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11/4/22 5:39 PM

REAL ESTATE

BY CAROLINE SPIVACK

M

ore than half of the City Council is pressuring the Adams administration to strictly enforce an ambitious law that targets polluting buildings—the city’s largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions.

In a letter last Wednesday, 26 council members called on Mayor Eric Adams to develop rigid regulations to implement Local Law 97.

Most building owners must comply with emission caps set by the law starting in 2024, with limits tighten-

law will be imposed, including how the DOB plans to dole out penalties and which properties could have their fines reduced upon demonstrating “good-faith efforts” to comply.

Renewable energy credits City lawmakers appear to be most worried about the lack of specific regulation around how property owners can utilize renewable energy credits, which the draft rules say may be purchased from solar and wind projects to offset a building’s carbon emissions for utility-supplied electricity.

“The proposed rule for the use of renewable energy credits as a compliance mechanism would severely undercut the law’s goals by creating a buyout provision many buildings owners would use to avoid cutting pollution from their properties,” states the letter, which was spearhead by council members Carmen De La Rosa, Lincoln Restler and Pierina Ana Sanchez.

The mayor must limit use of the credits to offset only up to 30% of a building’s pollution, the letter says.

“Otherwise, the city will risk losing many thousands of future jobs, air

BUILDING OWNERS MUST COMPLY WITH CAPS ON EMISSIONS STARTING IN 2024 ing in 2030 and 2050. Landlords who fail to comply could face fines of $268 for every ton of emissions above the limit.

The city Department of Buildings released a much-anticipated draft guidance last month on how building owners and managers can begin to comply with the law’s aggressive goals. But the initial batch of rulemaking left several key questions up in the air about how the

quality improvements and the large-scale pollution reductions we must achieve to avoid global catastrophe through greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter comes as the Adams administration gathers feedback on the draft rules, a process that will culminate with a Nov. 14 public hearing online.

Currently, property owners cannot actually purchase enough credits to use them as a pathway to compliance because there simply are not enough renewable energy projects plugged into the city’s power grid. That is expected to change as early as 2027, when two major transmission projects are slated to come online and make 18 million renewable energy credits available.

At a council hearing in June, Rohit Aggarwala, the city’s chief climate officer and commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, pushed back on lawmakers’ concerns for the initial carbon caps. “Right now I don’t think it’s realistic to believe that the supply of [renewable energy credits] would allow the kind of wholesale use of RECs to displace any other kind of compliance—even if the rules were to be completely generous,” Aggarwala said.

Once the credits are more plentiful, the option to utilize them likely

BLOOMBERG

City Council demands strict enforcement of Local Law 97

will benefit commercial buildings—in which electricity is a larger share of energy use—more than residential properties.

The mayor’s office said the DOB is working to determine a cap on the precise amount of credits that could be used toward compliance, and it will share those details in the months ahead.

“The first batch of proposed rules announced last month represents a first step on renewable energy credits, and DOB will continue this work on limiting their use in the future,” said Charles Lutvak, a spokesman for the mayor’s office. The DOB’s rulemaking process, Lutvak said, will continue to be informed by the agency’s Bureau of Sustainability along with collaboration with other city agencies, the Climate Advisory Board and the city’s Local Law 97 working groups.

Industry response The real estate industry has fiercely defended the use of renew-

able energy credits as a helpful compliance tool for properties that might otherwise have difficulties, including office buildings with high-energy tenants such as data centers.

The DOB has said it plans to scale back fines for property owners who can demonstrate that they have made good-faith efforts to comply with the law. But officials have yet to define how buildings could qualify for such adjustments.

Zachary Steinberg, senior vice president of policy at the Real Estate Board of New York, said the suggested cap on renewable energy credits would “fundamentally undermine” the ability to support renewable energy projects and would “leave buildings with fewer tools to avoid paying fines to the city.”

“This will be most acute in the residential sector,” Steinberg said, “for which the Department of Buildings’ proposed rule would already heavily restrict the ability to use renewable energy credits.” ■

POLITICS

Buildings commissioner resigns after being questioned in gambling investigation EVENTS CALLOUT

NOV. 16 POWER BREAKFAST Mark your calendar to hear Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corp., interviewed live onstage by Crain’s New York Business Editor-inChief Cory Schouten. Find out how the agency plans to drive the next round of corporate investment in New York, which industries it is prioritizing, where the city’s economy is heading and how the EDC envisions the future for publicprivate partnerships.

DETAILS Time: 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Location: 180 Central Park S. CrainsNewYork.com/PB_Kimball

T

he commissioner of the city Department of Buildings resigned Thursday after being questioned about his gambling history by investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“This morning, Eric Ulrich tendered his resignation as DOB commissioner in an effort to, in his words, avoid ‘unnecessary distraction for the Adams administration,’ ” mayoral spokesperson Fabien Levy said in a statement. “We have accepted his resignation, appreciate him taking this step and wish him well.”

The DA’s office declined to comment.

Ulrich was approached by investigators and had his phone seized Tuesday morning in accordance with a search warrant near his home in Rockaway Park, Queens, according to The New York Times.

The nature of the investigation is unclear, as is whether Ulrich is a

central or peripheral figure in it.

The alleged activity in question apparently happened prior to his joining the Adams administration.

Ulrich has had brushes with the gambling world in the past. In 2018, when he was a City Council member, he wrote a letter supporting a constituent, Robert Pisani, who had ties to the Bonanno crime family and who was set to be sentenced on federal gambling charges.

According to an article in the Daily News, in 2016 Ulrich reported personal income from gambling ranging between $5,000 and $47,999 to the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board. The news report said Ulrich collected more than $50,000 from state lottery winnings last year.

Other roles In addition to his stint on the council, Ulrich mounted campaigns for a 2012 state Senate race and for city public advocate in 2019.

In January he was named as a se-

nior adviser to Adams, and in May he was appointed to the commissioner position.

Adams has filled a number of positions in his administration with people who had controversial pasts, saying he believes in second chances.

Earlier last week Adams had said he would not remove Ulrich from his position.

“Eric is still the commissioner there,” Adams said. “The DA’s office is going to do their review. That review will determine how we move forward.”

It is unknown whether the Adams administration was aware that Ulrich had gambling ties when he was being vetted for his appoint-

ULRICH JOHN MCCARTEN/CITY COUNCIL

BY JASMINE SHEENA

ment.

Kazimir Vilenchik, first deputy commissioner of the Buildings Department, has been named interim commissioner. He has been working in the department since 2008 and has been involved in universal pre-K, pandemic response and Superstorm Sandy flood mitigation efforts. ■

Vol. 38, No. 39, November 7, 2022—Crain’s New York Business (ISSN 8756-789X) is published weekly, except for no issue on 1/3/22, 7/4/22, 7/18/22, 8/1/22, 8/15/22, 8/29/22 and the last issue in December. Crain Communications Inc., 685 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Crain’s New York Business, Circulation Department, PO Box 433279, Palm Coast, FL 32143-9681.

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2 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 7, 2022

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11/4/22 5:07 PM

REAL ESTATE

As Barclays Center turns 10, a look at a neighborhood reinvented The massive sports and entertainment venue still has changes in play

BY C. J. HUGHES

A transformed landscape The 17,700-seat venue has clearly re­arranged the retail landscape. Gone are many of the tax-preparers, thrift stores and chain restaurants of a decade ago. Now the area is awash in trendy restaurants such as eight-year-old Morgan’s Brooklyn Barbecue, at 267 Flatbush, a space that once housed a law office, and yearold Tiny’s Cantina, at No. 229, a one-time tattoo parlor. Both are owned by Glazierworks, which once operated Michael Jordan’s white-tablecloth steakhouse in Grand Central.

“It’s a totally different Flatbush than what people remember,” said Penny Glazier, a partner at Glazierworks, which keeps both restaurants open past midnight when the Brooklyn Nets are playing, to lure post-game crowds.

(The effort comes as the Nets, once based in New Jersey, are off to a shaky start. On Nov. 1, amid controversy over anti-Semitic posts by star Kyrie Irving, the Nets fired head coach

ALAMY

I

n the early 2000s, when plans for the Barclays Center were first unveiled, its supporters seemed to make a huge bet.

The sports and entertainment venue could take a sleepy strip near Prospect Heights and turn it into one of Brooklyn’s hottest neighborhoods.

After all, Frank Gehry, the center’s architect at the time, had pulled off a similar feat in Bilbao, Spain, which went from a low-key city to a global draw with the addition of a shimmering Guggenheim museum.

Barclays, which opened Sept. 21, 2012, has turned 10, but that vision has not quite been fully realized on some of the blocks surrounding the arena, which is wedged at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues. Indeed, only about half of the mixed-use megaproject around it, Pacific Park, for which the arena was to serve as an anchor, has been built.

On the other hand, one doesn’t have to look far to find dramatic examples of changes that did occur, including soaring apartment towers, trendy restaurants and new public spaces.

“There was a fear that Barclays would bleed over into the brownstone neighborhoods and take them over, like what’s happened around Madison Square Garden,” said Chris DeCrosta, founder of GoodSpace, a retail-focused real estate brokerage, and a local resident.

“But I’m pleasantly surprised by how well it has blended in,” he said.

Steve Nash and two days later suspended Irving indefinitely.)

Not every restaurant is capitalizing on proximity. Pecking House, which opened this fall at Flatbush and St. Mark’s avenues, closes its doors at 10 p.m., before concertgoers spill out.

But a rejuvenated streetscape, with brighter facades and more people on sidewalks, has created ancillary benefits all the same. “You can stand in front of our restaurant and see this great main artery of Brooklyn and realize the potential of this location,” said chef and co-owner Eric Huang.

The transformation is not just about places to eat. Pop star Rihanna announced this year that she will open an outpost of her Savage X Fenty lingerie line at 182 Flatbush, a Barclays-facing building that has been empty for years. Developer Hidrock Properties bought the triangular site for $7 million in 2019, records show, after it traded seven years earlier for $4 million.

Overall, the area’s average retail rent is now among Brooklyn’s highest, or as much as $250 per square foot a year, DeCrosta said.

As the business mix shifts, high-rise apartment development has surged. Among the tall post-Barclays additions to the skyline is 300 Ashland, a 380-unit rental tower from Two Trees that welcomed tenants in 2016.

Opening around the same time was the Hub,

a 750-unit project at 333 Schermerhorn St. from Steiner NYC. And large-scale residential complexes continue to rise, such as 100 Flatbush, a phased 850-unit project from Alloy Development.

But other developments, namely Pacific Park, remain incomplete.

Work in progress A patchwork of sites next to rail yards between Atlantic and Dean Street, the 22-acre mixed-use Pacific Park is set to welcome two new rental towers this winter, Nos. 595 and 615 Dean. But even with their arrival, Pacific Park will still have delivered only eight of its promised 16 apartment buildings since the project was revealed more than a decade ago, or about 3,200 of 6,400 apartments. (Affordable, or below-market-rate, units account for about half of the completed total.)

The Great Recession may have taken a toll on the $6 billion project, originally known as Atlantic Yards. Early on developer Forest City Ratner abandoned the Barclays Center’s Gehry design to go with a scaled-down, and less expensive, version from SHoP Architects instead. But Forest City, which relied on eminent domain to bulldoze residential and commercial buildings that officials declared “blighted,” also faced lawsuits along the way.

Today, Pacific Park is controlled by Chinese

firm Greenland USA, though it has sold parcels to TF Cornerstone and other firms.

If some neighborhood blocks are works in progress, others appear to be enjoying a bit of a Barclays bounce, according to data prepared for Crain’s by the listings site StreetEasy.

Between 2012 and 2022, apartments in the area near the arena, which includes parts of Prospect Heights and Park Slope, saw sale prices rise by an average of more than 6%, StreetEasy said. By contrast, prices in comparable Brooklyn neighborhoods rose 4% over the same period, according to the data. But StreetEasy analysts cautioned that developments near Barclays tend to be the luxury type, potentially skewing the data.

Perhaps Barclays’ most unexpected legacy, though, is its plaza. Forest City co-founder Bruce Ratner once said that the half-acre sweep would someday “become one of Brooklyn’s great public spaces.” But Ratner probably didn’t anticipate the size of the crowds that would throng the site in the spring of 2020 to protest police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

Even Daniel Goldstein, a fierce opponent of Pacific Park who sued to stop it several times and who ended up losing his home to the project, begrudgingly praised the rare bit of local open space two years ago in a Facebook post. “One silver lining,” he said. ■

HEALTH CARE

Investors bullish on firms treating mental illnesses 13M

BY MAYA KAUFMAN

A

boom in digital health investments has enabled millions of tech-savvy patients to address their mental health with virtual appointments or digital exercises in lieu of spending an hour on a therapist’s couch. Now venture capitalists are taking the next step:

scoping out solutions to make care just as accessible to patients with the most severe mental illnesses.

An estimated 13 million American adults experienced a serious mental illness in the past year, for a cumulative economic impact of more than $300 billion annually, according to federal data. But only a handful of startups across the

country explicitly target serious mental illness—a category that refers to any condition that substantially interferes with someone’s life and ability to function.

Many of the companies have been around no longer than three years.

AMERICANS experienced a serious mental illness during the past year

Sam Toole, who spearheads health care investments as a principal at Primary Venture Partners, a seed-stage firm that focuses on New York City startups, attributed the relative scarcity of the startups to the difficulty of the problem they aim to solve. Success means

building a scalable business model to treat conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, that require a much greater variety and higher quantity of services than low-severity diagnoses.

Primary is an investor in Alma, a local health-tech company that See STARTUPS on page 33

November 7, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 3

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11/4/22 4:25 PM

WHO OWNS THE BLOCK

Dual 20-story towers in West Harlem will offer affordable apartments alongside luxury ones Carthage Real Estate Advisors’ plan calls for 336 total units

BY C. J. HUGHES

224 WEST 124TH STREET

E

2320 FREDERICK DOUGLASS BLVD. The United House of Prayer for All People of the Church on the Rock of the Apostolic Faith, an African-American Christian organization, opened its first Harlem outpost in the 1920s on East 115th Street, off Fifth Avenue. But that site was bulldozed in the 1940s to make way for the public housing complex known today as King Towers. Since 1947, United House has been in the 45,000-square-foot block-long structure here. A few years ago, a renovation removed the gold eagles once mounted on its facade and added more windows and doors.

267 W. 124TH ST. A prewar former warehouse, this six-story structure in 2005 was purchased by a limited liability company for $2.5 million, records show. In 2007, it began a conversion into an 11-unit residential condo called SoHo North. The sponsors were Jeffrey Bennett and Refik Radoncic, according to the condo’s offering plan. The most recent apartment to be marketed, a two-bedroom with a fireplace and beamed ceilings, was listed in 2020 for $2.3 million, before being reduced to $1.9 million and then being pulled, according to StreetEasy. The sponsor then instead listed the unit, No. 2A, as a rental at $6,700 a month, which seemed to do the trick.

230 W. 125TH ST.

2296 FREDERICK DOUGLASS BLVD.

Blumstein’s Department Store, which opened here in the 1890s before developing the five-story limestone-and-copper building standing today, came under criticism in the 1930s for profiting from the surrounding Black community while employing few Black workers. The pressure campaign led to more Black hires, and by the 1940s, the store was the rare retailer to feature a Black Santa Claus at Christmastime. Since 2007, the 148,000-squarefoot through-block building has been home to two branches of Touro College: one is for osteopathic medicine and the other pharmacology. Shops selling jewelry and kids’ clothes line the building’s base. In 1976, Blumstein sold No. 230. Its current landlord is Parkseen Realty Associates, a firm that counts Leon Betesh as a principal, according to records.

The 12-story project at this large corner site offers a mix of housing types. From the second to sixth floors are 124 hotel rooms that have operated as an Aloft Hotel, a Marriott-owned company, since 2010. A room with a king-sized bed on a recent Friday night went for about $400. On the floors above Aloft is Apex Condominiums, a 44-unit residential offering with a 2300 Frederick Douglass address that features a roof deck and part-time doorman. A two-bedroom, two-bath unit there was listed in late October for $1.2 million, a decrease from its roughly $1.4 million initial April listing price.

In 2007, the developer of the property – a Midtown-based shell company – bought the multilot site for about $4 million, records show.

4 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 7, 2022

224 W. 124TH ST.

2081 ADAM CLAYTON POWELL JR. BLVD.

Marcus Garvey Village, a 336-unit development split between two 20-story towers – one with a mix of market-rate and affordable housing and one with only affordable – is rising on this site, where a 72-unit complex from Abyssinian Development Corp. once stood.

Its developer, Carthage Real Estate Advisors, purchased the three tax lots that make up the site in late 2017 from Abyssinian for about $28 million. The developer Moinian Group chipped in $24 million, and Israel’s Bank Leumi provided a $60 million loan. When completed in 2024, Marcus Garvey will also have new offices for Manhattan Community Board 10, an LGBTQ community center and a park. Abyssinian, the non-profit real-estate arm of the influential Abyssinian Baptist Church, has invested $1 billion in residential and commercial projects in Harlem since 1989, its site says. The church’s pastor and founder of the development group, the Rev. Calvin O. Butts, died on Oct. 28 at age 73.

The Greater Refuge Temple here has a facade that’s striped with bright colors like the test pattern on a TV set. Its 1960s architect, Costas Machlouzarides, also designed the main building of the Calhoun School, on the Upper West Side’s West End Avenue, whose rounded dark-glass window opening also recalls a television screen. Greater Refuge’s cavernous 39,600-square-foot interior, which was once a movie theater, can seat 3,000 people. In the church-heavy neighborhood, some non-profit religious groups have been squeezed in recent years as congregations have dwindled.

Some have partnered with for-profit developers to rebuild their sites with both housing and new sanctuaries. Greater Refuge paid off a $700,000 mortgage held by Banco Popular in 2016, according to tax records.

