Crain's New York Business

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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Crain’s celebrates the companies and leaders making the workplace more inclusive

COMMUNITY-FOCUSED LENDERS

Organizations target gaps in nancing for small businesses

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AI HIRING

City employers will need to check for bias

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BLACK ANGEL GROUP

Collective started at Google scales into a wider investing club

PAGE 16

Vornado drops Pier 92 plan, angering neighbors

The developer will instead build a lm studio next door; critics call it a “sweetheart deal” at the city’s expense

BY NICK GARBER

As Vornado Realty Trust prepares to build a ashy lm studio on a long-dormant Hudson River pier, the developer has quietly foisted control of a decrepit next-door pier back onto the city.

Vornado won control over Piers 92 and 94—which jut into the river between West 52nd and 54th streets in Hell’s Kitchen—in 2008, when the city granted the company a

99-year lease to turn the former cruise ship terminals into a Javits Center-style trade show center.

But after making little progress in the ensuing years, Vornado and the New York City Economic Development Corp. are now seeking to amend the lease, allowing Vornado to instead build a 200,000-square-foot lm studio on Pier 94—and drop any plans for Pier 92, which was deemed structurally unsafe in 2019 after being eaten away at by marine

creatures.

at move has angered neighbors of the two piers, who say that Vornado, not city taxpayers, should be responsible for bringing Pier 92 back into good shape.

“It’s uninhabitable because the permitand leaseholder, Vornado, didn’t do anything to the pier in terms of investment for all the time it had the pier in its portfolio,” said Jeffrey LeFrancois, chair of Manhattan Community Board 4. “All we want is for something to

TRANSPORTATION

Madison Square Garden in talks to sell former Hulu Theater for $1B

actually happen, and Vornado hasn’t done anything in 14 years. Why now should we expect anything di erent?”

Vornado previously stopped paying rent on Pier 92 after the 2019 determination, though the company told CB4 last year that it has since resumed payments.

EDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball defended the deal in an interview, saying the

See DROPPED on page 26

POWER CORNER

Former mayoral candidate Maya Wiley on reclaiming democracy

MTA chief sets sights on boosting infrastructure investments

BY CAROLINE SPIVACK

The head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said May 17 that his sights have shifted to securing necessary dollars from Albany and Washington for major infrastructure projects now that the agency is on firmer financial footing with April’s state budget deal.

During an event hosted by Crain’s

at the New York Athletic Club, MTA

Chief Executive Janno Lieber emphasized the need for investments across its networks, pointing to the dilapidated Grand Central Terminal train shed that feeds MetroNorth Railroad trains into the station.

“We as a region have needs that far exceed what the federal government can provide, even in a pro-infrastructure era, and we have to start thinking and talking about that,” Lieber added.

The MTA’s $55 billion 2020-2024

capital program is loaded with spending on critical infrastructure upgrades throughout the MTA’s networks, including accessible stations, new subway cars and buses, and modernized signal equipment on the subway and commuter rail. More work is on the horizon and will be prioritized in what’s known as the MTA’s 20-year needs assessment, set for release in the fall. The document is a key planning tool for the authority that will inform what major projects make it into the next capital program. Lieber said federal infrastructure dollars but also enhanced state support must drive that conversation.

Fare evasion

The MTA is also focused on shoring up fare revenue. Fare evasion is a stubborn draw on the authority’s finances. Riders skipping out on fares cost the MTA some $690 million last year—that’s up from an estimated $500 million last year, Lieber said. Transit officials plan to experiment with modern fare gates to make it harder to dodge the fare. Mass transit riders were bracing for a 5.5% fare increase this year but

TRANSPORTATION

an extra $65 million from Albany in the state budget has reduced that hike to an expected 4% increase, meaning straphangers could pay around $2.85 when the increase goes into effect later this year.

Lieber noted that the authority is exploring discounts for riders who pay for weekly unlimited passes, but declined to share additional de-

tails on the measure.

