesperson for the Hochul administration’s economic development arm, Empire State Development, said redevelopment of Gumowitz’s site “would require a negotiated, mutual agreement on a transfer of property rights. Any contrary assertion exists only on the pages of his attorney’s ill-informed appeal.”

He added: “For too long New Yorkers have endured the horror movie that is present-day Penn Station. Under Governor Hochul, the state is finally prioritizing the public interest and putting the needs of commuters first by accelerating its long-overdue reconstruction.”

The state faces a determined ad-

His holdings include a 19-story building at 421 Seventh Ave., near Penn Station, where Gumowitz keeps an office on the top two floors. The space includes a dance floor where he used to tango with his wife, Anne, who passed away in 2017. City records show they co-signed documents to acquire the building for $800,000 in 1979, 16 years after the original Penn Station was torn down and Madison Square Garden built on top.

Gumowitz’s firm owns or manages 600 apartments, according to its website, mainly in the East Village, Hell’s Kitchen, and Upper West Side.

“I am not looking to get something,” Gumowitz told NY1 last year. “All I want is to be left alone and stay with my property. Others have some agenda. I don’t. I just want to be left alone.”

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THE CONVERSATION

SOMOS Community Care doctor on chain pharmacy closings and underserved areas

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ew York’s local pharmacy landscape has shifted as the state moves forward with its Medicaid pharmacy benefit transition and reviews potential pharmacy benefit manager regulations. Things are also changing for national chain pharmacies with stores in the city: Large chains such as Rite Aid and Walgreens have announced future closure plans that could impact New York, and local health care experts have seen some stores shutter.

For Dr. Juan Tapia Mendoza, a pediatrician at SOMOS Community Care, these chain closure trends represent another complication for the patients he cares for who come from underserved communities. Tapia Mendoza, who has been a community pediatrician for about 30 years in West Harlem, spoke with Crain’s about how national location closures impact neighborhoods, the benefits of patients using local pharmacies and potential solutions for moving forward. | Interview by Jacqueline Neber

Dr. Juan Tapia Mendoza | REDUX/NEW YORK TIMES

Right now we have a big shortage of even basic antibiotics like amoxicillin, which is like our daily bread and butter as pediatricians.

I prescribed amoxicillin last [month] and the patient went to a chain pharmacy. She lived in Brooklyn, and she called me from 145th [Street saying] “Dr. Tapia, the pharmacy’s closed, what do I do now?”

She went to another pharmacy associated with the chain and they did not have her records. Even though they’re a chain, one record is not transferred to the other. So I had to call a pharmacy in Brooklyn that knew her, a local pharmacist, and she went out one day without treatment because of this.

[Patients] are not notified that

“Moving forward I think that we should not forget the role that local pharmacies play in our communities.”

— Dr. Juan Tapia Mendoza do not get the personal attention that they receive from the local pharmacies. Sometimes it’s very difficult to communicate [to get] advice and treatment options.

What can happen when the national pharmacy stores close?

Casino landlord buys 38 bowling alleys

By Aaron Elstein

Have you seen an uptick in big national retail pharmacies closing in the areas that you serve?

In the past year two, three of the big pharmaceutical chains have closed in my area. I have sites at 135th and 207th Streets in Upper Manhattan and 10 blocks away, one of the biggest pharmacies closed. [On Dyckman Street] another big chain closed, and also on 178th Street and Broadway.

These three chains came into our neighborhood perhaps 10 years ago.

How did national chains moving in impact local pharmacies?

This affected the local pharmacies, which have been our partners for years, because [they] are part of the medical home network. [They are] where the patients go to get their medicines, the supplies that are not covered by insurance companies, because they’re given vouchers to get wellness supplies. The local pharmacists employ people from the neighborhood that know the community, they know their language, they know their culture.

These are small businesses that keep our people working.

Many times though, insurance companies are partnered with the big drugstores and they tell the patients, “You can only get your medicine from so-and-so,” and this is particularly harmful to our communities because we have a lot of immigrants, a lot of Blacks and Latinos that don’t trust the system to begin with.