2090 ADAM CLAYTON POWELL JR. BLVD. This 12-story building, completed in 1913, is the former Hotel Theresa, which was nicknamed the “Waldorf of Harlem” in the mid-20th century for its opulence. President Kennedy stayed there in 1960, and Fidel Castro visited that same year after being kicked out of Midtown’s Shelburne Hotel, according to news reports. Castro, in New York for a United Nations gathering, met with foreign leaders at the Theresa during his stay. Malcolm X also dropped in. In the late 1960s, the 163,000-square-foot building was converted to offices and has several medical tenants today.

Since 1982, a company called PJMX has owned the block-long property, records show. The firm seems to be owned by heirs of Sol Goldman, who in the 1970s was considered New York’s largest non-institutional property owner. In 2005, the terracotta-lined structure, among the tallest around, earned National Register status.

BUCK ENNIS, GOOGLE MAPS

dward Poteat, a Harlem-focused developer who mostly creates low-cost rental housing, is switching gears to do a luxury tower.

Although his effort in an earlier time could have sparked fears of gentrification, the current housing crunch might mute such concerns, Poteat said.

“If you want to house people, you need to build units. There’s almost no way around it,” said Poteat, founder of Carthage Real Estate Advisors. A second tower, which his company plans to build next door to the first, will offer only affordable homes, he said. But as it has gotten trickier to finance affordable housing, he said, the second project can’t happen without the first.

Located at 224 W. 124th St., the market-rate tower has 168 apartments— studios to three-bedrooms—with finishes such as farmhouse-style sinks, quartz countertops and stainless-steel appliances.

Leasing should start in the next few weeks, with rents starting at $2,000 a month for studios, an average of $60 per square foot.

Not every apartment will be priced that high, though. The steeper rents are for the 117 market-rate units, while the other 51 apartments will be available at below-market prices for New Yorkers earning up to 130% of the area median income, or about $173,000 per year for a family of four. The development qualified for the 421-a tax-abatement program before it expired, meaning 30% of its units had to be discounted for the developer to qualify for tax savings.

The second tower, at 212 W. 124th St., also will offer 168 apartments, Carthage said. All of them will be offered at below-market rents and aimed at New Yorkers earning up to 60% of the area median income, or about $80,000 for a family of four. Carthage still needs to secure construction financing, but it said it expects 212 W. 124th St. to open in 2024.

The project is called Marcus Garvey Village, named after a civil-rights leader who preached financial independence.

Carthage did have to demolish existing affordable housing to move ahead with the project, but that housing was inefficiently laid out in a row of 3-story buildings, Poteat said, adding that the area’s zoning allows more density.

The previous buildings contained 72 homes, while Marcus Garvey’s pair of 20-story towers will offer 336, he noted.

Marcus Garvey Village is only the second Carthage project not to have income-tailored units. The other is 88 Morningside Ave., a 12-story, 74-unit condop at West 122nd Street.

Poteat, who grew up in Harlem, has developed more than 1,500 units of affordable-type housing since 1999, starting with a $10 million rehab of six buildings on West 149th Street.

“First we wanted to build back this neighborhood,” he said. “Now we’re trying to hold the line.” ■

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10/31/22 3:28 PM

IN THE MARKETS

Vornado delays proposed 10-tower Penn Station redevelopment, plans to cut dividend in early ’23

“THEY WON’T SPEND BILLIONS TO BUILD AN EMPTY BUILDING”

BUCK ENNIS

V

ornado Realty Trust said commercial activity will pay to reit won’t be erecting tow- build the nation’s busiest commuters around Penn Station er hub. Recently four community any time soon and will groups sued to stop the project, accut its dividend early next year to cusing the state of essentially rolling over to Vornado’s conserve cash. wishes.

“The headwinds in the current environment are No demand currently not at all conducive to … development,” Chief ExEvercore ISI analyst ecutive Steven Roth said Steve Sakwa told Crain’s on a conference call last the Penn Station redevelTuesday. opment project is “cerAsked if he might revise tainly delayed” because his ambitious plans for there’s no demand from redeveloping the area tenants.

AARON ELSTEIN potential around Penn Station, “It’s just not the right perhaps by constructing time,” Sakwa said. “They more apartments and fewer offices, won’t spend billions to build an Roth said, “That’s not something empty building.” we’re going to get into now.”

Last Wednesday the Hochul adGov. Kathy Hochul’s administra- ministration affirmed its support tion has pinned its hopes on Vorna- for the redevelopment plan.

Vornado continues its work in the area on projects already underway, including renovating buildings around Penn Station. It also recently enlarged a condo and others developing 18 mil- course that serves Long Island Rail lion square feet of space around Road passengers. But more ambiPenn Station, betting that tax reve- tious new construction in the nue from higher rents and more neighborhood surrounding the sta-

tion, described as Vornado’s “promised land,” will take a back seat until markets improve, Roth said. He said the firm’s top priority for the foreseeable future is protecting its balance sheet.

Roth said Vornado’s dividend will be cut by an unspecified amount next year to ensure the shareholder payout is in line with the company’s taxable income. And in a move de-

signed to reduce exposure to rising borrowing costs amid rising interest rates, the landlord swapped floating-rate debt for fixed and capped rates on certain obligations.

‘Stupid, stupid cheap’ Shares in Vornado were little changed Tuesday. They were trading nearly 10% below their March 2020 low.

Roth said a plan to create a stock tracking the Penn Station development project is “still on the table.”

He described his company’s stock as “stupid, stupid cheap” and added that Vornado is “very interested” in building a casino in Manhattan, although so too are other developers.

“We expect it will be a very competitive process,” he said. ■

ON POLITICS

Chip manufacturing subsidy more than Amazon’s

Micron quietly initiated its own nationwide competition, looking for the best subsidy package

W

hen Amazon was Amazon didn’t need any tax breaks. hunting for a home Facebook and Google were operatfor its second head- ing in New York City without such quarters, the corpo- generous subsidies.

And there was Amazon’s history rate behemoth launched a competition among dozens of as an anti-worker company, includAmerican cities to determine which ing its drive to bust unions, abuse should have the privilege of hosting warehouse employees and crush the site. The appeal to welcoming its small businesses.

In the end, Amazon retreated, anHQ2 included tens of thousands of gry that so much local oppotential jobs and the position had emerged. overall allure of becoming New York’s business esan Amazon city, a place tablishment was furious. perceived as cutting-edge.

Depending on your view, To woo Amazon, cities it was a great victory and states dreamed up against a destructive mosubsidy packages that would slash the trilnopoly or a dark day for a forward-looking city. Lost lion-dollar corporation’s in the debate was the gentax burden. New York City eral consensus, shared entered the fray and even- ROSS BARKAN among economists on the tually won, along with Arleft and right, that generlington, Va. For about $3 billion in city and ously subsidizing wealthy corporastate tax breaks, Amazon would tions is usually not a successful agree to create 25,000 jobs in Long economic development strategy.

There is no Amazon HQ2 in Island City, many of them high-paying. The Democratic governor, An- Queens, but enormous tax breaks drew Cuomo, and mayor, Bill de are here to stay. In recent weeks, Gov. Kathy Hochul worked with Blasio, rejoiced.

Politicians on the left, led by Rep. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majoriAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez, rightly ty leader, to lure integrated-circuit pointed out that wildly profitable manufacturer Micron Technologies 6 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | November 7, 2022

to Syracuse. Micron, far more quietly than Amazon, had initiated its own nationwide competition, hunting out the best subsidy package. New York, it seemed, blew every other city away.

Critics are mostly silent With Micron, the progressives who excoriated Amazon have been mostly silent, even though the taxpayer giveaway to the chipmaker is even larger than what was offered to the online retailer—and with arguably less return on investment.

Micron said it will employ about 9,000 people, fewer than what Amazon had promised. New York is giving Micron a tax incentive package that is at least $5.5 billion. Federal money through the recently passed Chips Act will flow as well, although how much is uncertain.

Hochul, Schumer and many other Democrats have hailed Micron’s arrival as a way to revive manufacturing in a region that suffered mightily from deindustrialization.

Micron has made bold promises to win public support: a 20-year investment worth up to $100 billion and as many as 50,000 jobs, if supply-chain and construction em-

ployment is calculated.

It all sounds wonderful until the harder questions are asked. Is Micron really going to employ 9,000 New Yorkers when the largest plant in the state currently employs about 2,700 and when some functions at the Micron plant will be highly automated? Is money going to be kept in New York when chip fabrication plants are capital-intensive and the inordinately expensive fabricating machines come largely from the Netherlands? Can the Syracuse plant be “green” when so much water—as much as a quarter of what the entire city of Syracuse requires— will be needed to make the chips?

Micron is promising that through employment and community programs, the local economy will benefit, particularly low- and middle-income workers. But the evidence is scant.

Whether it’s the Foxconn plant in Wisconsin or the corrupt, Cuomo-era Buffalo Billion boondoggle in New York, such heavily subsidized deals rarely work out. It’s not that government shouldn’t ever try to aid a certain industry or attempt to engineer industrial policy; it’s that proper oversight, from Demo-

crats and Republicans alike, is almost always missing.

Politicians often are happy to take corporations at their word and not hold them accountable for their failures.

Ocasio-Cortez and her allies have nothing to say on Micron and have been ignoring media inquiries. The exception has been Ron Kim, an assemblyman from Queens who has been a consistent critic of corporate power and taxpayer subsidies.

It’s possible, in an election year, that progressives don’t want to criticize a Schumer-Hochul proposition that is well-timed to attract votes.

If that’s the case, they deserve public censure. Lousy economic development agreements that could affect New York for decades shouldn’t dodge scrutiny because of one midterm election.

Quick take ● Can the state Senate flip? It's unlikely, but Democrats are poised to lose their supermajority, and Republicans could get uncomfortably close. ■

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

SPONSORED CONTENT

Hotel tourism in a post-Covid United States ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LARRY COHEN Partner lcohen@citrincooperman.com

W

ith the lifting of most Covid restrictions in the past year, the domestic hotel industry has seen a recovery in revenue generated primarily by leisure business fueled by U.S. tourists. While business travel has been reduced by continuing health concerns, virtual meetings, budget concerns and inflation, pent-up tourism demand has generated a modest recovery in what’s known as hotel revenue per available room.

People are starting to feel that it’s safe to go out and enjoy the world again. The McKinsey U.S. Summer Travel 2022 survey indicated that 68% of those polled said they were going to be traveling for fun, “no matter what.” American Express (AmEx) earnings and forecasts, a leading indicator of tourism spending, increased throughout the year with the surge in tourism. AmEx also raised its annual forecast by 5%. As for New York City, various reports show domestic tourism levels approaching 90% of pre-pandemic levels.

International tourists are also

coming back, with reported levels of tourists in the city during the summer double the level of the summer of 2021.

Unlike many prior dramatic demand dips in the hotel industry, which proved to be transitory in nature, the pandemic was like no other.

Even after the devastating events of Sept. 11, which temporarily halted all travel, the pause proved to be relatively short, and the domestic hotel industry rebounded with record hotel revenue per available room and transaction prices throughout the mid-2000s. As difficult as the Great Recession was, a certain level of both business and leisure travel continued despite economic hardship between December 2007 and June 2009.

The hotel industry was able to cut back on staff and services, close wings, and work out debt with lenders. Fast forward to a few years later, and once again the industry rebounded with hotel revenue per available room booming from all segments.

The pandemic shutdown was much different. It lasted for almost two years in many markets. Restaurants, bars, airlines and other public spaces either closed for a time or dramatically abbreviated service models to comply with rapidly changing government regulations. People were concerned about their health and safety, and visiting public establishments posed potential risks.

Other factors included reluctance to travel abroad or on cruises. Both of these alternatives, which are normally competitors for the U.S. hotel leisure dollar, have had restrictions, which led tourists to look closer to home.

As mentioned, many people adopted a new way to work.

Traveling to the office (much less a meeting in another city) every day was no longer necessary.

This is not likely to change, although some (if not most) of that business will come back as face-to-face meetings become a “special” way to hold a meeting.

Also, group outings, such as conferences and holiday parties, are already starting to come back.

FUTURE RISKS Most of the federal programs that fueled the economy have ended. International travel and even cruises are more acceptable as alternatives to domestic tourism. With interest rates increasing dramatically and stock markets in flux, a recession may be around the corner. All of these factors could lead to a more “normal” pullback in leisure business like those in earlier downturns.

Leisure travelers helped businesses in the hospitality marketplace rebound immensely. Pent-up demand led many leisure-driven markets to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

Apparently motivated by money put into the economy and their pockets by the federal government, many people could not wait to get out and enjoy themselves after being virtually chained to the environs of their own homes. Fueled by these factors, many casino resorts had record revenues in 2021. Further, the advent of business and leisure (bleisure) travel has bloomed. Many travelers are working at least some business into a leisure trip and vice versa.

Perhaps a nonworking spouse or children can join, and a trip can be extended.

Another major risk factor is the continuing labor shortage. Like many other industries, hotels have had a tough time finding enough staff for many positions.

For example, many hotels could only provide housekeeping services upon request. This labor scenario could result in reduced leisure business for two reasons.

First, if the experience becomes less enjoyable, people will travel less. Second, labor shortages increase the cost of staffing, leading to rate increases, which could further deter people and businesses from travel.

Tourism data continues to be positive. United Airlines reported that “summer’s blistering pace” is continuing into the fall. There are even signs of activity exceeding prepandemic levels as U.S. travel surpassed 2019 levels over the Labor Day weekend. New York City hotels were booked through Labor Day weekend with an occupancy rate around 95%.

Nevertheless, the skies filled with uncertainty. Risks may be on the horizon.

Deferred capital expenditures pose an additional danger factor.

Many properties deferred capital expenditures for several reasons.

First, there was a lack of cash flow to fund projects. Second, continuing supply-chain issues delayed many projects.

Commencing new projects often requires several rooms or whole wings of a hotel to be taken out of service for weeks or months at a time, disrupting operations just when revenue has started to come back.

So, what are prudent hoteliers to do? With luck, many are just getting over the worst period of their careers—they should do everything to maximize shortterm profits. They should make sure they have an adviser or

certified public accountant familiar with the hotel industry to help them evaluate their cost structure, minimize their taxes, and take advantage of continuing government pandemic programs, such as the Employee Retention Credit. They should try to either plan or implement some or all of those deferred capital expenditures.

Perhaps they can refinance before interest rates get too much higher.

Most important: They should stay close to their customers. If things get more competitive, loyalty is going to be a significant differentiator in helping them continue to attract those tourists and convince them that, yes, it’s safe to go out and explore the world again.

“Citrin Cooperman” is the brand under which Citrin Cooperman & Company LLP, a licensed independent CPA firm, and Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC serve clients’ business needs. The two firms operate as separate legal entities in an alternative practice structure. Citrin Cooperman is an independent member of Moore North America, which is itself a regional member of Moore Global Network Limited.alternative practice structure.

Citrin Cooperman is an independent member of Moore North America, which is itself a regional member of Moore Global Network Limited.

It’s finally here! Citrin Cooperman is excited to announce the launch of our new website— bringing you an innovative, industry-focused experience with exclusive content tailored to your needs. Access the future today at citrincooperman.com.

5 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 7, 2022

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president & ceo K.C. Crain group publisher Jim Kirk publisher/executive editor

EDITORIAL

Frederick P. Gabriel Jr.

Pay-transparency legislation will pay off if companies actually act in good faith

“P

assistant managing editors Anne Michaud,

Amanda Glodowski Elizabeth Couch audience engagement editor Jennifer Samuels digital editor Taylor Nakagawa art director Carolyn McClain photographer Buck Ennis senior reporters Cara Eisenpress,

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editors@crainsnewyork.com

3. It can make hiring less time-consuming. Many hiring managers have felt the discomfort of finding a great candidate and making an offer, only for that person to turn it down when they finally find out the salary is lower than anticipated. Stating the pay up front can ensure only applicants ready to accept the role if offered are in the running, keeping companies from having to go back to the drawing board.

“The livelihoods of New Yorkers are not a TV game show where the true salary is hidden behind a magical door if only you guess the

right one,” City Councilman Justin Brannan said upon the pay-transparency bill’s passage.

Implementing the change might not be smooth, but it ultimately will benefit employers of all sizes.

Once workers know where their company and salary stand in comparison to the rest of the market, they can make more informed decisions about their career. Businesses will know their workers truly want to be there because they feel valued. As such, the new law can be seen as a win-win, as long as employers truly act in “good faith.” ■

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www.crainsnewyork.com/events manager of conferences & events

How to save on civil servants’ health care spending—fairly and honestly olitics ain’t beanbag,” wrote the great 19th-century newspaperman Finley Peter Dunne. And that is certainly proving true in the city’s attempt to change the law that has protected city employees’ and retirees’ health care for the past 55 years.

The Adams administration, supported by the Municipal Labor Committee leadership, is trying to get the City Council to change Administrative Code 12-126.

That law requires the city to pay for the health insurance of city employees, retirees and their dependents, pegged to a defined amount. The city is trying to change the law to remove the peg.

That would eliminate any guarantee of health insurance for current workers, and it would void any promises made to 250,000 municipal retirees.

Last year the de Blasio administration tried to force all retirees

managing editor Telisha Bryan

director of audience and engagement

system. Nobody feels disenfranchised, because they know where they are on the pay range.”

Here are three reasons local companies should embrace the new law.

1. It’s an opportunity to review the current pay structure.

According to jobs-listing platform Indeed, many companies that have begun implementing pay transparency on postings have also audited their existing employees and adjusted wages to be more equitable. Such a move is necessary to make sure employees continue to feel valued by a company, something that is needed to head off the Great Resignation and quiet quitting among staff that silently feel undervalued.

2. It gives companies a view of what others are paying. Firms that do not know what the going rate is for positions in their field now have an open database on job boards to see where they stand in the market. Firms that cannot pay as much as others can thus make decisions about what else they can offer to attract candidates, such as time off, a hybrid schedule or other benefits.

OP-ED

BY STEVE COHEN

editor-in-chief Cory Schouten,

cory.schouten@crainsnewyork.com

ALAMY

N

ew York City’s pay-transparency law went into effect last Tuesday, and not all businesses have given the rule a warm welcome.