“One of the things that we’re looking at though is discounting the weeklies and some of the rewards for frequent users, who tend to people of more limited means,” said Lieber, who noted those tend to be essential workers who rely more heavily on mass transit. “We want to make sure we use the fare

increase structure to support the equity and affordability goals I think everybody shares.”

Other takeaways

● Lieber said he’s confident congestion pricing will roll out next year, but would not endorse a specific tolling structure. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez on May 15 introduced legislation that aims to kill the program; he argued the toll would harm residents by pushing more traffic and air pollution into the Garden State.

● Lieber continued to voice support to renovate Penn Station as it currently exists, rather than waiting for a potential Madison Square Garden relocation. The MTA chief is facing pressure from the authority’s former leader, Richard Ravitch, to back a renovation plan led by Italy-based developer ASTM that would involve building a new entrance on Eighth Avenue. Lieber called that plan “wasteful.”

● Negotiations are ongoing with the powerful TWU Local 100 to secure a new contract. Lieber said that MTA workers deserve a raise, but did not specify how much. ■

Madison Square Garden nears $1B deal for theater

BY AARON ELSTEIN

Madison Square Garden is negotiating to sell its theater and a service road for about $1 billion to a private developer that hopes to demolish them to make way for a rebuilt Penn Station it would manage, according to three people familiar with the deal.

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The cost of the transaction would be paid by ASTM, the Turin, Italy-based infrastructure developer that proposes to renovate the nation’s busiest rail hub using private and public funds. ASTM has privately told multiple parties it has reached an agreement with Garden executives, but officially the firm isn’t prepared to go that far.

“We have a path forward to deliver our project that fully considers all aspects from property acquisition to construction; financing, and the long-term relationship between the new station building and MSG,” said Peter Cipriano, senior vice president for project management at ASTM North America, in an emailed statement to Crain’s.

Janno Lieber, chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation

Authority, suggested at a Crain’s Power Breakfast on May 17 that the cost to acquire the Theater at Madison Square Garden and build a grand new station entrance could be $2 billion. The structure on Eighth Avenue, which until the beginning of this year was called the Hulu Theater, contains the Garden’s mechanical equipment, which would need to be relocated.

“I’m not against it, I just want to make that clear,” so long as it does not siphon money from other transit priorities, Lieber said of the ASTM proposal. He had previously expressed skepticism about the flashy new proposal to overhaul the Midtown transit hub after a statebacked venture with Vornado Realty Trust stalled.

But on May 17 he praised ASTM for “continuing to raise consciousness” about the need to rebuild Penn Station, noting that members of the company’s team were sitting at a table in front.

“We can’t wait 20, 30-plus years,” Lieber said. “We’ve got to get it done now.”

The approximately $1 billion transaction between ASTM and the

Garden would transfer the 5,600seat theater and a service road located between the arena and office tower 2 Penn Plaza, two of the people said. In their place, ASTM would build a grand entrance to Penn Station from Eighth Avenue and a rectangular glass base surrounding the Garden, allowing natural light to flow into the basement train station from the west and east.

MSG would not confirm a deal is done but is “always open to discussions,” the company said in a statement. “As invested members of our community, we are deeply committed to improving Penn Station and the surrounding area, and we continue to collaborate closely with a wide range of stakeholders to advance this shared goal.”

Plans expected

ASTM is expected to unveil its construction and financing plans for rebuilding Penn Station next month, including the ambitious project’s estimated cost. The company has said it will pay to rebuild the station and cover any cost overruns in return for managing the station for 50 years. It has not said how

much it would charge transit agencies that use the facility.

Over the last month officials with ASTM have touted their plan as potentially cheaper than the $7 billion to $10 billion Vornado vision, which called for 10 new office towers that would generate tax proceeds to help pay for the new station. But Lieber said he has seen little to persuade him of that.

“It’s being represented that somehow it’d be massively cheaper,” Lieber said last month, “but it’s not explaining how, with so much higher cost of capital, you could possibly be that much cheaper.”

As for MSG, it has been selling assets to raise cash for Sphere, a cutting-edge entertainment venue in Las Vegas whose estimated construction costs have reached $2.3 billion, $1 billion more than initially forecast. In April, MSG sold its 67% stake in Tao Group Hospitality for $300 million in proceeds.