And many times when they go [to big pharmacy chains] they

A Manhattan bowling alley | BLOOMBERG

the pharmacy is going to close down. A lot of our patients change their phone number every month.

So sometimes it’s even difficult for the pharmacy to contact them.

What can be done moving forward if more national chain locations close?

Moving forward I think that we should not forget the role that local pharmacies play in our communities. [Additionally] I think what can be done is what SOMOS has been doing since its inception. Primary care physicians provide 80% of the health care with 20% of the budget and [are] the reason why hospitalization rates have gone down. Complications from diabetes, strokes, heart attacks [decrease when] patients have access to a primary care physician.

If you call our answering service,

I will personally reply, or one of our doctors, and he can look at your medical history and he can avoid you going to the emergency room just because your child has a 104-degree fever. Nine out of 10 times we can keep that patient at home during the weekend and save thousands of dollars to the health care system.

Large pharmacy chains should know that when they’re serving a community that has a lack of health literacy and has immigrants, undocumented people, people that have a lowcost health insurance that does not cover a lot of the expensive medicines. . . .If you’re going to stay here, partner with the local primary care physicians.

Because we’re the ones that keep the people out of the hospital.

Hospitals are for people with acute, life-threatening illnesses.

Midtown-based Vici Properties, which owns the real estate occupied by 10 major Las Vegas casinos, is lacing up some rented shoes and branching into bowling.

The real estate investment trust last month acquired 38 bowling alleys from Bowlero Corp. for $433 million, which it will lease back at an initial rent of $31.6 million a year. Bowlero owns more than 300 bowling alleys nationwide, including one in the former New York Times newsroom near Times Square, although an investor presentation showed that’s not part of the 1.6 million-square-foot portfolio acquired by Vici.

“We played offense selectively,” CEO Ed Pitoniak said on a conference call Oct. 26 to discuss the firm’s third-quarter results.

In addition to bulking up its 125 million-square-foot portfolio, Vici raised its dividend by 8% last quarter, a stark contrast to most REITs that are conserving capital, and remains on the hunt for additional acquisitions in sectors including family entertainment, sports and wellness. Thanks to a 64% jump in visitors to Las Vegas through August, adjusted funds from operations at Vici properties rose by 11% last quarter, and the firm raised its forecast for the rest of the year.

Vici has a low public profile, but the S&P 500 company owns some of the most famous real estate anywhere. Its crown jewel is the land underneath Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, the Venetian and seven other Las Vegas casinos. Other tenants include the MGM-owned Empire City racino in Yonkers, and the firm is a lender to the Chelsea Piers recreation complex. One hundred percent of its owned space is occupied.

Pitoniak said he was attracted to bowling because the sector is “remarkably unconsolidated,” and additional acquisitions are possible.

Bowlero has introduced better food, beverage and amusement offerings in bowling alleys so customers spend more money.

The sport has been popular long before Bowling Green was laid out in Lower Manhattan in 1733. Pitoniak said bowling speaks to something deep in “ancient human urges” to knock down pins and avoid falling into the gutter.

“People tend to get pretty excited when they strike targets,’ he said.

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11/3/23 1:40 PM

State lawmakers publicly urge Hochul to stop support of Adams’ right-to-shelter mandate rollback effort

By Nick Garber

Dozens of state lawmakers are publicly urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to stop supporting Mayor Eric Adams’ push to roll back the city’s right-to-shelter mandate, saying the legal effort could result in thousands more people sleeping on the streets.

The letter, released Oct. 26, was co-signed by 47 Democratic state senators and Assembly members, ranging from left-wing critics of the mayor and the governor to influential committee chairs such as state Sens. Liz Krueger and Brian

mally endorsed the city’s efforts in court papers last month, urging a Manhattan judge to allow Adams’ proposal to let the mandate be suspended in emergencies when it lacks the resources to provide a bed for every single adult who needs one. The city is relitigating the mandate as the ongoing migrant crisis has strained its ability to provide shelter and forced it to spend billions of dollars in an effort to meet the surge and comply with the rule.