The law says that all job postings for positions based in the city must include a “good faith” salary range so that applicants know ahead of time what a role pays.

Although job seekers surely see the benefits of the law, some companies have hedged; one media firm lists a head of news audio role as paying between $140,000 and $450,000.

It's understandable that companies would be hesitant to disclose such information, especially smaller firms, which might not have the deep pockets of their larger peers. But, ultimately, the law is meant to promote clarity and, as a result, happiness among employees, encouraging them to remain in their role longer.

“When you are transparent about salaries and raises and promotions, that eliminates bias,” Trey Ditto, chief executive of Ditto PR, told Crain’s senior reporter Cara Eisenpress (see page 10).

“And when you eliminate it, everyone has a fair chance in the

EDITORIAL

Ana Jimenez, ajimenez@crainsnewyork.com senior manager of events Michelle Cast,

michelle.cast@crainsnewyork.com REPRINTS director, reprints & licensing Lauren Melesio,

212.210.0707, lmelesio@crain.com PRODUCTION production and pre-press director

into a Medicare Advantage plan significantly inferior to the Medicare-plus-supplemental plan on which they’ve relied for a half-century. The state Supreme Court struck down the attempt.

Honor promises Mayor Eric Adams flip-flopped on his campaign promise and appealed the ruling. Now, after a skeptical appellate panel questioned the city’s logic, the mayor and union bosses are simply trying to gut the controlling statute.

Why? Money. Had the mayor been able to force retirees onto a Medicare Advantage plan, $600 million in annual costs would have been shifted from the city budget to the federal budget. Despite overwhelming evidence that Medicare Advantage plans are materially worse than traditional Medicare, it is hard for the city to walk away from that much “found” money.

The city is playing hardball with the Municipal Labor Committee as well. In 2014 the de Blasio admin-

istration and the MLC agreed to raid the Health Insurance Stabilization Fund of $1 billion to pay for teacher raises. In turn, the unions were supposed to “repay” the fund by finding real health care savings.

They didn’t.

That would have required making tough choices that affected current-voting, dues-paying union members. Instead, they tried to impose the Medicare Advantage plan on retirees, whom they no longer represent. But retirees fought back and won in court. So now the city is saying to the MLC, “Change the statute [12-126] or pay us back the $1 billion.”

The City Council should reject that backroom deal. It is manifestly unfair to senior citizens and disabled first responders and is also shortsighted policy with respect to attracting and keeping a talented workforce.

It’s unnecessary, too, as the retirees have identified more than $500 million in annual health care savings. According to two top

insurance companies, for example, the city is overpaying for the Senior Care program by at least $50 million annually. But the MLC has not invited any new bidders.

Similarly, the city hasn’t done an eligibility audit in 10 years; the last time it did one, it found more than $100 million in savings.

Not surprisingly, the MLC is working hard to prevent retirees from presenting their case to the City Council.

We understand that politics ain’t beanbag. But neither should we simply accept sweetheart deals crafted by a powerful few in the shadow of the Tweed Courthouse. The City Council should at least hear from retirees on how the city could save money and honor promises made to these civil servants during the past five decades. ■ Steve Cohen is a lawyer at Pollock Cohen, one of the firms representing the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees.

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8 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 7, 2022

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OP-ED

Vote yes on the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act to combat climate change

T

he first time I had to open my umbrella to walk on a subway platform, I knew the city where I’ve lived my whole life had changed. Now as flash floods rapidly increase in New York City, stormwater runoff routinely pours through the street grates.

That is only one example of climate change I’ve witnessed while working on behalf of New York City’s open spaces.

The climate crisis is already here, New York, and we must adapt now.

I applaud the recent passing and codifying of the Inflation Reduction Act by the federal government, but it’s only the beginning if we are to

risk reduction.

Those two budget lines stand out most to me. It’s been a decade since Superstorm Sandy and yet experts today estimate that there are 431,000 people at risk of coastal flooding. By 2050, an additional 228,000 people are projected to be at risk due to sea-level rise.

Life-threatening The situation is life-threatening.

Last year alone, more than 40 people were killed by the heavy rains and flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida in the New York region. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the frequency of annual storms is expected to increase by 100% in New York state and, at the current rate of sea-level rise, 50 additional square miles will be in the 100-year coastal floodplain by 2050.

In other words, the outlook is getting worse.

The EBA would tackle the issues head-on. Proposed projects could protect people, roads and buildings from flooding by acquiring, moving, lifting or raising flood-prone properties and infrastructure. The measure could help relocate, repair or raise flood-prone roadways and update dams and bridges.

In addition to modernizing infrastructure, there’s also the potential for the EBA to safeguard clean drinking water, expand renewable

THE CLIMATE CRISIS IS ALREADY HERE, AND WE MUST ADAPT NOW truly address our reality. We New York voters must turn over our ballots Nov. 8 and vote for the largest environmental bond act in state history: the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act. The EBA, once-in-a-generation legislation, would authorize $4.2 billion to fund critical environmental projects—without raising taxes.

It includes $1.5 billion for climate-change mitigation and $1.1 billion for restoration and flood-

ALAMY

BY LYNN BODNAR KELLY

energy and energy efficiency in public buildings, protect farmland and wildlife habitat, and increase access to parks, nature centers and public waterfronts.

Up to 40% of the entire bill must go to environmental justice communities, areas that have been subjected to a disproportionate burden of environmental hazards over the years.

If passed, the EBA also would support nearly 100,000 good, local, family-sustaining jobs across New

York state.

The climate crisis will still exist after Nov. 8. The question is how much we are willing to allow New York communities to suffer its consequences.

Global reach Given New York’s international influence, passing the landmark EBA could not only take care of our own but also have global reach.

New York state has the 13th-largest economy in the world. We have the

potential to lead by example as other states and countries watch us pull out all the stops to face the climate crisis.

Voting yes on the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act can help position us to protect New York and its people. Let’s invest in nature like our lives depend on it, because they do. ■ Lynn Bodnar Kelly is executive director of New York Restoration Project.

From top talent to top employers, Crain’s Career Center is the next step in your hiring process or job search.

Connecting Talent with Opportunity.

Get started today CrainsNewYork.com/CareerCenter

November 7, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 9

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EMPLOYMENT

BY CARA EISENPRESS

I

f you get hired at Wells Fargo as a New York City–based “agile practice leader,” you can earn between $120,400 and $250,000 in annual salary, according to a job posting published during the final week of October on career website The Muse.

As an associate account executive or an account executive at Midtown-based Ditto PR, you can make $40,000 to $57,000, a salary range that increases up the career ladder until it hits $150,000 to $250,000 for

“The livelihoods of New Yorkers are not a TV game show where the true salary is hidden behind a magical door if only you guess the right one,” City Councilman Justin Brannan said upon the bill’s passage.

“We need to respect that a person has a right to determine whether they will be able to pay rent and support their family when they apply for a job.”

In the intervening months, businesses have been streamlining internal and external compensation structures.

The hope is that transparency about pay will translate into more equitable, diverse and straightforward hiring in the city.

The state Legislature has passed a similar law, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to sign it.

Company leaders who already have converted to transparency say the change has been beneficial for both diversity and internal culture.

There remains hesitance, however, among small businesses and among companies that routinely hire high-level candidates for whom compensation is almost a trade secret.

92% OF HIRING DECISIONMAKERS USING PAY TRANSPARENCY WERE GLAD a vice president, according to the company’s website.

The rate for working as a parttime Apple technical specialist in Queens is between $25.75 and $31.20 an hour, with most new hires starting at the bottom of the range, according to a listing on the company’s website.

Most of the job postings reviewed

by Crain’s in the last weeks of October did not list salary ranges.

That changed last Tuesday, Nov. 1, when New York City employers with four or more workers had to start posting all job ads with a “good faith” salary range, lest they run afoul of a law passed by the City Council nearly a year ago. The spring implementation of the law was pushed back after companies asked for more time, and for the most part, firms in the tech, finance and media sectors were in compliance with the rule by the end of the day. In some industries, like health care, salary listings were rarer.

A business advantage Most companies large enough to have a human resources team have a private, internal salary structure.

Within the past several years, a growing handful have begun to share pay ranges with candidates.

About 92% of the hiring decision-makers whose companies implemented transparency on job postings were glad to have done it, according to Svenja Gudell, chief economist at Indeed. Gudell spoke at a U.S. House roundtable with the committee on economic disparity

and fairness in growth.

“Businesses are increasingly looking at pay transparency as a diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, ensuring happier employees and the ability to grow their business,” she said.

Three-quarters of job applicants told Indeed they were more likely to apply for a position if a salary range were listed, she said.

For firms, that can mean reaching a broader pool of candidates.

Since implementing pay transparency four years ago, Trey Ditto, chief executive of Ditto PR, said he has brought in employees from a broader range of backgrounds.

Nearly 40% of workers are Asian, Latino or Black, he said, up from less than 20% in 2018.

“When you are transparent about salaries and raises and promotions, that eliminates bias,” Ditto said.

“And when you eliminate it, everyone has a fair chance in the system.

Nobody feels disenfranchised, because they know where they are on the pay range.”

Matching salaries Gudell said the effect of salary transparency is that more than half of companies that posted ranges told Indeed that they ended up adjusting existing employees’ wages to be more equitable.

That internal reconciliation was one of the reasons for the delay in implementation in New York.

“Salaries were going up for certain jobs during the Great Resignation,” said Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City business group.

“They needed time to reconcile [pay for] employees who maybe were hired at a point where markets were weaker, so they wouldn’t be creating problems by advertising salaries.”

That is where the exercise be-

BLOOMBERG

As pay transparency law takes effect, some firms discover a culture benefit

comes a reality, according to Allison Rutledge Parisi, senior vice president of people at JustWorks, a payroll and benefits software company in Lower Manhattan.

“That’s the real benefit,” she said.

“How does it drive everyone to speak about compensation in a fair and equitable way, instead of hiding under the table and hoping no one talks?”

Ditto said having an evident structure of job title, responsibility and salary has helped with training and maintaining his staff, because everyone knows more or less what they have to do if they want to make more money. “By creating the salary ranges, it allows employees to understand their real financial value,” he said. “Women especially stop lowballing themselves because their employers have undervalued them financially.”

Small business, big jobs But tiny companies and those without HR departments might struggle to maintain and communicate the complex calculations that go into salary ranges, said Frank Kerbein, director of the Center for Human Resources of the New York Business Council.

That could place small businesses in violation of the law.

“Compensation is a science,” Kerbein said. “Large companies can pay for it.”

On the other end of the spectrum, companies hiring for high-level positions have told Kerbein they are not enthusiastic about publicizing their salary expectations to competitors, and they might even attach such jobs to their offices in other states to avoid the New York rule.

Brian Schwartz, who works in executive search for the hospitality industry, said the rule likely will be straightforward to follow for recruiting at scale.

“But on an executive level, it’s not as linear,” he said. “Executive roles aren’t 100% defined.”

For Kalani Leifer, chief executive of Coop Careers, a nonprofit that aims to advance upward mobility for diverse candidates, the most difficult post-transparency hire was for a managing director.

“You naturally get a range of candidates for a more senior role,” Leifer said, “all the way from folks who are stepping into leadership for the first time to someone who has had a job like this for 10 years.”

Because a desired candidate fell at the very top of Coop’s range, Leifer said, the process was trickier than for other positions.

“Still,” he said, “we felt served by it.”

Although not the final word in labor market equity, he said, salary transparency is “unambiguously a great thing.” ■

OBITUARY

Rev. Calvin Butts, iconic Abyssinian pastor, dead at 73

T

he Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts, who for more than 30 years served as pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church and was one of the city’s most prominent religious and community leaders, died Oct. 28 at age 73.

“It is with profound sadness we announce the passing of our beloved pastor, the Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts lll, who peacefully transitioned,” a post on the church’s website said. “The Butts family and entire Abyssinian Baptist Church membership solicit your prayers for us in our bereavement.”

Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Butts spent much of his childhood in Queens. He graduated from Flushing High School and studied philosophy at Morehouse College

before earning a doctorate in church policy at Drew University.

In 1972 he became a youth minister at Abyssinian, a Black congregation that formed downtown in 1808 and moved in 1923 to its uptown home, where it became one of the nation’s leading Black houses of worship.

A massive mission Butts became pastor in 1989 and the same year launched what became known as the Abyssinian Development Corp. The group’s mission was simple yet massive: Harlem’s salvation.

When the definitive history of New York’s resurgence is written, Butts’ church-based housing and social-services organization, which resurrected the neighborhood, is likely to be remembered as a pivot-

al player. The organization mixed pragmatism and activism into a string of uptown accomplishments that revitalized the community—many funded with downtown dollars, which once rarely made their way to Harlem.

Although Butts was the organization’s founder and guiding light, he initially declined to oversee its day-to-day affairs or even take a board seat. He deemed it wise to separate the community-development job from his role as an activist pastor who didn’t shy away from public criticism. Butts eventually did join Abyssinian Development’s board in 2007 and became its chairman.

BUTTS

BUCK ENNIS

BY JACK GRIEVE

He served as president of SUNY’s College at Old Westbury on Long Island for 20 years and was a visiting professor at Fordham Universi-

ty’s graduate school of education.

Butts is survived by his wife, Patricia, three children and six grandchildren. ■

10 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 7, 2022

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Real Estate

Real Estate Attorneys Focus on the Future The real estate industry is undergoing considerable challenges. To reduce the many risks and solve problems, developers and investors look to legal counsel to act as practical, business-oriented advisors who help guide their objectives, foster transactions, and provide mission-critical advice. Experienced real estate attorney Eric Seltzer, a director at Goulston & Storrs, reflects on the industry’s current situation and where it may be going. Eric’s insights stem from his diverse work advising real estate developers, investors and owners in complex commercial real estate transactions across the country involving various asset types, including life sciences, mixed-use and industrial properties, multifamily developments and office buildings.

ERIC SELTZER Director

Eric Seltzer, a Director at Goulston & Storrs, is a real estate attorney whose practice focuses on commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, developments, financings, joint ventures, preferred equity investments, and recapitalizations. Eric counsels institutions, operators, developers, entrepreneurs, and tenants in complex commercial real estate transactions in connection with a broad range of asset types, such as office buildings, life sciences properties, hotels, mixed-use properties, multifamily developments, and industrial properties.

CRAIN’S: What are some of the key priorities that real estate attorneys have been focused on this year?

ERIC SELTZER: The real estate industry faces significant economic headwinds—rising interest rates, high inflation, and greater labor and supply costs—which are leading to more conservative underwriting, constrained and costlier capital supply, declining real estate values, softening demand and, ultimately, a modest transactional slowdown. In such an environment, real estate attorneys must support their clients’ business objectives and foster transactions by acting as strategic and pragmatic counselors who think nimbly and craft tailored solutions to address nuanced considerations. Through creative approaches to structure deals and

assemble the capital stack, often alongside my tax colleagues, significant cost savings can occur, while competitive advantages, which help ink deals, may be created too.

potential downside risks at the beginning of transactions, including the negotiation of appropriate exit mechanics that allow partners to end relationships.

CRAIN’S: Will those priorities evolve next year at all? If so, how exactly will they evolve?

CRAIN’S: Are there any particular challenges that real estate attorneys have overcome recently? How exactly did they overcome them—and how will they utilize those experiences in the future?

ERIC SELTZER: The focus on helping clients mitigate risks and optimize value takes on heightened priority during challenging economic conditions.

We routinely advise clients on how to combine capital and expertise through sophisticated joint venture arrangements. Since debt funding is more difficult and expensive to obtain, borrowers must navigate an increasingly lender-favorable power dynamic and strive to fill capital structure holes through preferred equity and mezzanine financing. The repurposing of existing assets— like converting an office building to residential or lab/life sciences— has become a popular way to pivot to alternative usages that potentially generate better returns.

Additionally, ground leases are creative, up-front cost reduction tools that are being deployed with increasing frequency.

CRAIN’S: What type of impact will joint ventures and partnerships have in the coming months? Do you have any advice regarding these joint ventures and partnerships?

ERIC SELTZER: In a challenging marketplace, joint ventures will be increasingly vital tools for real estate investment, especially for development projects with higher capital requirements. It is critically important for you to know and trust your partner, while also aligning with them on key business interests, in order to minimize conflicts and forge healthy, strategic alliances.

Expect potential partners to be more selective, while partners who have successfully worked together in the past will join forces on additional transactions and potentially evolve their relationship into more complex, programmatic joint venture arrangements. Parties should carefully evaluate and address

ERIC SELTZER: The pandemic, along with the current economic downturn, has provided numerous economic challenges, as well as other issues, to the commercial real estate industry.

Unfortunately, our clients have not been immune from the exogenous factors that are creating market turmoil. Therefore, their real estate investments are afflicted by the

same issues that are plaguing the broader industry, often through no fault of their own.

In such situations, we evaluate circumstances holistically, guide confident business decisionmaking through clear-eyed, practical assessments, based on deep market knowledge, and provide clients with perspectives for short-term, intermediate and long-term strategies. Direct and honest counsel also goes a long way as another method to support clients through difficult times.

CRAIN’S: And, finally, what are your projections for the field of real estate in 2023—and beyond?

ERIC SELTZER: The choppy real estate market will likely continue through 2023. There will be a typical flight to quality, that top-tier assets in primary markets will see the action. Life

sciences, industrial, multifamily and student housing assets will remain the top performing market sectors. Urban zoning reform and ESG/sustainability will remain hot topics as the industry addresses pent-up multifamily demand and greens its development footprint.

Distressed investors will capitalize on market dislocations to acquire underperforming and troubled assets. In time, market participants will adjust to new pricing and financing realities, while deal volume will increase. Investment discipline, along with the ability to execute transactions quickly, while also carefully evaluating the risks that are inherent in the new market, will be significantly important, in order to ensure deals are finalized.

Boston | New York | Washington, D.C.