The firm chaired by James Dolan owns Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theater, so it would still have major concert venues in Manhattan even without the Garden’s theater. ■

Janno Lieber pointed to dilapidated structures like the train shed under Midtown during a live interview with Crain’s

THE REGION’S NEEDS “FAR EXCEED WHAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CAN PROVIDE”

BUCK ENNIS

THE MTA’S JANNO LIEBER (left) with Crain’s Editor-in-Chief Cory Schouten.

See renderings of the city’s new $780M soccer stadium

The Willets Point arena is a key component of the broader plan to revitalize the Queens neighborhood

BY EDDIE SMALL

The New York City Football Club has released new renderings for its eagerly anticipated stadium, set to open in time for the 2027 season as part of the broader plan to revitalize Willets Point.

e renderings show aerial views of the stadium

during the day and night, along with closeups of its main entrance and the inside of the arena near the eld. Earlier this spring the soccer team selected Turner Construction Co. and HOK to build and design the stadium.

e 25,000-seat stadium will run along the edge of 126th Street, and it will be the city’s rst arena meant solely for soccer. e privately nanced project is estimated to cost

$780 million.

e Willets Point redevelopment plan will also include seven buildings with 2,500 a ordable housing units, a 650seat public school and a 250-room hotel. Queens Development Group, a joint venture of e Related Cos. and Sterling Equities, is spearheading the project, which should start land-use review proceedings with the city later this year. ■

THE STADIUM will be designed to have seats that get fans as close to the eld as possible. It will also include a roof structure to keep fans dry if it rains and to amplify the acoustics.

THE STADIUM will include space for the headquarters of the team’s City in the Community foundation, which provides free soccer programming.

NYCFC HAS SELECTED Turner Construction Co. and HOK to build and design the stadium, which they hope to have open in time for the 2027 season.

THE MAIN ENTRANCE will be at the southwest corner of the stadium and feature dynamic images on game days.

AERIAL VIEW of the arena at night shows how it will t into the Queens neighborhood.

WHO OWNS THE BLOCK

New dispensary near the Bowery suggests how much area has evolved

Gotham sells weed products on street once shunned as a Skid Row

BY C. J. HUGHES

An investor with a knack for picking trends is hoping a place once avoided for its intoxicated residents will become a destination to stock up on marijuana.

Joanne Wilson, an early backer of blogs, eco-sensitive wood-framed buildings and vaporizer pens, has opened a new pot dispensary in the East Village near the Bowery, the street that in the mid-20th century was the city’s cheap hotel-lined version of Skid Row.

Gotham, the stylish 2,800-square-foot space at 3 E. Third St., may put an exclamation point on the neighborhood’s transition to gloss from grit. In addition to the typical gummies and joints, shoppers can browse tinctures, teas and highend throw pillows in an art-lined berth at the base of a luxury condo.

“We wanted to be in an area that gets a lot of foot traffic,” Wilson said of her dispensary, which opened May 11 and is Manhattan’s fifth since the state created its system for licensing legal adult-use pot shops in 2021.

But even though Manhattan’s other four dispensaries are all within a few blocks, Wilson believes her high-end boutique stands out. “We’ve taken it to a whole ’nother level,” she added.

For the venture, Wilson has partnered with Strive, a Harlem-based nonprofit that helps ex-convicts adjust to post-prison life. State laws mandate that dispensary licenses generally be awarded only to those with past marijuana convictions who also have some business experience or to nonprofits who work with clients who have been incarcerated. Strive gets 51% of any profits, which are reinvested in its mission, and Wilson takes home the rest.

In May 2022, Wilson purchased Gotham’s two-level space for $2.6 million, records show. Its seller was the condo’s sponsor, Calmwater Capital. Upstairs in the six-story Modernesque building, which is called 3E3, are five apartments.