But state lawmakers say that move, if successful, would “put countless vulnerable people at risk of grave harm” and permanently change the city.

“We’ll see more homelessness,” said state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal of Manhattan, one of the signatories. “The doom spiral that has enveloped some metropolitan areas like San Francisco could be on our doorstep if we don’t provide those who need assistance with shelter.”

The governor’s position on right-to-shelter is important, because the mandate flows from the state constitution. The 1980s court

The letter, released Oct. 26, was co-signed by 47 Democratic state senators and Assembly members.

Kavanagh. It was organized by the Coalition for the Homeless, one of the organizations opposing the Adams administration as it seeks to persuade a judge to limit aspects of the decades-old court order.

Hochul’s administration for-

case that gave rise to the rule has been interpreted to apply only to the city, although the present debate has prompted some advocates to call for expanding the mandate across New York state.

Widening the mandate Krueger, who represents Manhattan’s East Side, said in an interview that she supports the idea of widening the mandate. She also called on Hochul to take other steps not mentioned in the Oct. 26 letter, such as requiring upstate towns to accept migrants in need of shelter—something that Adams has demanded frequently.

The city and the Legal Aid Society, which is seeking to uphold right-to-shelter, have now entered mediation in an effort to resolve the case. Krueger noted that the city’s desired rollback would not be limited to the migrant crisis and does not distinguish between new arrivals and longtime New York City residents who are seeking shelter.

“I believe his policy analysis on this is very wrong,” she said.

Beyond its court requests, Adams’ administration has already

State lawmakers want Gov. Kathy Hochul to stop supporting Mayor Eric Adams’ push to persuade a judge to limit the decades-old right-to-shelter mandate.

GOVERNORKATHYHOCHUL/FLICKR

narrowed the mandate in other respects, such as by placing limits on how long migrants can stay in a shelter before being forced to reapply.

In their letter, the state lawmakers alluded to their own role in alleviating the crisis, saying they would push for housing policies in next year’s legislative session that

would increase affordable housing construction, add tenant protections and fund rental assistance. Efforts at large-scale housing reform collapsed completely in Albany last year, after lawmakers balked at the mandates in Hochul’s ambitious agenda and a last-minute compromise effort came up short.

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HOUSING From Page 1

Adams’ latest effort to boost housing production in the city, known formally as the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. Many of the constraints Adams is trying to undo date back to the city’s 1961 zoning code, which was produced in an era of urban decline and car-centric planning and is now criticized by experts for largely closing the door on future growth.

Prior mayors’ attempts to enact

any areas off the hook,” he said.

“We don’t have to build a 40-unit tower in a low-density district, but we should have policies that work to make sure somebody can build a four-unit building. All of these marginal additions to supply are going to help.”

In low-density areas

In general, the City of Yes plan would encourage less-dense parts of the city to contribute more housing. The commercial strip proposal should allow for additional 2- to 4-story apartment buildings along outer-borough thoroughfares such as Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Church Avenue in Kensington and Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, while a provision focused on building more housing near large-scale zoning changes have transit would allow 3- to 5-story often faltered, in part due to oppo- apartment buildings to be con- Targeting the whole city for housing growth is not only a tactic to avoid NIMBY backlash, said Howard Slatkin, executive director at the sition from low-rise and low-in- structed in neighborhoods like Citizens Housing and Planning Council. “It’s also a substantive housing strategy.” | BUCK ENNIS come communities afraid of ma- Bensonhurst, Kew Gardens and jor development. Anticipating that parts of the eastern Bronx. A pro- showing an unmitigated appetite want to relinquish your ability to estate attorney at Kramer Levin.

“In the lower-density districts, if pushback, the Adams administra- posal to allow accessory dwelling for more housing construction. An shape how something will shape everything they want to do haption is selling its plan with an em- units—small apartments built in affordable project proposed for your district?”