At Goulston & Storrs, we are committed to achieving results for clients with no compromise to service. We are dedicated to professional excellence, exceptional personal service, and uncompromising ethical standards. We seek our clients' satisfaction and trust.

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

Advertising Section To place your listing, visit www.crainsnewyork.com/people-on-the-move or, for more information, contact Debora Stein at 917.226.5470 / dstein@crain.com

FINANCIAL SERVICES

FINANCIAL SERVICES

LAW

RETAIL / APPAREL

IDB Bank

TIAA

Rokt

IDB Bank, a New York-based private and commercial bank, has appointed Laura Greenfield as its new Senior Vice President and Head of New York Commercial Real Estate.

A seasoned lending leader and banking executive, Laura has nearly 20 years of experience within both the CRE and financial services industries. In her new role, she will lead balance sheet CRE lending in the New York metropolitan area, overseeing balance sheet originations, asset management, operations and deposit gathering.

Melora Zaner will join TIAA to lead enterprise design as Chief Design Officer (CDO), effective October 31. She is a member of the Digital & Client Experience leadership team based in New York. With more than 20-years’ global experience in human-centered design across consumer banking, media and technology, Zaner has a strong track record of building and leading scaled cross-functional teams and strategizing with business partners.

Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP

FINANCIAL SERVICES

IDB Bank IDB Bank, a New York-based private and commercial bank, is pleased to welcome Daniel Roberts as its new Chief Risk Officer.

A seasoned executive with more than three decades of banking experience and expertise in risk management, Roberts will oversee and maintain the Bank’s capacity to identify, measure, and manage financial and operational risk. As a member of the Senior Management, he will play a critical role in helping to execute against the Bank’s long-term growth strategy.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

IDB Capital Kenneth Savio has been named President & CEO of IDB Capital, the broker-dealer subsidiary of IDB Bank. Leveraging more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Savio will oversee the growth of IDB Capital as the Bank expands its wealth management business.

He will additionally serve on the IDB Senior Management Team, helping to execute against the Bank’s long-term growth strategy.

HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY

Headway Headway, a techenabled company that has built the easiest way for people to get quality in-network mental health care, Davis has hired Olivia Davis as chief commercial officer and Servaes Tholen as chief financial officer.

Davis will oversee payer business Tholen development, partnership strategy, customer success, and marketing. She is a seasoned healthcare leader bringing 20 years of experience working directly with both payers and health systems.

Tholen will oversee financial strategy, growth, and execution.

Bringing more than two decades of experience, he is seasoned in helping companies scale from early-stage through maturation.

ANNOUNCE

YOUR BIG NEWS IN CRAIN’S!

Melissa Billig joined Tannenbaum Helpern as Co-Chair of the Construction & Design practice. For 20+ years, she has Billig represented real estate industry clients in midsize to largescale development projects, such as the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center expansion and May renovation, the Governors Island Park project and the Culture Shed project at Hudson Yards.

Randi May joined Tannenbaum Helpern’s Employment Law practice as partner. She counsels clients in every aspect of the employment relationship, including employment agreements, policies, leaves of absence, compensation arrangements, workplace investigations, and workplace audits. She defends employers in discrimination, retaliation, compensation, wage & hour, and other disputes.

NONPROFIT

Project FIND Project FIND has named Mark B. Jennings as its next Executive Director.

Project FIND is a nonprofit organization Jennings providing supportive housing and center-based meals and activities to older adults on Manhattan’s West Side. Mr. Jennings, Gillcrist who has extensive management experience, currently serves as the organization’s Associate Executive Director. Prior to joining Project FIND, he was Director of Housing at Community Access where he managed more than 800 units of supportive housing. Earlier in his career, he worked in a variety of social justice and faith-based capacities. Mr. Jennings succeeds David Gillcrist, who is retiring after 20 years, including 15 years as Executive Director.

The leadership change occurs on January 1, 2023.

Rokt, the leading ecommerce technology company using machine learning to make transactions more Yueng relevant to each shopper, announced that it has appointed two Google veterans to its team: Wilfred Yeung has joined the company’s Technical Kan Advisory Board and Reuben Kan has joined as Distinguished Engineer.

Yeung previously spent 11 years at Google, where he led critical parts of Google AdWords (now called Google Ads), and Kan spent more than 15 years at the company, bringing highimpact products including Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Maps to market.

The appointments of Yeung and Kan come as Rokt continues to accelerate its growth and expand its team across all business units and regions.

SHARE YOUR C O M PA N Y ’ S JOURNEY

Feature your latest milestones, launches, partnerships, awards and more in Crain’s

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CRAINSNEWYORK.COM/COTM

INDUSTRY ACHIEVERS ADVANCING THEIR CAREERS Recognize them in Crain’s

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SPONSORED CONTENT

EMPIRE BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD ANNOUNCES

THE 2022 EMPIRE WHOLE HEALTH HEROES

F

or the third year in a row, Empire BlueCross BlueShield will celebrate and honor the accomplishments of exemplary New Yorkers who stepped up to the challenges of the pandemic and its aftermath. As the recovery builds strength, they continue to show their deep commitment to improving the health and well-being of all New Yorkers.

This year’s 25 Whole Health Heroes hail from many backgrounds and professions. They work on lifesaving medical research and health care delivery, run nonprofit organizations that deliver direct assistance to the vulnerable, and exhibit innovation and dedication in the private sector to revitalize neighborhoods, create workforce opportunities and support the local economy.

The honorees have one thing in common: They’re stepping up to make a difference by advancing education, financial, physical and

emotional well-being in the New York metropolitan region.

Empire first initiated the Whole Health Hero awards in 2020 as an extension of its Whole Health mission to improve the well-being of all New Yorkers. As Covid-19 disrupted every aspect of life in the metropolitan area, Empire saw the importance of recognizing the exemplary efforts of business, nonprofit and health care leaders to address the crisis. This year’s awards build on that tradition of recognizing and praising those individuals who continue to aid the region’s recovery and help make their communities healthier.

The 2022 Empire Whole Health Heroes will be honored Nov. 10 at an in-person celebration with Fred Gabriel, publisher of Crain’s New York Business, and Alan J. Murray, president and CEO of Empire BlueCross BlueShield.

Each honoree will also receive a crystal award.

LEONARD ACHAN President, CEO LiveOnNY

IVELYSE ANDINO Founder, CEO Radical Health

TOMER BEN-KIKI Co-founder, CEO Twill

RAMONA CEDEÑO CEO of FiBrick & Author of Simple Choices Big Rewards in Money

Leonard Achan was recruited in late 2021 to lead LiveOnNY, a federally designated organ procurement organization. The nonprofit serves 13 million people in the New York metropolitan area. After the tragic deaths of city police detective Wilbert Mora and city firefighter Jesse Gerhard in the line of duty, Achan led advocacy efforts that brought worldwide attention to the lifesaving power of organ and tissue donation. His efforts resulted in a 40% increase in organs transplanted, a 33% increase in organ donors, and a 32% increase in tissue donors in the first six months of this year. Achan is on the board of Help-USA, Adelphi University and Healthcare Leaders of New York, among other nonprofits. He has set up endowments at Adelphi University for nursing and public health and at HLNY for students dedicated to helping reduce health care disparities. Achan is a registered nurse, an adult nurse practitioner and a medical assistant.

Bronx native Ivelyse Andino, a visionary Afro-Latina health equity innovator, strategist and community organizer, is transforming health equity through health care fluency education, which seeks to bridge the gap between systemically marginalized communities and the medical system. As founder and CEO of Radical health, the first Latina-owned and -operated Benefit Corp in the city, she aims to engage, equip and empower all people to understand and advocate for their own health. Radical Health uses restorative health circles to create a bridge between health and community, allowing people to receive support and resources related to substance use and overdose. Andino is a member of the American Medical Association’s Center for Health Equity’s External Equity and Innovation Advisory Group and a commissioner on the city Commission on Gender Equity. She is a healthy communities fellow with the Aspen Institute Global Innovators Group.

Twill, formerly called Happify Health, uses artificial intelligence and empathy to guide individuals to the care they need for specific medical conditions. CEO Tomer Ben-Kiki has played a pivotal role in overseeing the digital health company’s direction and growth. Twill works with pharmaceutical companies, including Biogen for multiple sclerosis and Almirall for psoriasis, and health plans such as Elevance Health for maternal health care.

It works with major employers and serves more than 18 million people in 10 languages. Before co-founding Happify in 2011, serial entrepreneur Ben-Kiki started a gaming company and an e-commerce business and served as a full-time captain in the Israel Defense Forces for seven years.

Entrepreneur Ramona Cedeño, the founder of the accounting firm FiBrick, has dedicated her career to advancing financial literacy in her community. During the pandemic, which resulted in economic hardship for many New Yorkers, Cedeño strengthened her resolve to help others create good money habits and plan their financial future. In addition to empowering her own clients, the CEO has reached out to the broader community by serving on advisory boards of New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants and New York State’s Small Business Development Center, among others; mentoring other women entrepreneurs; writing her first book, Simple Choices Big Rewards in Money; and launching her live show and podcast, In Great Company, where guests share their experiences and expertise in entrepreneurship.

CHRISTINE COLLIGAN CEO, President Korean-American Parents Association of Greater New York As the pandemic afflicted the KoreanAmerican community in 2020, Christine Colligan took action to help vulnerable parents, children and seniors. An increase in hate crimes against the Asian community exacerbated the challenges of the disease itself, making families afraid to leave home for their normal activities.

Under Colligan’s leadership as its president, the Korean-American Parents Association of Greater New York reached out to the fearful community to bolster spirits, giving out “love-sharing” scarves and rice cakes on the Lunar New Year. Recently the nonprofit held a back-to-school carnival at JHS 189 Daniel Carter School in Flushing, where Colligan works as a parent coordinator.

Partnering with Empire BlueCross BlueShield’s Health Plus Program and other community organizations, KAPA-GNY distributed 500 free backpacks and school supplies to students before the opening of this school year.

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Photo Credit: Jennifer Bladel/Village Studio

THE 2022 EMPIRE WHOLE HEALTH HEROES

MARCO DAMIANI CEO AHRC New York City

ROSS ELLIS Founder, CEO STOMP Out Bullying

CARLEY GRAHAM GARCIA Head of external affairs Amazon, New York City

Marco Damiani has spent more than four decades in leadership positions promoting social justice for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As CEO of AHRC New York City, Damiani has overseen many important initiatives, including preparing for the expansion of managed care, establishing New York Disability Advocates, emphasizing technological advancements, and promulgating open and positive communication, both external and internal. During the pandemic, Damiani took an active role in research and education on the impact of health disparities on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Among his many honors for his work in the disability field, Damiani received the David B. Kriser Medal from the New York University College of Dentistry, which recognized his “extraordinary wisdom, counsel and guidance” in planning and designing the NYU Dentistry Oral Health Center for People with Disabilities.

CEO Ross Ellis founded Stomp Out in 2005. The organization is the leading national nonprofit dedicated to reducing and preventing bullying, cyberbullying and other digital abuse. Stomp Out Bullying has helped more than 5.5 million young people resolve bullying situations. It educates against homophobia, LGBTQ+ discrimination, racism and hatred, and it works to deter violence in schools, online and in communities across the country.

Under Ross’ leadership, Stomp Out Bullying established a 24/7 HelpChat Crisis Line for young people who have been bullied or cyberbullied and are at-risk for suicide. As a noted speaker and expert on youth and social media use, Ross educates students, schools, parents and children on the best practices of identification, prevention, response and safety.

While guiding Amazon’s community engagement activities, Carley Graham Garcia has led programs to further the education of Amazon employees and expand workforce development efforts in the tech sector. Amazon partnered with the City University of New York in January to give Amazon employees free tuition and select fees at eight colleges in the city under Amazon’s Career Choice program.

In addition, Amazon is participating in the city’s Per Scholas program, which helps high school grads prepare for tech careers.

It is also participating in workforce development programs for tech careers with Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey. Before joining Amazon, Garcia ran the entrepreneurship center of a state university, where she furthered workforce development efforts and worked on diversifying the tech talent pipeline and startup ecosystem. She spent more than a decade at Google New York in business and public policy roles.

SHABA R. KEYS Associate vice president, strategic initiatives Columbia University

JOSH KLEIN CEO Emerest, Royal Care, the U@PERKS Program

SALLIE KRAWCHECK Founder, CEO Ellevest

Shaba R. Keys has 25 years of expertise in social sector program development and implementation that prioritize inclusive and equitable outcomes, inform public policy and establish strategic partnerships.

As associate vice president of strategic initiatives at Columbia University, she oversees programs and collaborative partnerships to advance the university’s goals in community and government affairs across areas of strategic focus— student engagement, research, education and public service. Keys plays an active role in her community outside of work.

She is board chair of the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem and a co-founder of the Bridge Lab, an organization providing programming for underrepresented young people interested in production, the process of making a film and the multiple career pathways into the entertainment industry.

Josh Klein has founded and grown multiple health care businesses involved in telehealth, specialized health care and home care solutions. In April 2020, during the height of the pandemic, Klein launched Emerest Connect, the first-of-its-kind telehealth program for elderly patients who live alone, connecting them with health care providers, social workers and emergency medical technicians. The app provides 24/7 vital signs tracking, an emergency ambulance system and even multilingual, interactive television programming. The program has helped keep low-income seniors out of the hospital. Also in 2020, Klein founded the U@PERKS program, a membership-based health and wellness initiative for health care workers. In his free time, Klein volunteers as a paramedic for Hatzalah, an emergency medical service organization.

As the founder and CEO of the only financial company built by women for women, Sallie Krawcheck is advancing her mission to get more money into the hands of women. Ellevest, a financial literacy and investing platform that Krawcheck started in 2014, aims to help women take control of their investment portfolios. The company, which raised $53 million in a Series B round earlier this year, has received numerous industry kudos, including CNBC’s 2019 Disruptor 50 list, on LinkedIn’s 50 Most Sought-After Startups list two years in a row, and as one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Brilliant Ideas. Krawcheck, the author of Own It: The Power of Women at Work, received the Socially Responsible Investor Award, one of the Motley Fool’s 2022 Women in Investing Awards.

JILL JOHNSON CEO, co-founder Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership

MAR Exe DOR

Jill Johnson, a nationally recognized thought leader and trailblazer, is working to foster an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem for people from historically excluded populations. Two decades ago Johnson co-founded the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and she continues to lead the organization as it leverages the power of relationship capital to create pathways to success for Black and Latinx founders, entrepreneurs and small-business owners—in New York and around the country. The CEO is a fierce champion for inclusion who has developed innovative programming to address the systemic barriers faced by entrepreneurs of color. In July she launched IFEL’s Women of Color Connecting Road Show, an extension of the Women of Color Connecting program, in the city to inspire business leaders, investors and allies to become involved with the issue. The initiative is to expand to other U.S. cities.

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HERRICK LIPTON CEO New Horizon Counseling Center

CHRISTINE MCMAHON President, CEO The Fedcap Group

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Herrick Lipton has been making a difference in the city and on Long Island for almost three decades. Joining New Horizon Counseling Center immediately after college, Lipton fully embraced the organization’s mission to provide the best quality behavioral health care and care management, thereby promoting the emotional well-being, independence and empowerment of individuals in the communities it serves. Since assuming the role of CEO in 2014, he has advanced behavioral health and social health through the center’s Care Management program, which assigns care managers to patients to help them control chronic health conditions. Recognizing that behavioral health extends beyond the typical therapy session, New Horizon has invested heavily in the growth and success of its addiction recovery program, seniors programs, developmental disability services and day treatment program, among other initiatives.

As leader of the Fedcap Group for the past 12 years, Christine McMahon has worked to improve the lives of New Yorkers with barriers to sustainable economic well-being.

McMahon, a data-driven professional, established Metrics That Matter to track key determinants of health, including access to health care, employment, education and literacy, savings accounts and social supports. Under her leadership, the organization established four practice areas—health, workforce development, education and community health—and merged with top-tier nonprofits with expertise in those areas. For example, in 2013 Fedcap acquired ReServe which matches retired workers, age 50 and up, with the needs of government and social service agencies to fill critical human resource gaps. In 2017 Fedcap acquired Single Stop, which combines sophisticated technology with case management support, to enable individuals to screen for eligibility for federal, state and local benefits and services.

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ZACHARIAH HENNESSEY Executive vice president, chief strategy officer Public Health Solutions Zachariah Hennessey, a health and human services leader with two decades of experience, advocates for just policies, securing resources, leveraging strengths, and creating opportunities for the city’s most vulnerable and marginalized residents. At Public Health Solutions, the city’s largest public health nonprofit, the executive vice president and chief strategy officer leads the organization’s community work. The nonprofit supports more than 100,000 New Yorkers each year with health insurance and benefits enrollment, food and nutrition, maternal and child health services, and sexual and reproductive health care. Hennessey established and leads WholeYouNYC, a citywide community resource network of more than 300 organizations. This network connects health care patients and managed care members to services that can improve their social determinants of health. From 2020 to this year, he chaired the NYC Covid-19 Rapid Response Coalition, a public-private partnership of more than 200 organizations.

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As the leader of DOROT, Mark Meridy directs programs serving thousands of older adults, mostly in their 80s, in the city and Westchester County to help address the devastating consequences of social isolation and loneliness. DOROT brings the generations together to help foster social connection and engagement through innovative programs offered in person, through Zoom and over the phone.

DOROT recruits more than 6,000 volunteers every year to engage with an equal number of older adults. Its signature programs include intergenerational programming such as GENuine Connections, which brings adults and teens together virtually to engage in creative activities and discussions, and Package Deliveries, where volunteers deliver packages of needed supplies and make connections with seniors throughout the year.

DR. RICHARD PARK CEO, Rendr Co-founder, Ascend Capital Partners Founder and former CEO, CityMD After leading CityMD’s multibillion-dollar merger with Summit Medical Group in 2019, Dr. Richard Park founded Rendr, a primary care-focused, multispecialty group providing high quality, value-based health care to medically underserved Asian Americans in the city. In early 2021 Rendr became one of the first nonhospital provider groups to provide Covid vaccines to city residents, administering about 80,000 doses that year, mostly to underserved Asian communities. Today, under Park’s leadership, Rendr has grown to more than 100 providers at 40 clinical locations serving a patient population of more than 100,000. Park also co-founded Ascend Capital Partners, an impactinvestment driven, health care-focused middle-market private-equity firm.