The Bowery’s hotels—single-roomoccupancy structures that had cubiclelike rooms with chicken-wire ceilings and sat down the hall from shared kitchens and baths—have all but vanished in the past few decades. The Whitehouse at 340 Bowery, a holdout until recently, may soon become a luxury store. The Bowery Mission at 227 Bowery appears to be about the only major one left, and its survival may be helped by the fact that its brick two-building home is a landmark.

And despite a surge in demand from arriving migrants, there’s not always an appetite to open new SROs. A year ago, Mayor Eric Adams scuttled plans to turn a former Best Western hotel at Bowery and Grand Street into a residence for the homeless, for instance.

In the meantime, dispensary owners might take some solace in the social equity component of their products. Wilson is glad that Strive is undoing damage done to Black and brown communities from an overzealous war on drugs. ■

An auto-body shop, one of several that used to line the busy street, occupied this tiny site for years before giving way to Bowery Market in 2016, an open-air food hall with a half-dozen vendors. There’s been turnover in recent months. Sushi on Jones, which serves its raw fish omakase style, or chef’s choice, closed in April after a seven-year run. But Scott Marano, the food hall’s owner, said a vegetarian joint called Sunday will replace it. Marano’s development company, Ozymandius Realty, purchased the 1,600-squarefoot site in 2008 for $3.6 million, public records show. In 2015, Ozymandius and some partners sold a stalled residential development site at nearby 75 First Ave. to the Colonnade Group for $12.9 million. That site today is home to an 8-story, 22-unit condo.

Built as a metal shop, this six-story prewar structure with arched windows became a five-unit residential condo in 2007, around the time when this once-ragged strip began its upscale transformation in earnest and started to resemble affluent NoHo next door. But before men’s shelters for inebriates gave the Bowery a bad reputation, the area was a vibrant community of German immigrants. A newspaper that served them, the Plattdeutsche Post, was published at No. 344 before folding in December 1908. The failure sent its editor, Max Mansfield, into a tailspin, according to an article in The New York Times. Mansfield, a long-haired poet who was friendly with bankers and Supreme Court justices, killed himself in his office by inhaling gas about eight months later, the article said. “A pawn ticket dated July 3 showed that his clothes had been pawned to buy food,” it added. Mansfield paid $2.30 a week in rent for his space. In 2021, a two-bedroom apartment upstairs sold for $2.9 million. Records show that the last unit to trade went for about $3 million in 2018.

The 13-story mixed-use condo tower that hugs this corner offers an outpost of Sweetgreen, the fast-casual restaurant chain, and above it, five luxury homes, including four duplexes and a triplex. Architect Annabelle Selldorf designed the tower, and the firm Urban Muse developed it. Urban Muse, which also sponsored the condos One Beekman in the Financial District and 200 Eleventh in West Chelsea, appears to no longer exist, though a firm principal, Glauco Lolli-Ghetti, is now a principal at Palatine Capital Partners, an investment firm. No. 9/10, a three-bedroom duplex, is now being marketed for $7.5 million. In some ways, the project, which opened in 2017, typifies what’s happened in this stretch of downtown. The condo replaced the East Village Residence, a shelter that had been run by the Salvation Army since the 1950s. In 2011, Claude Louzon, a French restaurateur, snapped up the shelter for $7.6 million before flipping it to Urban Muse two years later for $19 million, records show. In 2016, Louzon opened Miss Paradis, a Philippe Starck-designed eatery on Prince Street in NoLIta known for its charcoal-infused cocktails. But Miss Paradis appears to have closed in 2018.

E. THIRD ST.

As of last week, the ground-floor retail space in this six-story condo, called 3E3, was home to Gotham, the fifth cannabis dispensary in Manhattan. The previous four are on Broadway, East 13th Street, Bleecker Street and Union Square West. In 2016, Wen Hui Chang sold the prewar building that once stood on this site to architect Alex Barrett and his development company Calmwater Capital for $11.5 million, records show. Alma Bank provided about $7 million in financing. Since 2021, Barrett has worked as the development director for the Hudson Cos., a major developer. Hudson is no stranger to the neighborhood. In 2008, in a partnership with New York University, it developed Founder’s Hall, a 26-story East 12th Street dorm that integrates the facade of a former church.