Adams all but dared council pens, I think there’s significant pophasis on sharing the workload to backyards or converted garages— Far Rockaway earlier this year was build “a little more housing in ev- of up to 800 square feet is also like- nearly scrapped amid opposition members to oppose his proposals tential,” he said. “Maybe not in ery neighborhood” rather than ly to have its most visible impact in from the local councilwoman until at a September press conference terms of the number of units, but in terms of changes to the way pour thousands of new units into the more suburpeople look at these districts, how one. The planned changes are thus ban parts of the they operate.” spread across almost every area city.

Although such and zoning designation the city neighborhoods has to offer.

In high-density areas Still, the less dense parts of New cover 44.7% of York may notice more of an influx land across the New York’s high-density neighthan high-density areas, accord- five boroughs, borhoods, already heavily built up, ing to multiple housing policy ex- they are home to would hardly be reshaped by Adperts. Even if they do not add a ton just 28.4% of the ams’ proposals. But some streetsof housing in terms of raw num- population, and capes could eventually look differbers, the plan could feel more im- their rate of perent. new pactful there given that they have mitting One notable reform would let from historically built less. Lawmakers housing developers construct buildings from these low-rise areas could in 2010 to 2020 was that are 20% bigger than would turn become the biggest political much lower than Under the mayor’s proposals, an apartment building in a high-density area could be built bigger if it includes otherwise be allowed by zoning, obstacle when Adams tries to push the rate for the affordable housing. | DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING so long as they include some afthe package through the City city overall, acfordable housing. The administraCouncil next year, as adding more cording to a 2022 Furman Center a last-minute deal emerged to add announcing the changes, pointing tion has not yet settled on its defor affordable to the city’s severe housing short- sired affordability levels for that housing to such neighborhoods report. The only low-density areas opportunities age. “If there are those who say bonus, which would apply across that would have met the 3% growth homeownership to the project. has generally been a tough sell.

“Even if you’re a council mem- they would rather have a place to all of Manhattan and much of But if the city really wants to target proposed by Gov. Kathy Hoconfront its housing shortage, all chul earlier this year in her scuttled ber who might be inclined to sup- park a car and not park a family in northern and central Brooklyn. of its neighborhoods will need to housing package were Jamaica/ port this,” said Corey Bearak, a an apartment,” he said, “then they Another proposal would replay a role, said Matthew Murphy, Hollis and Rockaway/Broad Chan- member of a Queens community need to explain that to their con- move longstanding height caps executive director of the NYU Fur- nel, all in southeast Queens, the board encompassing low-density stituencies.” that apply only to a handful of Some neighborhoods already wealthy neighborhoods in Manneighborhoods including Belleroreport says. man Center.

And even those areas are not se and Rosedale, “do you really embody the kind of mixed uses hattan and Brooklyn. Four blocks “The city’s proposal is to not let and medium densities the city near Gramercy Park, for example, wants to see more of. Casey Berko- would lose their limited height vitz, a spokesman for the Depart- district designation that caps ment of City Planning, pointed to buildings at 50 feet tall, although thriving commercial streets in the area would still be governed by Jackson Heights or the apartment underlying zoning that limits buildings nestled beside homes in height to around 65 feet. Similar Bay Ridge. specific limits would be scrapped But it has been a long time in Cobble Hill and on the Upper since there was a serious and suc- East Side. cessful effort to change zoning Although low-density neighborrules in low-density neighbor- hoods might ultimately look the hoods, Slatkin noted. The de Bla- most different, in other words, sio administration had pushed to high-density neighborhoods are allow affordable housing projects part of the plan as well. And tarfor seniors to stand up to 65 feet geting the whole city for more tall in such neighborhoods as housing should not just be viewed part of its major zoning reform as a political strategy to limit the push, but even this seemingly backlash from NIMBY forces, Slatmodest change was watered kin pointed out. down after going through the City “It’s also a substantive housing Council. strategy,” he said. “When everyone And though the changes under is producing some housing, you Adams’ proposal can seem simi- don’t get the kind of overheated larly arcane, their impact will still market conditions and distortions be felt even if they aren’t meant to or disruptive effects on individual result in skyscrapers popping up neighborhoods the same way. It citywide, said Paul Selver, a real has a stabilizing effect.”