Ascend’s investment portfolio includes Essen Health Care, which serves a large vulnerable patient population in the Bronx.

ANGEL SANTINI Vice president of special projects, events, marketing and public relations Acacia Network

PEDRO RODRIGUEZ Founder, executive director La Jornada Pedro Rodriguez, who emigrated to Queens from Bogota, Colombia when he was 16, founded the nonprofit La Jornada in 2008 after a successful business career to address hunger and poverty among immigrant communities in Flushing.

Rodriguez initially set out to feed and empower day laborers in Flushing. In 2019 the organization established a food pantry with the help of St. George’s Episcopal Church that helped feed more than 100,000 people. That same year La Jornada began an English as a Second Language class at the church that helped hundreds of immigrants, and it initiated food distribution at senior citizen centers. In 2020 and 2021, at the height of the pandemic, La Jornada fed more than 2 million families and became a trusted community resource, empowering immigrants through education.

In his leadership role at Acacia Network, a health and human services nonprofit, Angel Santini has devoted special attention and care to elderly New Yorkers, as well as to vulnerable individuals of all ages in underserved communities in Puerto Rico. At the height of the pandemic, the vice president of special projects led new initiatives to combat the physical and mental health toll of isolation among seniors, including Acacia’s Virtual Wellness Series that offered more than 100 free weekly workshops and events through a virtual platform. During the spring of this year, as the risk of Covid began to decline, Santini developed creative strategies, such as a “senior prom,” among others, to help long-isolated seniors reconnect socially. Santini organized Feriarte, a monthly community health fair in Puerto Rico.

SUCHI SARIA CEO Bayesian Health Suchi Saria has done groundbreaking work in operationalizing artificial intelligence and machine learning research to speed up the diagnosis and treatment of preventable life-threatening complications.

Saria’s conviction that health AI solutions must adhere to the same rigorous standard of evidence as other diagnostic and therapeutic tools in medicine led her to conduct one of the largest, most comprehensive and rigorous evaluations in the field of AI-driven clinical decision support, using multimodal data to improve outcomes for sepsis patients. Bayesian Health and Johns Hopkins in July announced the results of three landmark studies in the journal Nature Medicine, which showed an 18.2% reduction in sepsis mortality. It also showed that the machine-learning solution deployed at the bedside enabled care teams to identify and administer antibiotic treatment 1.85 hours earlier. The Bayesian CEO received her doctorate from Stanford University.

Photo Credit: Russ Campbell

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MARK L. MERIDY Executive director DOROT

AARON SHIFFMAN Founding executive director Brooklyn Workforce Innovations For more than 22 years, Aaron Shiffman has led Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, one of the city’s bedrock workforce development nonprofits. Under his leadership of the founding executive director, BWI has developed and delivered skills-training programs that help low-income jobless New Yorkers train for upwardly mobile careers. Through eight programs, BWI trains 900 jobseekers annually while supporting thousands of graduates as they advance their careers.

When the pandemic struck, BWI quickly raised resources to provide direct cash grants to alumni who were displaced from work while they navigated an overwhelmed safety net system. Shiffman leads a dynamic team that has established a true resource for low-income communities facing health and economic challenges.

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ELLYN SHOOK Chief leadership and human resources officer Accenture At Accenture, Ellyn Shook is responsible for helping its 721,000 employees succeed professionally and personally. Shook’s global team of human resources leaders is reimagining leadership and talent practices to create a truly human work environment in the digital age. The chief leadership and human resources officer, a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity, is a member of Accenture’s Global Management Committee and Investment Committee.

Shook has written extensively about the future of work, diversity and inclusion, and responsible leadership, and she frequently advises Accenture’s clients on these topics and on leading large-scale transformational change. She was named HR Executive of the Year by Human Resource Executive in 2020 and inducted as fellow in the National Academy of Human Resources in 2021.

SHABAZZ STUART Founder, CEO Oonee

FREEMAN SU Executive director, Northeast region Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation

EILEEN TORRES Executive director BronxWorks

After having several bikes stolen in the city, Shabazz Stuart, a lifelong Brooklyn resident, founded Oonee to address the challenge of secure bike parking. After listening to communities, civic leaders and transportation advocates for more than a year, Stuart developed a solution to secure parking for bikes and scooters that bundled design, financing, management and operations for parking concessions into one simple package. Oonee has been recognized as a design leader across the urban design industry, and Stuart has been widely recognized as a policy leader within urban micro-mobility. The CEO previously was the deputy director of operations for the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. In that role he oversaw customer services and quality insurance for the Fulton Mall business improvement district.

As the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, Freeman Su oversees the international humanitarian aid organization’s community programs and disaster relief efforts. Guided by deep Buddhist values of compassion, Su uses his diverse leadership experience to ensure direct medical and care services are provided to low-income communities. The executive director of the U.S. northeast region leads the organization’s programs in the city, including its public health outreach campaigns, mobile vision clinic and free clinics. The foundation works closely with health care providers to raise awareness for mental health and diabetes, among other chronic illnesses. Since 2019, Su and his team have piloted the mobile vision clinic, which provides free vision care for children and adults in the city and has distributed hundreds of pairs of eyeglasses to low-income families.

At the nonprofit BronxWorks, Eileen Torres has prioritized serving the borough’s most vulnerable residents through such programs as eviction prevention, benefits access and supportive housing. The executive director has worked to meet the community’s needs for holistic wellness, especially as a result of the devastating economic and health impacts of the pandemic. Under her leadership, BronxWorks Workforce Development Programs have expanded efforts to provide additional job training and placement opportunities, financial literacy and youth workforce support. BronxWorks Community Health Programs have provided information and services to promote healthy eating, active lifestyles and overall well-being, while the nonprofit’s two farm stands provide healthy affordable food to Bronx residents.

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Congratulations to the 2022 Whole Health Heroes You’ve stepped forward with selfless dedication and innovative thinking to continue to revitalize New York.

We promise to continue our mission to materially and measurably improve the whole health and well-being of all New Yorkers.

We thank you.

empireblue.com Services provided by Empire HealthChoice HMO, Inc. and/or Empire HealthChoice Assurance, Inc., dba Empire BlueCross BlueShield. Independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans.

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Meet the class of 2022

N

ew York is a city full of people who aren’t afraid of hard work, and the young professionals on the following pages are no exception. They are pioneering new ways to network and get around the city, breaking ground in entertainment and politics as well as helping other entrepreneurs in their quest to find funding. They are also championing the causes of New Yorkers who don’t always have a voice, working to boost access to food, mental health care, housing and internet connectivity for all.

Crain’s 2022 class of 40 Under 40 honorees will inspire and motivate you. But mostly, these profiles will leave you confident that the future of our city is in highly capable, hardworking hands.

— TELISHA BRYAN, MANAGING EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHS BY BUCK ENNIS

CrainsNewYork.com/awards/40-under-40-2022

CRISTINA GARCIA

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Sofia Juperius, 38

Design director, Vocon

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SHE GETS CLOSER TO THE DARK HEART OF THE COMEDY”

TaLona Holbert, 36 Litigation associate, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan

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Julie Benko, 33 Actor, Funny Girl

F

unny Girl is a tricky show to pull off. It helped make Barbra Streisand famous, but it’s tough to find singers who can carry the musical comedy. Julie Benko carries it once a week at least when the current star, Lea Michele, is off. Benko earned glowing reviews for leading the cast after the former star, Beanie Feldstein, abruptly left the show. Benko “gets closer to the dark heart of the comedy, backfilling its shtick with something like anger,” a New York Times reviewer wrote.

Benko learned to sing eight Fiddler on the Roof roles when she was a teenager in Connecticut, and she performed on the Les Miserables national tour. Her TikToks showing her preparing for work are a show in themselves. She recently recorded a jazz album with her husband, Jason Yeager.

When curtains started to rise again, she sent recordings to producers everywhere because in-person auditions hadn’t resumed.

Benko said she learned about funny girls watching Sutton Foster’s breakthrough 2002 show, Thoroughly Modern Millie. She got to know the star while studying at New York University’s master’s program and said she will never forget the time Foster said she hoped they would work together. That hasn’t happened yet, but Foster is starring in another musical playing across the street from Funny Girl.

“I’m still blown away by that,” Benko said.

Next up for Benko? She reportedly signed on for Harmony, a musical by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman.

— AARON ELSTEIN

rowing up in foster care in California, TaLona Holbert was told she had a learning disability and wouldn’t succeed academically. When she was 5 years old, her adoptive mother encouraged her to listen to phonics tapes and keep a journal to deal with the trauma of her childhood.

“Pretty soon I was reading several grades ahead of my class,” said Holbert, a rising sixth-year associate at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan who is affiliated with numerous legal professional organizations.

She enrolled at San Francisco State University to be a dance major, then transferred to Adelphi University. Her path to graduation was not straightforward.

“I had no money,” she said, “and there were times I had to drop out and work.”

She finished her bachelor’s degree in eight years and enrolled in the Cardozo School of Law on a full scholarship. After graduation, she joined Stroock, impressed by the firm’s inclusiveness, mentorship opportunities and community outreach.

Holbert, who is involved in complex insurance and reinsurance litigation, is proud of her pro bono work in defense of vulnerable members of society.

She has enabled survivors of domestic abuse to obtain uncontested divorces and orders of protection. She also secured a multimillion-dollar settlement from Success Academy on behalf of students with disabilities who alleged discrimination.

“It’s important for me to help others realize they can succeed,” she said, “even if they come from nontraditional backgrounds.”

— DIANE HESS

hile living in Sweden, Sofia Juperius became a professional ski racer in her teens, schussing down hills.

The terrain the interior designer navigates today is less dangerous but perhaps trickier: adding style and extras to office buildings so landlords can entice employees back to their desk.

Inspired by the amenities of luxury apartment buildings, Juperius takes lobbies and other potentially humdrum public areas and graces them with spas, plush lounges and members-only clubs.

“How do we create an environment to make [people] want to show up for work and make them feel they’re going to miss out if they don’t?” she said.

Since joining Vocon in the summer of 2021 after a stint with Gensler, she has put her skills to the test at 1 Madison Ave., a major redevelopment from SL Green Realty. It aims to dazzle with a tenants-only stone-topped bar. Although 1 Madison is not scheduled to open until 2024, there are signs its amenities might be advantageous. SL Green has bagged major tenants including Franklin Templeton and IBM. Another current high-profile assignment is 51 W. 52nd St., the former CBS headquarters, where Juperius is leading an effort to reinvent a mailroom into a podcast studio and fitness center filled with rowing machines.

“Sofia is innovative and proactive,” said William Vazquez, a manager with landlord Harbor Group International. “She has a passion for what she does.”

In the past 18 months, she has worked on 12 repositioning projects across 163,000 square feet. In a similar span, she designed offices at properties owned by the Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Trust.

She might not be skiing much for a while—in September she and her husband had a son, their first child—but her work can provide its own kind of reward.

“It may not be quite the same adrenaline rush,” she said, “but I’ll take it.”

— C. J. HUGHES

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Faiza Ali, 37 Deputy chief of staff to the speaker, New York City Council

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D GREAT COMPANIES ARE LAUNCHED IN TIMES OF CRISIS”

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Ryan Serhant, 38 Founder and CEO, Serhant

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iming is not everything. In 2008, around the time Ryan Serhant earned his real estate license and joined brokerage Nest Seekers International, Lehman Bros. crashed, fueling a home-salestanking recession.

The recession did not keep Serhant down, however. Within a few years he had become one of the city’s most successful apartment-sellers, by way of a lead role in a hit reality show, Million Dollar Listing New York.

Then again in 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the economy, Serhant didn’t hunker down in his established gig but instead hung out his own shingle, founding his eponymous brokerage.

“Every day was a new awful, and so of course I thought, Do I really branch off to start my own company right now?” he said of the early months of the pandemic. “But then you realize that great companies are launched in times of crisis.”

His company currently employs 300 people, up from an initial seven. And this year it’s expected to rack up sales of $2 billion, compared with $1.2 billion last year.

In an industry that can be slow to change, Serhant seems proudly disruptive. The company doesn’t have the kind of storefront offices that have been industry staples. Instead, it gather brokers at Serhant House, a multilevel SoHo spread where there are no assigned desks but there is a TV studio. (Slickly produced videos of condos and co-ops are a firm signature.)

“I wouldn’t have had a career if not for TV,” said Serhant, who, as an actor in his previous life, had a regular role on As the World Turns in 2007 and 2008.

Post-Million Dollar Listing New York, Serhant has not lost his knack for finding the spotlight. In September Extell Development tapped his brokerage to market the 23-room triplex condo atop its new Central Park Tower.

The list price, $250 million—a potential U.S. record—might intimidate some salespeople. But Serhant’s “tremendous media presence” makes him the agent for the job, according to Extell founder Gary Barnett.

“The proof is in the pudding,” Barnett said, “as there has already been strong interest.”

— C. J. HUGHES

ays after the 9/11 attacks, teenager Faiza Ali walked to a Rite Aid with her little sister. A hysterical woman began screaming at the girls, while others stood by. The incident convinced Ali that she did not want to go through life as a bystander.

Ali has worked as a community organizer and activist and, for more than eight years, on the staff of the City Council. In June she was named first deputy chief of staff to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and is the first Muslim American woman to hold the post.

Born and raised in Midwood, Brooklyn, Ali is the daughter of Pakistani immigrants. One of the first women in her family to attend college, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Pace University.

Her late father, Rasib, was an elevator operator whose union, 32BJ, helped the family when he fell ill. Her mother, Zahida, opened their home for weeks at a time to new immigrants.

“I’ve always led with the idea that power rests in relationships,” Ali said. “If the relationship is strong, you can have the difficult conversations.”

Teresa Gonzalez, who lobbies for organizations that support women and girls, said Ali bridges advocacy and government.

“Because she has traveled in both worlds, she brings a unique perspective to understanding what the community needs,” Gonzalez said.

Adams relies on Ali’s years of experience.

“For a council class that is historically diverse, with a woman majority and so many firsts, there is no one more qualified than Faiza to help lead a staff that reflects the people of New York City,” the council speaker told Crain’s.

— ANNE MICHAUD

Wemimo Abbey, 30 Co-founder, Esusu

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emimo Abbey and his family emigrated from Nigeria when he was 17.

His mother sold her wedding ring and borrowed from her church to pay his tuition at the University of Minnesota in Crookston. The local bank wouldn’t approve a loan because the family lacked a credit history.

Abbey vowed to solve that problem for other families any way he could. Four years ago he helped launch Esusu, which helps people assemble credit histories by compiling their record of paying rent for housing. The firm has served 2.5 million households. It is called the Harlem Unicorn after raising $136 million in funding from venture investors including tennis star Serena Williams.

“The credit system treats people as guilty until proven innocent,” Abbey said. “We want to be part of the solution.”

Less than 10% of rent data is captured by credit agencies, and 45 million Americans thereby are shut out, he said.

Abbey’s firm, which employs 200 people, provides 0% interest rate loans to landlords so they’ll take chances on worthy tenants.

The company’s name comes from an African term that means “go together.”

“It cannot be in America,” Abbey said, “that how far you go depends on your name, the color of your skin or where you come from.”

— AARON ELSTEIN

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David Zussman, 36

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Kelly Ifill, 36 Founder and CEO, Guava

K

elly Ifill says she believes banking can be an act of community.

Her company, Guava, seeks to incorporate the accessibility of digital banking with the trust and collaboration of an old-fashioned, in-person community bank for businesses run by people of color.

“We’re bringing back that ethos so that banking doesn’t just have to be this transaction,” Ifill said. “We want the community to know we are here for your success.”

Guava offers business owners checking, credit and savings accounts as well as loans. Ifill designed the platform so that members have a reason to return frequently to ask questions of other members and connect across sectors and geographical areas.

She raised $2 million to build the company and in doing so joined a tiny group of Black women who have raised at least $1 million.

Ifill’s commitment to creating opportunities for Black people is the common thread in her career, which began in education. She watched as paradigm-shifting technology aided teachers and students. Then she went to business school with the idea of working in venture capital and helping to steer dollars toward impactful startups.

But as she began to research the racial wealth gap, she wondered why certain founders could access millions of dollars while small-business owners in majority-Black neighborhoods couldn’t get even relatively small loans.

By early 2020 she was plotting the idea that became Guava, solving technical, financial and marketing problems as they arose.

“When you see someone where every time adversity is encountered, they are undeterred, you start to get a sense of someone whose tenacity, intellect and passion for this sort of project becomes compelling,” said Ed Zimmerman, a partner in the tech group at Lowenstein Sandler and an investor in Ifill’s business.

— CARA EISENPRESS

WE WANT THE COMMUNITY TO KNOW WE ARE HERE”

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Chief financial officer, The Related Cos.

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eople get landlords all wrong, says David Zussman, chief financial officer of one of the largest of all: The Related Cos. “The perception that developers are always in it for the last dollar is not correct,” Zussman said.

“If the city’s successful, then the company’s successful.”

Related’s legacy might hinge on Hudson Yards, a 28-acre, $25 billion miniature city that stands to become the country’s largest-ever private development.

When Zussman joined Related from Lazard in 2010, the megaproject was years from breaking ground.

“The early investors and partners had to take more of a leap of faith,” he said, but now, “when we walk into a meeting with a lender, we jump right into the specifics of a transaction. I think the concept has been proven.”

Under Zussman’s guidance, the project continues to evolve. The $4 billion office tower 50 Hudson Yards opened this fall and is 85% leased. And Zussman played a lead role in the sale last year of a majority stake in the Edge, the observation deck at 30 Hudson Yards, to asset manager KKR. Related and Wynn Resorts may also install a casino.