One of the last of the Bowery’s flophouses, the Whitehouse Hotel, hung on for more than 100 years at this site, from 1916 to just before the pandemic. Along the way, the population of the Bowery changed dramatically. Indeed, in 2000, the Whitehouse converted some of its floors into a hostel to appeal to budget-conscious travelers, though that plan appeared abandoned about a decade later. The 12,400-squarefoot brick structure, part of NoHo’s historic district, which limits its redevelopment while preserving its facade, is owned by the developer Renatus Group, which paid $8.2 million for the property in 2014, records show. In recent months, Renatus has been renovating the building, possibly to add a new retail space, based on signage. Renatus already owns storefronts installed with upscale shops in the Hamptons, San Francisco and Long Island, its website shows.

The Upper West Side’s Dakota apartment building reportedly got its name because it was located so far from the city’s heart at the time of its late 1800s construction. The nine-story former industrial building at this address is called the Wyoming, according to an inscription over its door, though it can be hard to believe that this historic area with roots to the earliest European settlers—17th-century Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant’s farm was around the corner—was ever as remote. During the loft-conversion craze of the 1970s and 1980s, artists moved into No. 5 and paid rent to the city, which had designated the building for an urban-renewal project but never tore it down. In 2008, the residents banded together and bought the building for $630,000 in cash, though they owe the city $470,000 per unit when they sell, according to news reports.

The Bowery Hotel, a 17-story, 135-room offering, surprised many when it opened on the site of a former gas station and garage here in 2004. After all, the Bowery was known for its cheap hotels and not places that charged $400 a night. A room with a queen-sized bed in mid-May was about $700. Its main development partners are BD Hotels, made up of Richard Born and Ira Drukier, and Sean McPherson and Eric Goode, a foursome that has created other stylish downtown lodgings like the Maritime Hotel on Ninth Avenue, the Marlton Hotel on West Eighth Street and the Jane at a former lodging for sailors in the far West Village. Like many of their hotel projects, the ownership structures are complicated. They originally built the hotel on land leased from Staten Island-based Woodcutters Realty Corp., which had bought it for $3.3 million in 1998, according to property records. The developers reportedly purchased Woodcutters a few years later. But the team ended up in court for years tangling with a fifth partner about control over the land.

5 E. THIRD ST.

344 BOWERY

347 BOWERY

335 BOWERY

348 BOWERY

3

340 BOWERY

LINDA ROSENTHAL Assemblywoman DOSSIER

INTERVIEW BY EDDIE SMALL

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal has spent 17 years in the state Legislature and was named chair of the Assembly’s housing committee after the 2022 elections. She is the first woman to lead the committee, which was formed in 1968, “so for the past 55 years, New York state housing policy has predominantly been shaped by men,” she noted. Although housing policies were largely absent from the recent state budget, Rosenthal does not view this in an entirely negative light, saying it reflects the growing strength of tenant activists, who are not willing to bend to developers’ priorities without achieving some of their own.

What was the biggest reason housing was left out of the budget almost entirely?

We don’t, in the Assembly, like a budget loaded with policy. It seemed like there were some options we could talk about and include things that tenants really needed, but there were way too many issues for one budget. There were many issues that affected many different communities, I don’t think any of whom actually had discussions prior to the introduction of the executive budget. We had an extra month, but that actually didn’t help with housing. A lot of time was spent on bail. It was just too much.

How did rent relief for public housing tenants emerge as the one major real estate issue to make it through negotiations?

[The New York City Housing Authority] came up here

JOB TITLE Member and chair of the housing committee, New York State Assembly

RESIDES Upper West Side, Manhattan EDUCATION Bachelor’s in history, University of Rochester

PET LOVER Rosenthal has two cats, Kitty and Vida.

BOOKWORM She is an avid reader and is currently trying to finish the new biography of former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. She enjoys mysteries for a lighter read as well.

MUSIC TO HER EARS Rosenthal’s list of favorite musicians includes legendary New York singers Patti Smith and Lou Reed, along with newer artists such as Courtney Barnett and Jon Batiste. She has time for classical tunes as well, with favorite composers including Handel and Bach.