Accessory dwelling units could be built in detached garages like this one under Adams’ proposals. | BUCK ENNIS

The planned changes are spread across almost every area and zoning designation the city has to offer.

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Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 930 High St., Fairfield, CT 06824. 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.

Notice of Formation of 204 FORSYTH HOLDINGS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/16/23.

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 Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207, regd. agent upon whom and at which process may be served.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of KIERAN ANDREW BOTH, ATTORNEY AT LAW PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/06/23.

Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 225 BROADWAY, SUITE 2018, NEW YORK, NY 10007-3739. 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.

Notice of formation of Limited Liability Company. Name: DD ECF West 48 JV LLC (“LLC”). Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on July 24, 2023. NY office location: New York County. The SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to The Limited Liability Company, 7 Penn Plaza, Suite 600, New York, NY 10001.

Purpose/character of LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of MHR CONSULTING SERVICES LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/28/23.

Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 39 Fifth Ave., Apt. 4C, NY, NY 10003. 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: Any lawful activity

POSITION AVAILABLE Notice of Qualification of ZENDABLE CARDS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/29/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/26/23.

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, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Banana Bean Productions LLC filed Arts. of Org. with the Sect'y of State of NY (SSNY) on 9/14/2023.

Office: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: The LLC, 10 Liberty St, Apt 27G, NY, NY 10005.

Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of RGNMCA PORT JERVIS I, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/26/23.

Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/25/23. 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. 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.

I THINK IN SPACES LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 1/6/23. Office: BRONX County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 4440 Baychester Ave., 1st Floor, Bronx, NY 10466 Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of SOUTH STREET 68J, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/22/23.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 33 W. Main St., Holmdel, NJ 07733.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of SUTTON GROWTH ADVISORS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/12/23.

Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 20 Sutton Pl S, Apt. 20C, NY, NY 10022. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Andrew J. Byrne at the princ. office of the LLC. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Formation of WISNIEWSKI PSYCHOLOGY SERVICES, PLLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/26/23.

Office location: NY County. Princ. office of PLLC: 2900 E. Overlook Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118.

SSNY designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o C T Corporation System, 28 Liberty St., NY, NY 10005. Purpose: Psychology

Notice of Formation of KINDERBROOK HOME LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/11/23.

Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of TRESS XPRESS LLC Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/30/2023. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against to 2266 Fifth Avenue, Unit #584, NY, NY 10037.

Purpose: any lawful act.

SHE SHED PRODUCTIONS, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 06/05/23. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Chapman Consulting, 770 Lexington Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10065.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Associate (The Carlyle Group Employee Co., LLC – New York, NY); Mult. pos. avail. Responsible for using proprietary tools and custom software, prep and analyze a variety of reports showing thorough understanding of purpose of the report, depicting performance, risk, build-up, investmt pace, and exposure of priv equity portfolio.

Prepare customized, client-specific reports on portfolio movements, commitments, transactions, and expenses that utilize separate modelling procedures. Salary range $120,000 to $170,000/yr. F/T. Apply w/ resume to HR3@carlyle.com.

Ref. Job ID: 6682379

PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES Notice of Qualification of EGMF GP LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/16/23.

Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/11/14. Princ. office of LP: 230 Park Ave., 8th Fl., NY, NY 10169.

NYS fictitious name: EGMF GP L.P. Duration of LP is Perpetual.

SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State, State of DE, Dept. of State, Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of formation of Limited Liability Company. Name: West 48 Owner LLC (“LLC”). Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on July 24, 2023. NY office location: New York County. The SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

The SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to The Limited Liability Company, 7 Penn Plaza, Suite 600, New York, NY 10001.