Zussman’s ability to juggle complex capital stacks stands out to Jeff Blau, Related’s chief executive, who also highlighted Zussman’s work securing $5 billion in financing for 30 Hudson Yards.

“I would call him a rising star, but he’s already risen,” said Blau, who like Zussman and Chairman Stephen Ross graduated from the University of Michigan. “ ‘CFO’ may be his title, but he does way more than just run the accounting department.”

Zussman and his wife live in Chelsea, and he walks the High Line to work. It’s a good perch from which to consider the future.

“If there’s one person who should lose sleep over a [potential] recession, it’s probably me,” he said. “But I’m not.” —C. J. HUGHES

Allison Page, 37 Co-founder and chief product officer, SevenRooms

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evenRooms, a tech-enabled hospitality management platform, was founded in a studio apartment in the West Village. That’s where Allison Page lived while she worked as a banker at Credit Suisse.

Her co-founder, Joel Montaniel, shared a cubicle wall with her at the investment banking company. “We were always scheming on the side to see what business we could run outside of banking,” Page said.

Around that time, Page realized she went to the same New York City restaurants regularly. But she noticed that if a hostess she knew wasn’t at her chosen restaurant, she was a “nobody” there and had a hard time scoring a table.

“SevenRooms was born out of us being bratty diners,” she said. “We realized it’s actually a much deeper problem, where restaurants don’t have data about their customers.”

The company, whose name was inspired by former Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter’s sevenrooms theory, was founded in 2011.

“We believe the seventh room is the place you go that knows you and treats you like a regular,” Page said. “It’s the place that makes you feel at home.”

At first the firm offered customer relationship management software that let restaurants retain notes about patrons, such as allergies and favorite wines.

Now, Page said, restaurants can keep track of how many times customers arrive, what their allergies are, how much they’ve spent, whether they leave reviews and what they like to order.

“A lot of diners don’t really understand how much data a SevenRooms restaurant has on them, in a non-creepy way,” she said. “It’s an art rather than a science the way the restaurant uses the data.”

— NATALIE SACHMECHI

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John Quinn, 37 Co-founder and partner, Kaplan Heckler & Fink

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resh out of Harvard Law School in 2010, John Quinn hadn’t even finished his new-hire orientation at Sullivan & Cromwell when he was pulled into a 12-week, $4 billion Microsoft antitrust trial that involved preparing Bill Gates for closing remarks.

That case launched Quinn’s career handling high-profile cases and clients. As he rose through the Sullivan & Cromwell ranks, he said, he knew he wanted to tackle corruption and unjust policies through more dynamic cases—a conviction that crystallized after the 2016 presidential election.

Shortly thereafter, Quinn connected with Robbie Kaplan, a founding partner at Kaplan Heckler & Fink. After discovering the firm held a shared vision for cross-industry litigation driven by progressive values, he joined in 2017.

Passionate about LGBTQ+ rights, Quinn represented the Starkville Pride organization in a 2018 landmark case that overturned the Mississippi city’s ban on LGBTQ+ events. He’s currently representing a group of students, parents and teachers challenging Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law.

In other courtrooms, he has taken on white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, and challenged misconduct in the New York Police Department.

“They’re radically different projects,” Quinn said in reflecting on his law career, which includes two ongoing financial fraud cases against former President Donald Trump, “but building this firm taught me that just being the complete, true, fulfilled version of yourself allows you to walk into all of those spaces.

“That’s been the best part of the past five years.” — SHELBY ROSENBERG

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JUST BE THE COMPLETE, TRUE, FULFILLED VERSION OF YOURSELF”

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Good People. Great Results. Innovating Since 1876.

New York | Miami | Los Angeles | Washington, D.C. www.stroock.com

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Dan Brillman, 38

HIS COMMITMENT TO THE CHILDREN OF NEW YORK CITY IS UNPARALLELED”

Co-founder and CEO, Unite Us

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Ana Rua, 35 Government affairs lead for New York City and New York state, Crown Castle

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David Adams, 38 Chief executive, The Urban Assembly

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hile he was an undergraduate at Rutgers University, David Adams first became aware of the importance of social-emotional learning.

Adams recalls his professor in a class on community psychology explaining that the educational system could help students solve problems constructively if it engaged them holistically. The theory resonated.

Today Adams is CEO of The Urban Assembly, a Financial District–based nonprofit that develops learning tools and public school programs for student growth. The organization has partnered with public schools in the city on social-emotional initiatives. Its Algebra Success curriculum helps pupils, especially from underserved populations, grow as math students. A postsecondary course allows teenagers beginning in ninth grade to imagine their life after high school. Another program integrates social-emotional learning into the classroom.

“Social-emotional development has to be at the core of any school’s efforts to assist young people in making good choices,” Adams said.

After Rutgers, Adams worked for the city’s special education district, and he received a master’s degree in education psychology from Fordham University. Nine years ago Adams joined The Urban Assembly, where he has been CEO for approximately 18 months.

He has been an Army reservist for 19 years, and he was nominated in 2019 for the MacArthur Leadership Award.

“Adams has brought new energy and spirit to our mission,” said the Rev. Jacques DeGraff, past chairman of the board at The Urban Assembly. “His commitment to the children of New York City is unparalleled.”

“The Urban Assembly is a beacon,” Adams said, “for what we can accomplish when we invest in young people.”

— DIANE HESS

na Rua’s career is all about building connections. As the government affairs lead for New York City and the state at Crown Castle, the nation’s largest shared wireless infrastructure provider, she is at the center of building what she calls “a neural network of relationships” among local political, economic and social forces.

Rua drives policies designed to ensure the scalability of communication technology.

“We’re the reason your cellphone works in 48 states and Puerto Rico,” she said with a laugh. “And I lead a coalition of 20-plus companies covering New York state, where collectively we brainstorm on how to drive connectivity.”

Those who work with Rua testify to her ability to bring people together and deliver results.

“Ana is the quintessential iron fist in a velvet glove,” said Liz Benjamin, an outside consultant for Crown Castle at Marathon Strategies. “She is determined and does not take ‘no’ for an answer but also recognizes the importance and strength of a charm offensive.”

Rua used her talents during Albany’s last legislative session.

She negotiated with Senate and Assembly leadership to overturn a fee that had hindered the deployment of fiber-optic cable to rural parts of the state.

“There can never be enough connectivity to meet the demand of what we’re going to do in society and our online needs,” she said. “Banking, cryptocurrency, smart cities, health care and manufacturing [connectivity] touch every human interaction.”

— BRIAN PASCUS

an Brillman’s service in the Air Force took him as far as Iraq and Afghanistan, and it led him to his current perch as chief executive of tech startup Unite Us. Brillman transitioned in 2010 from pilot to MBA student at Columbia Business School, where he bonded with fellow veterans. They confided in him about struggles to find housing, employment and health insurance after leaving the military.

“You get a discharge, and you’re on your own,” he said. “You don’t really have a support system around you.”

Those conversations inspired Brillman to write a paper for class about integrating health and social services. He teamed up with Taylor Justice, a fellow student and veteran, and they started a company in 2013 to bring the coordinated-care model to life.

Unite Us, which is based in Tribeca, initially focused on connecting veterans to services.

Six years in, the platform boasted thousands of organizations, many of which served other populations too. Unite Us started to branch out, adding hospitals and insurance companies to the mix.

The startup recently has used its technology to ink partnerships with states, including North Carolina, to build platforms that connect providers, insurers, community-based organizations and patients to local resources.

Today Unite Us manages more than 18 million people and offers connections to more than 725,000 services across 44 states.

Brillman said his next move is predictive analytics, which could make the platform into one that also predicts what care someone will require before they need it.

— MAYA KAUFMAN

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Cristina Garcia, 32 Deputy director, Building Electrification Institute

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fter seeing Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth, a 2006 film about Al Gore’s campaign to raise awareness of global warming, Cristina Garcia, then in her first year of college, said she felt as though her life had flashed before her eyes. The Queens native, who at the time was studying at City College, soon switched majors, from civil engineering to environmental engineering. “I thought, This is the greatest crisis of our lifetime, and I need to be a part of this fight,” she said. “It was really that movie that completely changed things for me.”

The incident put Garcia on a path toward promoting sustainability and addressing the city’s biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions: buildings. Her drive landed her at the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability as an adviser for nearly three years, leading the city’s building electrification and workforce development initiatives. In 2019 she joined the Building Electrification Institute, where she works with 12 U.S. cities on crafting policies and programs to transition structures away from fossil fuels.

Throughout her sustainability career, Garcia has noticed a startling lack of diversity. A single event Garcia hosted to bring together Latinx people working in the industry snowballed into her founding of Latinxs in Sustainability. The five-year-old organization, which is working to become a nonprofit, focuses on growing the Latinx professional community in sustainability and teaching Latinx students about career options through webinars, mentorship programs and educational stipends.

“When I was in high school, I really liked math and science, and my adviser was, like, ‘OK, it’s engineering or being a teacher’—which was horrible advice, looking back on it,” Garcia said. “There are so many other career trajectories.

“That’s become a passion of mine: to help young people understand what’s out there. Because oftentimes they’re so ill-informed.”

— CAROLINE SPIVACK

THAT’S BECOME A PASSION OF MINE: TO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT’S OUT THERE”

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Annika LescottMartinez, 34 Chief financial officer and executive vice president, New York City Housing Authority

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Natalie Gibralter, 36 Vice president of product, commerce, Squarespace

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hen Natalie Gibralter joined Squarespace more than 10 years ago, the company had 70 employees and served tens of thousands of customers. Now the websitebuilding firm is publicly traded, has more than 1,000 employees and millions of customers, and has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Gibralter’s role in Squarespace’s success is undeniable. She was its first product manager and helped scale that function up as the company grew, building several new businesses. One of them, commerce, allows small-business owners to set up websites, sell products online and reach more customers.

“We built a very, very simple way for people to be able to set up an online shop without having to hire someone to do it for them,” Gibralter said.

She worked at Kind and started a nonprofit before getting to Squarespace. Along the way, she said, she has tried to create products that are valuable to both her company and its customers.

Her colleagues have noticed her strengths, which include leaning into uncertainty and excitement during periods of intense growth.

“Having worked with Natalie for the better part of a decade, it is impressive to see how she has grown in her role. Natalie was part of our commerce initiatives from the beginning,” Squarespace Chief Executive Anthony Casalena said. “Taking this team from just one engineer, her adaptability, ingenuity and drive have allowed her to thrive in environments both small and large.”

— JACQUELINE NEBER

nnika Lescott-Martinez says her passion for housing policy started during an internship at the Local Initiatives Support Corp., which champions affordable housing.

“I didn’t know anything about it before,” said Lescott-Martinez, who grew up in Flatbush. “I’ve seen people deal with housing problems. You always knew someone who was dealing with a difficult landlord or rising rents.”

In 2015 she went to work for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under President Barack Obama. There she oversaw the Department of Housing and Urban Development budget.

“My legacy,” she said, “was probably being really tenacious and creative in terms of some of the solutions I was pushing.”

Around that time, the New York City Housing Authority was in search of fresh blood, and she got a role there in 2018 as senior adviser to the chief financial officer.

Today Lescott-Martinez is the gatekeeper of the agency’s $4 billion budget and $1 billion investment portfolio.

At NYCHA, the largest provider of public housing in the country, she oversees payroll; risk management and insurance; financial analyses; planning; and accounting—the real guts of finance.

The biggest challenge she faces, she said, surrounds the agency’s capital needs. Its aging housing stock desperately requires repairs, she said, after decades of disinvestment in public housing.

“I like to say I’ve never really worked for a private company,” she said. “I may be dealing with big dollars, but these dollars are connected to people.”

— NATALIE SACHMECHI

PEOPLE LOOK AT IT AS DEAD SPACE, BUT IT’S STILL ALIVE WITH ART AND HISTORY AND NATURE”

Harry Weil, 38 Director of public programs and special projects, Green-Wood Cemetery

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arry Weil spends his days among the dead, but he says he wouldn’t have it any other way.

As director of public programs and special projects for the Green-Wood Cemetery, Weil curates art installations and performances that draw roughly half a million people each year to the 478-acre Brooklyn graveyard. His innovative programming even coaxes visitors underground to Green-Wood’s catacombs, the venue for an ongoing concert series and location of the inaugural installation last year of a new artist-in-residence program.

Weil, a Gravesend, Brooklyn, native, attributes his passion for the arts to spending hours as a child wandering through the Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2013 he obtained his Ph.D. in art history from Stony Brook University. After graduating, he taught the Art in New York City class at Ithaca College’s now-defunct Manhattan campus.

One day he decided to take his students to Green-Wood for a self-guided tour. He wanted his students to “think about art outside the white cube” of a gallery, he said. He fell in love with the cemetery and got to know its director of public programming. After she vacated the role in 2016, Weil got the job.

He now oversees the conception and production of more than 300 programs annually in visual and performing arts, history, horticulture and death education.

“People look at it as dead space,” he said of the cemetery, “but it’s still alive with art and history and nature.”

He recently opened a large-scale installation by artist Athena LaTocha that harnesses the cemetery’s landscape to reflect on environmental decay. He also helps organize GreenWood’s annual Nightfall event, an extravaganza of performances, live music and film screenings across the cemetery.

— MAYA KAUFMAN

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Shahana Hanif, 31

Jaclinn Tanney, 37 President and co-founder, Jabber Dorado Enterprises

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New York City Council member, District 39

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ouncilwoman Shahana Hanif of Brooklyn’s 39th District has used her personal trials as her fuel to inspire others.

She entered politics as a disability-justice advocate and a person living with lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease that attacks the immune system. Hanif was diagnosed with lupus when she was 17, and her experience navigating the American health care system as an uninsured daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants informed her decision to get into public service.

“That really was the catalyst for trying to understand how New Yorkers—particularly immigrant New Yorkers with limited English proficiency—receive care,” she said. “And for me, it was also questioning what it would mean to survive in the city with disabilities.”

After graduating from Brooklyn College, Hanif became a tenants rights advocate on the Lower East Side. Then she joined former Councilman Brad Lander’s office, first as his Bangladeshi community liaison and then as his director of organizing and community engagement. She also directed his participatory budget process.

In 2021 Hanif was elected to succeed Lander (now the city’s comptroller) in District 39, which includes Park Slope, Gowanus and Carroll Gardens. She chairs the immigration committee and is co-chair of the Progressive Caucus.

She is the first Muslim woman and first Bangladeshi American elected to the City Council.

“I can’t separate my Muslim identity from my Brooklyn identity,” she said. “I see this as an opportunity to lift up Muslims across ethnicities and all walks of life.”

— BRIAN PASCUS

Jarrid Tingle, 31 Managing partner and co-founder, Harlem Capital

H

arlem Capital co-founder and fund manager Jarrid Tingle has always set a high bar for himself.

The son of a single mother, Tingle spent time on welfare and lived in his grandparents’ attic for eight years. Despite the odds, he graduated from the Peddie School, the Wharton School and Harvard Business School.

“I spent most of my education around wealthier classmates— which was difficult,” he said. “I channeled my energy into being competitive in the classroom.”

As a venture capitalist, he is equally determined. With the goal of funding minority- and womanowned businesses, he launched Harlem Capital four years ago. To date, the firm has invested in 49 companies and has raised close to $175 million. It is one of the largest diversity-focused funds.

“Women and minorities are 70% of the U.S. population but receive 4% of venture-capital funding,” he said. “I want to make access to capital more equitable.”

Before grad school, Tingle had his first venture-capital exposure at ICV Partners, a Black-owned fund.

“It was a special experience to see people who looked like me in private equity,” he said.

During business school, he and a classmate, Henri PierreJacques, raised money for Harlem Capital. TPG was the firm’s anchor investor. The pair raised $40 million for their first fund.

“Tingle’s curiosity sparks the best conversations,” said Nikki Varanasi, chief executive of Staax, a peer-to-peer payments platform and one of Harlem Capital’s investments. “He is a great communicator and constantly willing to extend a helping hand.”

— DIANE HESS

he “open door” policy in Jaclinn Tanney’s childhood home had a significant impact on her outlook.

“Everybody was welcome at the table,” said Tanney, whose four grandparents were all Holocaust survivors. “It seemed the norm that if somebody didn’t have a table to sit at, they could always come to ours.”

Today, as president of Jabber Dorado Enterprises, a Long Island City–based food production company, Tanney provides food for schools, businesses, governments and others— and well-paying jobs for the company’s mostly immigrant workforce.

A Jabber Dorado offshoot, Migrant Kitchen, operates three restaurants in the city that celebrate diverse cuisines and, like its parent, employ immigrant workers. There’s also the Migrant Kitchen Initiative, a nonprofit that donated food to health care workers and provided 3.6 million meals to needy communities across the city when shelters and food kitchens shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Jabber Dorado donates a portion of its sales to the initiative, which also works internationally.

Food “can be a tool for social good,” Tanney said. “All our brands are empowering immigrants and expressing social impact.”

A graduate of Syracuse University’s school of public affairs, Tanney honed her talents at Mount Sinai Medical Center’s Adolescent Health Center, the New York Junior Tennis and Learning afterschool program, the DKMS stem cell registry and restaurant chain Le Pain Quotidien.

“She has a connection with people, and she’s incredibly sharp,” said her Le Pain Quotidien colleague Michael Ferranti. “If you give her a strategic task, she’s going to get it done and excel way beyond the average person.” — JUDY MESSINA

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FOOD CAN BE A TOOL FOR SOCIAL GOOD”

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Katherine Fogerty, 39 Chief financial officer, Shake Shack

EVERYTHING AROUND ME WAS BECOMING EXTREMELY DATA-DRIVEN”

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Kwame OwusuKesse, 38 Chief executive, Harlem Children’s Zone

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April Koh, 30 CEO, Spring Health

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pril Koh recalls a lot of guesswork while searching for the best solution for the mental health struggles that took root while she was an undergraduate at Yale University. The cycle of trial and error struck her as antiquated, given that health care was becoming a hot target for digital innovation.

“I saw everything around me was becoming extremely data-driven, and mental health care was data-less,” Koh said.