MEAT-FREE The assemblywoman has been a vegetarian since 2011. “I was eating a lot of meat when, at the same time, I was sponsoring and passing bills to protect animals and working on animal welfare issues,” she said. “So I became a vegetarian almost immediately after that realization.”

every week, staffers and [interim CEO] Lisa Bova-Hiatt. She was up here very often pleading their case, which made a lot of sense. Plus, everyone is well aware of the plight of NYCHA’s infrastructure. They need $40 billion, and

Times Square Margaritaville facing foreclosure auction

BY C. J. HUGHES

The developer of the Margaritaville Resort Times Square seems to be having a bummer of a time staying current on his loans

A mezzanine lender is pursuing a foreclosure auction against Sharif El-Gamal, the chairman of Soho Properties, which developed the Jimmy Buffett-themed hotel at 560 Seventh Ave., according to a public notice published May 12.

The lender appears to be Corten

the law firm Paul Hastings, the notice says. Corten is permitted to force the auction under the uniform commercial code, which allows non-judicial sales for defaulted loans.

El-Gamal has said he spent $400 million to develop the hotel, a 32-story, 234-room offering at West 40th Street. The property itself cost $62 million in 2014, when El-Gamal purchased it from the New School, which once owned an academic building devoted to fashion at the address. At the time of the purchase, El-Gamal borrowed $63 million to finance his acquisition in a round led by Colony Capital, records show. In 2021

not returned by press time.

And Brock Cannon, who handles secondary-debt sales for Newmark and is marketing the auction, did not return a call for comment. Also Eric Allendorf, an attorney with Paul Hastings who is handling the auction, did not return an email or call. A message left for El-Gamal with Soho Properties was not returned.

But a spokesperson for the corporation that controls the hotel, which cut its ribbon in 2021 as the pandemic still raged, blamed Covid-19 and elevated interest rates for the property’s struggles.

they were dipping into their reserves, so there was a compelling case to be made. It was desperation, really. We had to do it.

Did you support the controversial housing growth requirements that were part of the governor’s plan?

I agree that we need more housing, but I can’t say that 3% or 1% is the right number for every locality. I think it needs to be more nuanced than that, and I think that’s where that part failed, because it was a blanket edict rather than a discussion about what would be possible. Having said that, a lot of those communities have resisted affordable housing because they don’t want the people who might live in those units. That’s just the historical fact.

How big of a role has “good cause” eviction played in recent housing policy debates? The sides are polarized. There is common ground, but there wasn’t an opportunity to fashion something that everyone could support. I do think the tenant movement showed its strength because, without getting certain items in the budget, nothing else went forward. It wasn’t like in the past: “You want 421-a? Here you go.” My hope is now that it’s post-budget, even though there’s not that much time, we can still accomplish something.

So you expect housing to play a big role in the rest of the legislative session?

It’s certainly my wish. Just because the budget was passed without any housing doesn’t mean the housing issues went away. Developers still want the 421-a extension. The city still wants its conversion of office buildings. I’m hopeful, now that the budget pressure has come and gone, we can have sensible discussions about the plight of tenants, what developers say they need and how to build more housing across the state. ■

Real Estate Management, which has $32.4 million in loans secured by the property, according to the firm’s website.

The auction, which is scheduled for July 10, will be conducted by city officials at the Midtown offices of

El-Gamal appears to have refinanced the loan with $150.1 million in financing from a limited liability company based in Delaware, OWS BCA Funding, which is likely when Corten was involved.

A phone message left for P.J. Yeatman, the managing partner of Philadelphia-based Corten, was

“The property ownership group has not been immune to these prevailing winds,” said Evan Laskin, Margaritaville’s chief investment officer, in a statement. But Laskin added that “the current ownership situation will have no guest impact.”

When Times Square’s Margaritaville, one of several hotels in an expanding global chain, opened two years ago, its press materials touted its “no worries vibe” and power to “transport guests to an island oasis in the middle of Manhattan.”