Purpose/character of LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of MUZINICH DIRECT LENDING ADVISER, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 09/28/23.

Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/06/23. Princ. office of LLC: 450 Park Ave., NY, NY 10022. 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 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity

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11/3/23 7:34 AM

Second Ave. subway extension gets $3.4B in federal funds

By Caroline Spivack

The Biden administration has agreed to fund roughly half of the projected $6.6 billion price tag to expand the Second Avenue Subway into Harlem, according to elected officials.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Adriano Espaillat announced last month that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is poised to receive $3.4 billion in anticipated federal dollars to extend the Q line a mile and a half with three new stations: 106th Street and 116th Street each along Second Avenue and at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue.

“It’s historic, not only for the amount of money but for the fact

way access 71% of the neighborhood’s residents commute to work on mass transit — greater than the citywide average of 56%, U.S. Census data show. The MTA estimates the extension will allow the line to serve 100,000 additional riders each day.

‘Done deal’ The forthcoming grant agreement from the Federal Transit Administration is among the largest awarded in the history of its Capital Investment Grant program.

Schumer, a relentless booster of federal dollars for the region’s transit infrastructure, has served as a critical partner to the authority on Capitol Hill in securing billions toward major projects.

“I pushed very hard for mass transit,” said Schumer. “There wasn’t enough funding to do these major projects, but now there’s ample funding and it’s not only for the Second Avenue Subway, it’s also for Penn Station, it’s also for Gateway, [it was] also for East Side Access.”

Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief executive Janno Lieber said Oct. 25 that the authority has “not received formal notification” that the funding agreement has

The forthcoming FTA grant agreement is among the largest awarded in the history of the agency’s Capital Investment Grant Program. that it’s going towards a public transit project serving neighborhoods that have been neglected for years,” Schumer said during a press briefing on the project funds.

In spite of Harlem’s limited sub-

Passengers at a station on the Second Avenue subway line | BUCK ENNIS

been awarded and that he’s “not prepared to engage in welcoming and celebrating.”

The funding agreement is expected to be formally signed by an FTA regional director on Nov. 22, said Schumer.

“They already told us it is happening. They are signing it as a formality. It is a done deal,” Schumer added.

Transit officials say construction of the long-anticipated project

could begin as soon as this year. The MTA has already moved to seize east side properties needed for construction.

Timeline Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA this summer called for bids for the first of the project’s contracts, worth up to $100 million to relocate underground utilities.

Once shovels hit the ground,

transit officials expect construction to wrap in seven to eight years.

Straphangers, of course, may be justifiably skeptical of that timeline given the decades-long drag of the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway.

The Upper East Side line was originally envisioned in 1929 and became a political football before construction at last began in 2007 and was completed in 2017 at a cost of more than $4.6 billion.

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HALL OF FAME EVENT

Business leaders gather to honor inductees The new inductees to the Crain’s Hall of Fame were honored at a luncheon on Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Midtown Loft & Terrace. The event, sponsored by Empire BlueCross BlueShield, was attended by business leaders such as former deputy mayor and Crain’s publisher Alair Townsend, restaurateur Melba Wilson, political consultant George Arzt, CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City Vijay Dandapani and former Lincoln Center chair Katherine Farley. This year marked the 10th Photography by Buck Ennis anniversary of the Crain’s Hall of Fame.

Past Hall of Fame honorees Alair Townsend, left, former deputy mayor, and Katherine Farley, member of the board, Lincoln Center.

With them is George Arzt, president of George Arzt Communications Inc.