She looked for ideas in the research coming out of Yale’s psychiatry school and discovered a paper about a machine-learning model that outperformed psychiatrists in matching patients to the right treatment. She reached out to the paper’s author, Adam Chekroud, and together they founded Spring Health in 2016.

The NoMad startup collects data on patients’ symptoms, psychiatric history, social determinants of health, personal preferences and more. Its machine-learning model uses that information to match patients to the appropriate care, which ranges from therapy sessions and medication management to mindfulness exercises.

To make care accessible, Spring Health partners with employers to offer its mental health services as a covered benefit. Companies pay a subscription fee, with pricing based on their employees’ utilization.

Spring Health has raised $300 million from investors to date and is valued at $2 billion. It now works with about 800 companies to provide mental health care access to more than 5 million employees worldwide.

— MAYA KAUFMAN

s Kwame Owusu-Kesse tells it, bingo launched him on his journey to Harlem Children’s Zone.

It started in his hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts, where “survival won out over academics” and where his mother, a single parent and immigrant from Ghana, played weekly bingo at the Venerini Academy. The nuns who ran the school loved his mother and offered him a scholarship.

“The luck of bingo changed my life and put me on an educational trajectory,” Owusu-Kesse said.

Now, at the Harlem Children’s Zone, his goal is to remove the need for luck to “unlock the great potential in the community.”

With a degree in economics from Harvard, Owusu-Kesse first worked at HCZ as an extern sponsored by Morgan Stanley, which was then his employer.

Later, in his third year of a double master’s program in business and public policy at Harvard, HCZ founder and then-CEO Geoffrey Canada asked him to return as a senior manager. Owusu-Kesse became chief operating officer in 2014, and in 2020 he was named CEO. HCZ, which works with 25,000 community members in central Harlem to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty, has become a model and a partner for organizations around the country.

It raised $54 million to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on underserved communities. Six U.S. cities adopted the HCZ Covidresponse model.

For founding HCZ Chairman Stanley Druckenmiller, OwusuKesse’s leadership skills “jumped off the page.” The Harvard Business Review published a case study on Owusu-Kesse’s leadership.

On his to-do list are more entrepreneurship, deepening financial literacy in the community and bolstering scholarships.

— JUDY MESSINA

hen Katherine Fogerty was covering Shake Shack as vice president and lead equity analyst at Goldman Sachs, she was one of its original champions. Early on, “I did all this work on how big they could be,” she recalled. In defending her position against skeptics, she became even more passionate about the company, which had begun as Danny Meyer’s Madison Square Park hot dog stand.

“I staked my career on it,” Fogerty said.

When the St. Louis native—who grew up eating the Ted Drewes frozen custard and Steak ’n Shake fare that were among Shake Shack’s influences—heard last year that the then-CFO was leaving, she had no reservations: “That is the job I want,” she said. Shake Shack Chief Executive Randy Garutti brought her on board.

Fogerty’s success in investment banking and in her new role came out of her dedication to data and a knack for building statistical models, she said.

“A lot of people want to know: What did a company do last quarter?” she said. “I always had this obsession with trying to understand the future.”

Turning data and information into practical insights is “her sweet spot,” Garutti said in a video produced by Bloomberg.

At Shake Shack, Fogerty’s data helps turn company goals—such as supporting employees’ careers and enhancing the customer experience—into reality. Recently, for example, as leadership watched consumers return to 2019 dining habits, Shake Shack wondered how to set its hours—a question whose answers could be modeled.

Shake Shack’s growth is global, but New York City, with 31 locations, is core to the company.

That feels like fate to Fogerty.

“When I was a baby,” she said, “Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ was the only song that would get me to stop crying.”

— CARA EISENPRESS

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26 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 7, 2022

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11/3/22 6:34 PM

Chantall Lowe, 39 Senior director of partner and community engagement, IncludeNYC

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s a youth, Katrell Lewis always felt “a little housing insecure,” bouncing around between a city shelter, senior housing, public housing and a trailer park.

He joined Habitat for Humanity in 2016 with a mission to make homeownership more accessible to people of color. The Bedford-Stuyvesant native has aided his childhood community, helping to pave the way for development on a plot of land that was once a playground for Lewis and his friends. He has been directly involved in the creation of 485 apartments including 123 units of affordable LGBTQ senior housing.

His advocacy spans the entire state. In December 2019 he helped champion the unanimous, bipartisan passage of a bill boosting the Affordable Housing Corp., a state-funded grant program that subsidizes homeownership. The legislation increased the per-home subsidy from $45,000 to $75,000 in high-cost markets such as New York City.

He also helmed a statewide coalition that increased the AHC’s fiscal 2023 budget to $36 million from $26 million, where it had hovered since the program was founded in 1985 by Gov. Mario Cuomo. And Lewis secured a pool of $400 million in affordable homeownership funding for the AHC’s parent, the Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

Lewis counts his AHC efforts as his proudest accomplishments. He attributes his successes to patience and connectivity.

“My work is about going into these communities to hear them, speak to them, see them, while also connecting with all levels of government,” he said. We’re “not convincing people; we’re telling a story of why homeownership, specifically Black homeownership in New York City, is needed, and why we need to invest in these communities.”

— SHELBY ROSENBERG

hen Chantall Lowe and her siblings started elementary school, they were native English speakers but were assigned to ESL classrooms because her Dominican mother spoke limited English then.

That experience helped inspire Lowe to defend people who can’t advocate for themselves.

“Navigating a space, not knowing the language, being judged without being spoken to,” she said. “There are many similarities for people with disabilities.”

Today, at Garment District– based IncludeNYC, which advocates for children and young people with disabilities and their families, she is working to change things. She is responsible for communications, government and community relations, operations, evaluation and events.

Diane Breen, interim executive director of the organization, calls Lowe a thought leader for implementing programs such as College Is Possible and Outdoors for Autism.

“The disabilities movement,” Lowe said, “is really our generation’s civil rights movement.”

Lowe earned her stripes at the United Jewish Appeal, where she raised money for services for people with disabilities. Later, at Ramapo for Children, she oversaw professional development programs, training adults who work with at-risk young people.

She helped implement the City Council’s autism-awareness initiative and helped launch the international ReelAbilities Film Festival—for, by and about people with disabilities.

Her goals include “creating a more inclusive and better space in any way I can for New Yorkers,” she said.

Also on the list is learning to ride a bicycle, “so that I can go on a bike ride with my children,” said Lowe, who grew up in an apartment building in Elmhurst, Queens.

— JUDY MESSINA

Ethan Silverstein, 38 Executive vice chair, Cushman & Wakefield

E

than Silverstein’s first job out of Brown University was as an associate with Cushman & Wakefield in Midtown. He’s still there,15 years later, but now he’s an executive vice president, managing relationships with major clients such as Brookfield Properties, one of New York’s largest commercial landlords.

The youngest person in that position in the history of Cushman & Wakefield, he has transacted deals for more than 20 million square feet of space. His mentor, Chairman Bruce Mosler, credits him with having “superb judgment” and “a best-in-class approach to the business.”

“He’s disciplined and rigorous in his approach,” Mosler said, “and does not leave a stone unturned.”

Silverstein said that what attracted him to the firm early on was that it’s entrepreneurial.

“It feels like [I’m in] a startup environment,” he said, “but with the benefit of being at a company with the greatest brand in the world and in the greatest city in the world.”

He is on the board of the Northside Center for Child Development, which provides services to needy families in New York City, and he is a trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog organization.

“I want to be able to give back in a constructive way,” he said, “so that the city continues to be the epicenter of the financial and business world in the United States.”

As for real estate’s postpandemic rebound, Silverstein said he’s optimistic. “I see it coming back, totally,” he said. “I see companies spending more money per square foot for better, nicer buildings and for offices that can make the commute worth it.”

— JUDY MESSINA

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11/3/22 6:34 PM

Lindsay Kaplan, 38 Co-founder and brand officer, Chief

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Ryan Smith, 32 Chief executive, LeafLink

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annabis shops might sell a relaxing product, but the business can be stressful.

Sales are frequently in cash because most banks won’t provide service. The supply chain needs to be inside a single state, lest interstate deliveries trigger federal authorities.

Ryan Smith’s business, LeafLink, is designed to take the edge off.

“We’re the back office for cannabis brands,” Smith said of the Manhattan-based company.

Smith provides paymentprocessing and other such services to 3,000 cannabis wholesalers in 28 markets across the country.

Business is growing fast as more states decide it’s silly to collect zero tax revenue from such a large market. LeafLink’s backers include Lerer Hippeau and the family that runs JRT Realty.

Smith, who grew up on the East Side of Manhattan, has been an entrepreneur since he was a kid reselling old phones and trading cards on Amazon and eBay. He reckons cannabis growers are in for harder times ahead. Supply caught up to the pandemic’s spike in demand, but users might now use less as life normalizes.

Then again, maybe not.

By the way, Smith said he doesn’t expect New York to formally open recreational marijuana shops until the summer.

— AARON ELSTEIN

n 2018 Lindsay Kaplan was a successful vice president at mattress maker Casper, having joined the company at its launch.

She helped it grow into a $1 billion enterprise.

With big responsibilities at work, plus mentoring and public speaking, she felt the need to connect with women in similarly stressful, high-level positions. But she couldn’t find a place for that kind of support and camaraderie.

Today, thanks to Kaplan and her co-founder, Carolyn Childers, thousands of female executives have Chief, a Flatiron District– based private network that in March hit unicorn status at a $1.1 billion valuation, making it the only women-founded company ever to reach that stage so quickly. Chief has 12,000 members, plus 60,000 women from all over the world on its waiting list. Half of the members, Kaplan said, have had a promotion or pay raise since joining.

It’s not a “come one, come all” group. Aspiring members must apply. After vetting, about 20% are admitted. Chief focuses on the women’s years of experience— preferably 15 or more—the size of their department’s budget and how many people report to them.

Today 42% of members are C-suite occupants, Chief said.

“Our mission is to change the face of leadership,” Kaplan said.

“We wanted to start with women already in leadership roles, keep them there and make sure they have support to pave the way for others.”

“Lindsay is one of the best marketing minds I’ve ever met,” said Amani Duncan, president and CEO of BBH USA and a Chief member since its founding. “Chief was the answer I was looking for and didn’t even know I needed.”

Up next? Geographic expansion and doubling the membership of women of color to 36% .

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— JUDY MESSINA

Lachi, 39

Recording artist; songwriter; founder and president, RAMPD

L

egally blind, Lachi has defied the odds. The vocalist and songwriter is the founder and president of Recording Artists and Musical Professionals With Disabilities, an organization that advocates online for visibility, inclusion and accessibility for disabled artists in entertainment industries.

“I want to put disability culture on the map equal with other diversities we celebrate,” said the electronic dance music artist, who goes by one name.

This year’s Grammy Awards ceremony included a ramp, an accessible stage and American Sign Language in part because of RAMPD’s efforts. It was the first time the adaptations had been part of a music awards show.

Beyond the music industry, Lachi has promoted inclusion at the United Nations and other organizations. Recently she shook hands with President Joe Biden at a White House reception celebrating 32 years of the Americans With Disabilities Act. “There are so many different societal tropes aimed at Black women and women with disabilities as well as Black people with disabilities,” she said. “If you are able to jump through barriers and hurdles to see successes, it’s a huge feat and deserves to be celebrated.”

Lachi won an IndieFest Film Award and a Wavy Award for one of her music videos. She has been nominated for an Independent Music Award as well.

“She plays four instruments, she sings, she performs—and she’s blind,” said her manager, Joshua King of C Talent. “There are no boundaries.”

“I’m loud. I’m fun. I’m a fashionista,” Lachi said. “It’s all part of advocacy—showcasing that those who are disabled can be fun, fashionable, have sex, go on dates—and [helping] people be — JUDY MESSINA comfortable asking the hard questions.”

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11/3/22 6:29 PM

Lena Konanova, 39

Matt Melymuka, 35

Co-founder and managing partner, PeakSpan Capital

M

Founding partner, Selendy Gay Elsberg

L

ena Konanova knows firsthand the costs of living in a society without the rule of law. Fleeing religious persecution, she immigrated to the United States from a part of the former Soviet Union, now Ukraine, when she was 9 years old.

Today Konanova is a founding partner of the four-year-old litigation boutique Selendy Gay Elsberg. She joined the firm in 2018 with a group of fellow partners from Quinn Emanuel.

“It was a chance to build a firm from the ground up with the most talented litigators,” said Konanova, who is responsible for Selendy Gay’s recruiting and training programs, in addition to casework.

“I care deeply about the legal community and making it a more equitable place.”

Konanova’s clients include the liquidators of Fairfield Sentry, one of the largest feeder funds in the Madoff Ponzi scheme.

They are seeking to recover $6 billion of redemption payments from financial institutions. In this matter, Selendy Gay and co-counsel are suing more than 1,000 defendants in approximately 300 cases.

“We are up against many of the best law firms in the country,” Konanova said. “I am proud of the army our firm has built.”

In a suit against student loan servicer Navient, Konanova successfully represented public service workers who allegedly were misled about how to qualify for loan forgiveness. She also secured a settlement against the U.S. Department of Education for its failure to properly implement the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

“As a lawyer,” she said, “I’m committed to holding institutions and government accountable.”

— DIANE HESS

A

Stacey Matlen, 30

att Melymuka is not your average investor. As co-founder and managing partner of PeakSpan Capital, he leads a firm at the forefront of the growth equity space for business software sales.

Melymuka’s investment focus falls into three themes: sales technology, marketing technology and hospitality technology.

“We’re looking at companies who are more than a PowerPoint and dream in a garage,” he said.

Rather, he said, PeakSpan seeks businesses that have “delivered a product, real revenue and customers and have strong, emerging signs of product-market fit.”

PeakSpan has grown exponentially since its 2015 founding. Its first investment fund netted $150 million. The second captured $265 million. The third, $580 million.

With Melymuka at quarterback, the 25-person firm now manages $1.5 billion in assets.

“My whole purpose,” he said, “is to adjust all the content and information and meet all the companies, thought-leaders and research analysts I can so I can be steeped in the same trends and market forces and speak the same language as the entrepreneurs I’m dealing with.”

That willingness to speak the same language across a complex investment landscape has endeared Melymuka to his contemporaries.

“When people are engaging with him, they quickly lose any concerns of whether he has an agenda,” said Phil Dur, Melymuka’s PeakSpan co-founder. “As an investor and consigliere to —BRIAN PASCUS entrepreneurs, it’s an incredibly powerful combination.”

Vice president of innovation, Partnership for New York City

P

romoting public health through transportation is a guiding principle of Stacey Matlen’s career. In 2015, while studying for her master’s degree in public health at the University of Michigan, Matlen founded Cart.

The startup connected Detroit residents living in transit-sparse food deserts with rides subsidized by grocery chains.

“Through that experience, talking to folks, I recognized that it’s not just lack of healthy food that limited transportation hurts; it’s also access to jobs, to education, just seeing your friends,” Matlen said. “It helped me pivot my career toward focusing on transportation as a key fix to enabling access to all those other things that you really need to live a productive, healthy life.”

To that end, Matlen joined Detroit’s Office of Mobility Innovation in 2018. The experience was her first under-the-hood look at government operations and the challenges of quickly implementing new programs.

That’s why, to Matlen, her role now leading New York’s Transit Innovation Partnership— a collaboration between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Partnership for New York City—is an ideal fusion of the public and private sectors.

She joined the partnership in April 2021 as director of innovation programs; five months ago she became vice president of innovation.

Matlen describes her role as “fostering a culture of innovation” by connecting transit agencies with companies delivering creative solutions to tricky problems.

During her time with the partnership, she has helped test technologies that shrink agencies’ carbon footprint, boost subway reliability and promote riders’ return to mass transit.

“Government is the ultimate tool that can provide social equity,” she said. “If they don’t have the tools to respond, then we cannot succeed as a society. It’s really just helping the public sector do what they do best.” — CAROLINE SPIVACK

“

WHEN PEOPLE ARE ENGAGING WITH HIM, THEY QUICKLY LOSE CONCERNS ABOUT HIS AGENDA”

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11/4/22 11:49 AM

Dr. Rubiahna Vaughn, 39 Director of psychiatry, Einstein division; director of women’s mental health, Montefiore Medical Center

E Nolvia Delgado, 33 Executive director, Kaplan Educational Foundation

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“ David Do, 35 Commissioner, Taxi and Limousine Commission

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f you ask David Do what his priorities are for the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, he’ll say ramping up debt relief for cabdrivers, boosting accessibility options for New Yorkers and greening the taxi fleet with electric vehicles. In his first six months as commissioner, he’s off to a good start.

A city relief program has wiped out approximately $240 million in debt held by more than 1,100 taxi medallion owners in the past three months. During the week of Sept. 19, the TLC said, it closed one loan every three minutes.

The agency, Do said, plans to announce its approach to creating a more sustainable fleet early next year.

Through a proposed metered fare increase—the city’s first in 10 years—the TLC aims to more than triple the surcharge it collects to better support owners and drivers of wheelchair-accessible taxis.

“That is my passion: to come in and see where I can improve things,” Do said.

Do, who hails from San Jose, California, is the son of refugees from the Vietnam War. The first in his family to graduate from college, he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California at Merced, then a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Maryland.

After establishing himself as a community advocate in Washington, D.C., he led the district’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs under Mayor Muriel Bowser.

He most recently headed D.C.’s Department of For-Hire Vehicles during the pandemic.

“My passion was to improve the lives of our drivers,” he said, “and it still is.”

— CAROLINE SPIVACK

THAT IS MY PASSION: TO COME IN AND SEE WHERE I CAN IMPROVE THINGS”

hen Nolvia Delgado was growing up in Queens and Brooklyn, two things were non-negotiable: doing her homework and going to college.

She was the first in her family to attend and graduate from college, starting at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and then, with a scholarship from the Kaplan Educational Foundation, transferring to Smith College.

“It was a unique experience to be surrounded by women who wanted to change the world,” Delgado said, describing her Smith experience.

Now she is providing young people with financial support, academic advice and leadership training so they can go to college and succeed.

“Providing financial assistance and leadership development is a game-changer,” she said, “helping students fulfill their dream.”

After graduating from Smith, she worked for the Cypress Hills Local Development Corp.’s Promise Neighborhood program, where she built partnerships for its cradleto-college-to-career program and later for its community schools initiative.

Following that, she managed fundraising and charitable partnerships for Kaplan International in London. Then she joined law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton to oversee its college access program.

Today, back at Kaplan, based in the East Village, the former Kaplan Scholar runs the show, helping community college students transfer to four-year colleges and universities by providing them with leadership training and academic and financial support.

Dr. Nancy Lee Sánchez-Badillo, her predecessor at Kaplan, says Delgado is “well respected and fearless when it comes to making sure that high-quality education is more accessible.”

Delgado would like to write a children’s book some day, she said, but that’s on the back burner for now because “there is so much work to be done.” — JUDY MESSINA

very day that Dr. Rubiahna Vaughn goes to work as the director of women’s mental health at Montefiore Medical Center and director of psychiatry at its Einstein division, she is one of only two experts of her kind in the Bronx. The second one just started Sept. 1.

“I was carrying the flag alone in the Bronx for a long time,” she said.

Vaughn helps patients experiencing mental health challenges during pregnancy and after delivery, building services to patch holes in the city’s “broken” psychiatry system, she said.

Before working at Weiler, which is part of the Montefiore Health System, she started her career as a resident at NYU and completed her fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She worked at NYU before switching to Montefiore amid the Covid-19 pandemic. She “fell into” her role, she said, and now sees just how much patients need reproductive psychiatry every day.

“This world was not made for [women], and neither is psychiatric training,” she said. In the Bronx, “3 in 5 women of color will develop a mental health condition during pregnancy or in the year after, but only 50% will come for treatment.”

To address those issues, Vaughn launched a clinic and built an emergency consult psychiatry service as well as an inpatient perinatal consult service to take care of women with psychiatric concerns who are at Weiler having a baby or experiencing complications.

What’s next for Vaughn?

Continuing the work she’s doing and training “the next generation of doctors to take better care of women,” she said.

— JACQUELINE NEBER

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og lover Meghan Knoll has two rescues: Tonks and Fozzie Bear, mutts who have some German shepherd in them, she said.

For the past seven years, Knoll’s appreciation for pooches has guided her in her role at Bark, a publicly traded, dog-centered products and services company that offers monthly toy and treat subscriptions.

When she started at Bark in 2015, she ran its innovation and incubator program to come up with new product ideas. She took over Super Chewer, the company’s chew-toy subscription, and grew it to one-third of the firm’s toy business.

Today her goal as senior vice president of direct to consumer, a role she has held since October 2021, is to get customers to try all of the company’s offerings including BarkBox and Bark Bright. In her dream world, Bark will create experiences for its two-legged customers too.

“There are so many spaces in the U.S. where you can’t be with your dog, like some hotels and restaurants,” Knoll said. “I just want to make more spaces for dogs and humans and break out of product lines.”

Concepts such as BarkResort and BarkPlane, she said, could let humans share more moments with their pup.

“You don’t get a dog to keep them at home,” she said, “and yet 80% of the time as working humans, we have to keep our dogs at home.”

— NATALIE SACHMECHI

Steve Myrthil, 38 Vice president, IT, Westhab

W

hen Steve Myrthil was a freshman at Tufts University—the son of Haitian immigrants and one of three Black engineers in his class—he wrote about what he wanted to do when he graduated.

“I wrote that if I could use my technical skills to help other people, that would be the path I would take,” Myrthil recalled.

Today he is living that ambition, working to ensure that everyone, no matter their economic circumstances, can access the internet.

At Westhab, which builds and manages affordable and supportive housing, the vice president of information technology is transforming the way the Yonkers-based organization uses data to inform its work. He also is retrofitting older Westhab buildings and custom-designing new ones to bring broadband to some 10,000 residents. One project, at the Dayspring Community Center in southwest Yonkers in partnership with community organization Y-Zone, will provide broadband, free WiFi, training and Chromebooks to more than 500 families in the neighborhood.

“He is an expert collaborator, getting people excited and working with huge, diverse groups about a common goal,” Westhab President and CEO Richard Nightingale said.

Myrthil spent 12 years building and managing tech infrastructure and teaching tools at Achievement First charter schools, which grew from two to 36 facilities during his time there, and later at the Bronx Charter Schools for Excellence.

He continues to support educational endeavors as a board member of the Ascenders, which helps first-generation college students, transfer students and adult learners succeed in school.

In what he calls a “passion project,” he is working with a consultant to provide technology infrastructure to a growing network of schools in Haiti.

“The goal is start at elementary,” Myrthil said, “so that they are poised for the future economy and have the skills in place.”

— JUDY MESSINA

Salem Tsegaye, 34 Program officer for arts, culture and historic preservation, The New York Community Trust

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t least twice per week, Salem Tsegaye attends art shows or events, for both work and pleasure.

“It’s what I’d be doing anyway,” Tsegaye said, even if it weren’t my job.”

Her job is to manage a grantmaking portfolio of $5 million annually that supports arts- and community-focused nonprofits across the city and a broad range of disciplines for The New York Community Trust.

The money goes to fellowships for young, often historically marginalized artists, capacitybuilding at nonprofits with small budgets, historical and cultural preservation, and digital capabilities for archives.

Proposals arrive steadily at Tsegaye’s office—she doesn’t have to rustle up interest.

Her extracurricular participation means she is always observing what resonates.

“The most important part,” she said, “is staying attached to practitioners who are doing the work.”

In 2018 Tsegaye rejoined the trust after a hiatus to help launch the Mosaic Network and Fund, which was created to direct resources to arts organizations of color in New York City and to draw attention to equity in arts philanthropy overall.

Pulling together 27 donors and upwards of 200 nonprofit leaders to guide the fund was a leadership feat that attracted attention.

“She has an ability to move groups of people forward to positive change in a facilitative way,” said Kerry McCarthy, vice president for philanthropic initiatives at The New York Community Trust.

“One of her great traits is she laughs a lot,” McCarthy added.

“It creates a welcoming space for people.”

— CARA EISENPRESS

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Phoebe Robinson, 38 Comedian; actress; founder, Tiny Reparations

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Jonathan Kyriacou, 37 Chief operating officer, The Mount Sinai Health System

J

onathan Kyriacou is a New York guy through and through—and that includes in his job at The Mount Sinai Health System.

“Jonathan is a native New Yorker who brings his knowledge of the diverse communities we serve into his operational and strategic work,” said Dr. David Reich, president of The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens. “He was instrumental in creating a new Institute for Critical Care Medicine and in managing the remarkable challenges of the pandemic.”

As chief operating officer, Kyriacou’s daily to-do list has at least 15 items on it, and he said he probably gets only one or two items done. But his tasks are essential to keeping Mount Sinai’s eight hospitals running smoothly. He handles staffing issues, for example, and Mount Sinai’s expansion plans—which can be tough because the hospital is bordered by Central Park.

“No matter how much the business of health care changes,” he said, “my job is to make sure we’re still going to deliver it right.”

Kyriacou is Greek and grew up in Great Neck on Long Island.

Throughout his career, his mission has been to positively affect as many people as possible. He wants to keep scaling up, he added.

“I scale things I already do at a big level. [Mount Sinai] is a top 10 system in the country by size,” he said. “So even when I think about leaving New York—do I really want to leave New York?”

— JACQUELINE NEBER

t’s tough keeping up with Phoebe Robinson.

The talented comedian, actress, writer and producer has the ability to flow between television, film, books and podcasts, all while keeping things inclusive and wacky.

Robinson probably is best-known for 2 Dope Queens, the WNYC podcast turned HBO special that she co-created and hosted with Brooklyn comedian Jessica Williams from 2015 to 2019.

Robinson also has written three books, including the New York Times best-seller Everything’s Trash, but It’s Okay, a collection of personal essays. Four months ago the book was adapted into a Freeform TV series, in which she stars.

She attributes her ability to balance so many projects at once to her willingness to experiment, her passion for the process of creating stories and her openness to learning from others.

“I think I’m a yes person in terms of the universe,” she said. “I started out doing stand-up 14 years ago, and then I was, like, ‘Oh, I really like writing for fun, so I’ll do a blog for that.’ And that inspired me to do a podcast.

“I never want to do anything for the sake of doing it.”

In 2019 she signed a deal with ABC Studios to create Tiny Reparations, a production company dedicated to elevating the stories of women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community. A year later she founded a publishing imprint, Tiny Reparations Books, that was launched by Penguin Random House in partnership with Plume.

Robinson says being on the business side of entertainment has helped her gain a holistic perspective of her role as a creative, and she’s excited to continue working behind the scenes to elevate the voices of other artists.

“These industries are so hard—whether it’s film, TV or publishing—that you want to have people in your corner who believe in you,” she said.

“Who wants to be at the top alone? You want it to be joyful and fun.”

— TAYLOR NAKAGAWA

“

YOU WANT PEOPLE IN YOUR CORNER WHO BELIEVE IN YOU. WHO WANTS TO BE AT THE TOP ALONE?”

32 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | NOVEMBER 7, 2022

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FROM PAGE 3

helps therapists manage their practices and partner with insurers, but the firm has yet to invest in a mental health startup that specifically targets serious conditions, Toole said.

That isn’t for lack of trying. Toole said he has seen more startups addressing serious mental illnesses pop up in the last couple of years, and he has met several entrepreneurs who have startups in stealth mode, meaning they are in their early stages and have yet to launch publicly.

“This is just really hard to do,” he said. “You need to provide in-person care. You need to provide virtual care. You need to be with someone at a lot of moments of crisis.”

Plus, he said, the stakes of failure are high.

“If you don’t do something well

ness is Firsthand, which launched last year and whose investors include Google’s venture-capital arm, GV.

Restoring trust The Hudson Square-based startup partners with insurers to pair enrollees with “guides,” who understand or have personal experience with the challenges they are facing.

The guides connect their clients to community resources, find trusted health care providers and help them keep up with medical appointments.

Samir Malik, co-founder and CEO of Firsthand, said he is betting that the evidence-based practice of peer support will be both effective and scalable.

“A lot of folks who are out there struggling, they’ve lost trust in the system,” Malik said. “Someone who has that lived experience can repair that breach in trust.”

The startup’s health plan partnerships now cover about 55,000 people in Florida, Ohio and Tennessee. A New York footprint is in the works.

“Seven times out of 10,” Malik said, “these individuals will say yes to us, even though they’ve been saying no to so many other resources that the health system is trying to provide.”

He declined to disclose the amount of funding that Firsthand

“YOU’RE POTENTIALLY PUTTING A PATIENT’S LIFE AT RISK.” from day one there are real fundamental health risks,” he said.

“You’re really putting a patient’s life at risk perhaps.”

Among the early examples of startups tackling serious mental ill-

has raised to date, but he said the key to attracting investors has been to show how a startup focused on serious mental illness can achieve significant health care cost savings.

“These individuals tend to cost the system so much money because they’re unengaged and end up in hospitals and emergency rooms at such a high frequency and aren’t really adherent to standard medication routines,” he said.

“There’s a lot of opportunity to do better.”

Charlie Health was founded in 2020 and runs virtual intensive outpatient programs for young people and their families.

The startup, which has a presence in the city and is based in Montana, provides patients with about 10 hours per week of individual, group and family therapy sessions. Treated conditions include dissociative disorders, mood disorders, substance use disorders, trauma and behavioral issues.

Unlike Firsthand or Charlie Health, some early-stage startups focus on specific conditions within the serious mental illness category.

ISTOCK

STARTUPS

One such newcomer is Arise, a digital health platform based in New York. Designed to treat eating disorders, it launched in July with $4 million in seed funding.

A matter of time Toole said solutions that address a spectrum of serious mental illnesses, as well as such common co-occurring conditions as substance use disorders, are more likely to be attractive to payers and health systems. He predicted that point solutions that address a specific condition, such as Arise, and

mental health startups that provide a specific service, such as psychiatric care, will evolve into that kind of model as they scale.

It’s only a matter of time before startups that address serious mental illness are as ubiquitous as the Talkspaces of the world, he said.

But he said he does not expect that they will replace traditional providers. Instead, he envisions a climate of startups working in tandem with hospitals and community-based nonprofits that already serve the population, forming a more complete continuum of care. ■

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POWER CORNER

Born into public housing, Ritchie Torres now represents his neighbors in Congress INTERVIEW BY BRIAN PASCUS

R

ep. Ritchie Torres of the Bronx is one of the leading Democratic voices in the House of Representatives. Elected to Congress in 2020 after an effective seven years on the New York City Council, Torres has established himself as a liberal pragmatist—able to speak as cogently about cryptocurrency as he can about culture wars. When he took office at age 25, he was the first openly LGBTQ elected official in the Bronx. He’s now a member of the House committees on financial services and homeland security.

How did you get to your current position of power?

What’s been your greatest frustration?

Public housing has been both a source of success and frustration. We succeeded in putting more than $60 billion for public housing in the Build Back Better [bill].

Most of the $60 billion would’ve gone to NYCHA. We passed it in the House, but

fer from working at a municipal level?

The federal government is more complicated. Bicameralism is more complicated than unicameralism.

Even though we think of Congress as centralized, the City Council is even more centralized. The speaker is the center of the council; if you have the support of the

DOSSIER NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 15 ON HIS RÉSUMÉ City Council, District 15 (2014 to 2020) BORN Bronx, in the Throggs Neck Houses RESIDES Both in Washington, D.C., and in Belmont, Bronx EDUCATION GED, Lehman High School BREAKING THE MOLD While serving on the City Council, Torres teamed with Councilman Mark Treyger of Brooklyn to hold what’s believed to be the first-ever committee hearing at a public housing development. The council members asked the tenants to speak first. The tenant testimony was so powerful that Sen. Chuck Schumer called the next day to offer his help. A month later, Torres said, the federal government released $3 billion for repairs to public housing.

cashers. I’d love to explore how we could use blockchain technology to create a better, cheaper, faster payment method that lifts up poor people of color.

Who are your mentors?

ASHLEY HOLT

I admittedly don’t fit into the typical profile as a member Takeaway for of Congress. I don’t have business deep pockets. I don’t come professionals from a political family. I don’t even have a college Torres represents degree. What distinguishes me is that I bring to the District 15, home to table the wisdom of lived more than 732,000 experience. I know what New Yorkers in the it’s like to face poverty South Bronx. It’s one and inequality, housing of the poorest districts insecurity, food insecurity. I in New York City; the know what it’s like to have median household family members encounter the criminal justice system. income is less than I have knowledge of public $35,000, and 28% of policy deeply informed by families have fallen my own lived experience. below the poverty line I got my start in politics in the past 12 months. essentially as a housing The district is 64% organizer. I first ran for Hispanic and nearly public office at age 24.

I had no ties to party 33% Black. establishment, but I was young and energetic. I spent a whole year knocking on people’s doors. I went into people’s homes and heard their stories.

What’s remarkable is that seven years before that, I was at the lowest point of my life. I had dropped out of college and found myself struggling with depression and abusing substances. I attempted suicide. There were moments when I thought the world around me had collapsed. So I never thought, seven years later, I’d become the youngest elected official in America’s largest city, and today I’m a congressman. My story is unusual and unconventional, but in its own way, it’s profoundly American. the inability to pass it in the Senate has Where have you experienced your great- been a source of profound frustration for anyone who cares about public housing. est success as a politician?

I had a clear “why” when I ran for public office. I ran on a mission to advocate What did your time on the City Council for people in public housing, because I teach you about power? saw public housing and [the New York For me, power lies not in the limitations City Housing Authority] as the greatest of legislation but in the possibilities of safety net of affordable housing in the oversight. There are limits to what the city. If not for public housing, instead of City Council can do legislatively, but there tens of thousands, we’d have hundreds are no limits to what you can champion of thousands overflowing the municipal as a City Council member. The ability to shelter system. Public housing is the leverage your bully pulpit as an elected safeguard. It’s what saves us from official has no limitations. If you think of catastrophic homelessness. the council purely as a legislature, you’re I believe in my heart that I’ve had a real adopting a cramped view of power. role in raising consciousness about the value of public housing.

How does working at a federal level dif-

speaker, 99% of the time you can pass your bill and pass it easily.

In Congress, a bill can implicate multiple authorizing committees, it can implicate the appropriations committee, and it can implicate the rules committee.

And all of these committees are their own fiefdoms, have their own rules and norms and personalities. And you have to familiarize yourself with all those dynamics and navigate them carefully.

And even when you do, you’ve only passed it in one chamber of Congress.

What legislation would you like to become an expert in?

I have a fascination with blockchain technology and asymmetric cryptography.

I believe blockchain has the potential to create a financial system that has far less rent-seeking and far less intermediation than the one that dominates our society.

The traditional financial system is notorious for long delays and high costs that prey upon poor people of color. The most egregious examples are the check-

Apart from my mother, who is the most inspirational person in my life, there were four people who had a formative influence on me as a person and public servant.

Two are educators who’ve since passed away. I recently eulogized one of them, Robert Leder, at one point the longestserving principal in the New York City school system. And my assistant principal and social studies teacher Michael DeStefano, was the most brilliant person I’ve ever known, an intellectual inspiration to me.

Two people in politics who were central to my political journey are former Councilman Jimmy Vacca and his former assistant Jeff Lynch. Jeff gave me my first job in politics as an operative on Jimmy’s City Council campaign in 2005.

In life, you’re only as strong as the support around you.

Which historical figure inspires you?

There are many. One figure is Ida B. Wells. She’s an inspiration as a Black woman, as a journalist, who had the courage to stand up to Jim Crow, to the epidemic of lynching, the domestic terrorism directed against African Americans. It took extraordinary courage to do the type of intrepid journalism she did in the late 19th century, early 20th century. ■

November 7, 2022 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | 35

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