CrainsNewYork.com President and CEO KC Crain Group publisher Jim Kirk (312) 397-5503 or jkirk@crain.com Publisher/executive editor Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. Editor-in-chief Cory Schouten, cory.schouten@crainsnewyork.com Managing editor Telisha Bryan Assistant managing editors Anne Michaud, Amanda Glodowski Director of audience and engagement Elizabeth Couch Audience engagement editor Jennifer Samuels Digital editor Taylor Nakagawa Opinion editor Jan Parr opinion@crainsnewyork.com Creative director Thomas J. Linden Associate creative director Karen Freese Zane Digital design editor Jason McGregor Art directors Kayla Byler, Carolyn McClain, Joanna Metzger Senior digital news designer Stephanie Swearngin Photographer Buck Ennis Notables coordinator Ashley Maahs SENIOR REPORTERS Aaron Elstein, C.J. Hughes, Eddie Small REPORTERS Amanda D’Ambrosio, Nick Garber, Mario Marroquin, Jacqueline Neber, Caroline Spivack CONTACT THE NEWSROOM editors@crainsnewyork.com www.crainsnewyork.com/staff

Honorees Ken Raske, Jonelle Procope, Michael Pugh and Quenia Abreu attend the 10th annual Hall of Fame event.

Past Hall of Fame honoree Vijay Dandapani, left, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, with Crain’s Fred P. Gabriel and Susan Jacobs.

ADVERTISING www.crainsnewyork.com/advertise Senior vice president of sales Susan Jacobs (312) 649-5492 or susan.jacobs@crain.com Sales director Laura Lubrano laura.lubrano@crainsnewyork.com Account executives Miriam Dreese, Paul Mauriello, Philip Redgate People on the move manager Debora Stein Classified sales Suzanne Janik, (313) 446-0455 or sjanik@crain.com Sales assistant Ryan Call Inside sales Isabel Foster CRAIN’S CONTENT STUDIO www.crainsnewyork.com/custom Senior director of Crain’s Content Studio Kristin Bull, (313) 446-1608 or kbull@crain.com Crain’s Content Studio manager Sophia Juarez EVENTS www.crainsnewyork.com/events Senior manager of events Michelle Cast Manager of conferences & events Ana Jimenez PRODUCTION Vice president, product Kevin Skaggs Product manager Tim Simpson Production and pre-press director Simone Pryce Media services managers Chris Bard, Nicole Spell CUSTOMER SERVICE customerservice@crainsnewyork.com or (877) 824-9379 Director, reprints & licensing Lauren Melesio, (212) 210-0707 or lmelesio@crain.com

Crain’s New York Business is published by Crain Communications Inc.

Michael Pugh receiving his Hall of Fame award from Crain’s New York Business senior reporter Aaron Elstein.

Ken Raske receives his award from Crain’s New York Business assistant managing editor Amanda Glodowski.

Victor DeStefano, president of Empire BlueCross BlueShield, presenting Quenia Abreu with her award.

Chairman Keith E. Crain Vice chairman Mary Kay Crain President and CEO KC Crain Senior executive VP Chris Crain Chief Financial Officer Robert Recchia G.D. Crain Jr. Founder (1885-1973) Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. Chairman (1911-1996) Editorial & Business Offices 685 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017 (212) 210-0100 Vol. 39, No. 39 Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for no issue on 1/2/23, 7/3/23, 7/17/23, 7/31/23, 8/14/23, 8/28/23 and the last issue in December by Crain Communications Inc. at 685 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017-4024. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. © Entire contents copyright 2023 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial content in any manner without permission is prohibited. ©CityBusiness is a registered trademark of MCP Inc., used under license agreement.

Subscriptions: Print+Digital $140/yr. For subscriber service call 877-824-9379. (GST No. 13676-0444-RT)

Crain’s New York Business Editor-in-Chief Cory Schouten presenting Jonelle Procope with her award.

Karen Phillips (left, guest of honoree Jonelle Procope), past Hall of Fame honoree Melba Wilson, Jonelle Procope, Judith Byrd (guest of Procope), Yolanda Ferrell-Brown of Ferrell Brown Design and Daisey Holmes, member of the Board of Directors, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Postmaster: Send address changes to: Crain’s New York Business, Circulation Department, 1155 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, MI 48207-2732.

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