And after more than a year of

high-profile hotel closings in New York, the complex’s arrival was celebrated by some prognosticators as a sign that the city’s tourism industry was finally back. Clad in shimmering glass, the building features two rooftop bars that are popular destinations for office parties and a heated outdoor pool.

Joining Soho Properties to develop the 170,000-square-foot building site was Margaritaville Hospitality Group, hotel builder Flintlock Construction Services and IMCMV Holdings, according to press materials.

Buffett, a singer-songwriter known for laid-back-lifestyle anthems including “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Margaritaville,” has managed to leverage a cultlike fol-

lowing of fans into a multibilliondollar empire of resorts, bars, shops, casinos and residential communities.

The Times Square resort’s recent troubles are not the first that ElGamal has faced at the property. A synagogue once based at 560 Seventh alongside the school, the Garment Center Congregation, has sued the developer over allegedly reneging on a promise to reinstall it in the new Margaritaville building once it was complete.

“With callous disdain for GCC and its congregants, developer has utterly failed to honor its commitments,” says the complaint, which was filed in Manhattan’s Supreme Court in November and which is still being litigated. ■

The “no worries” vibe of the two-year-old resort is being put to the test

BLOOMBERG

Many unappealing paths forward for George Santos

To no one’s surprise, George Santos is facing a federal indictment.

The Republican congressman, elected last year in a Nassau County and Queens district that had been traditionally represented by Democrats, is a serial liar and probable fraudster, having fabricated almost every aspect of his resume. Prosecutors with the Eastern District of New York charged Santos with wire fraud and money laundering as part of a 13-count federal indictment.

Santos is alleged to have been involved in three separate schemes, with the largest part of the indictment accusing him and an unnamed associate of soliciting at least $50,000 in donations for what they claimed was a super PAC. Santos then pocketed the money for personal expenses, including luxury designer clothing and credit card payments, prosecutors said. Santos has pleaded not guilty to the charges and called the indictment, in true Trumpian fash-

ion, a “witch hunt.”

It is almost impossible to imagine that Santos will be a congressman beyond his first full term, which will expire at the beginning of 2025. If he manages to stand for re-election, he will have a primary challenge that he will struggle to survive. And if he makes it past the primary, he would be an incredible long-shot, given how scandal-scarred he is, to win a district Joe Biden carried in the last presidential election year.

In that sense, the Santos indictment is different than what Donald Trump is currently facing. Jail time, at least in the case of the indictment brought by the Manhattan DA’s office, is unlikely for Trump. Santos’ crimes, in the context of what the Department of Justice usually prosecutes, are far more straightforward.

Santos left behind an enormous paper trail that federal prosecutors will pick apart at trial. A lengthy prison sentence is probably in Santos’ future if he goes to trial and

loses, since federal judges and juries are usually harsher on those who fight their cases, particularly when it’s obvious some crime was committed.

Assuming Santos continues to proclaim his innocence, he could suffer a fate similar to Dan Halloran, a former Republican city councilman, and Malcolm Smith, a Democratic state senator who tried to run for mayor of New York as a Republican. Indicted by Preet Bharara, then the U.S. attorney for the Southern District, the two men were accused of orchestrating a bribery scheme to land Smith on the GOP mayoral ballot. Both went to trial and lost. Halloran was sentenced to 10 years in prison—he ended up serving half his sentence before an early release—and Smith to seven years, which he served out in federal prison before a transfer to home confinement.

Bargaining chip

Santos does have one crucial bargaining chip that ordinary defendants in the crosshairs of the feds lack: an elected position. Halloran and Smith would have faced lighter

sentences if they had pleaded guilty before their trials and resigned. Federal prosecutors are likely to bargain with Santos, offering him less time behind bars if he leaves Congress.

It should be remembered that an indictment or even a guilty conviction can’t force Santos out of Congress. The Constitution does not bar felons from serving. Santos can be expelled in a congressional vote but that is far less likely, for now at least, than Santos resigning amid pressure from the Department of Justice. Republicans hold a very slim House majority and know losing Santos will mean a Democrat potentially replacing him. If Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker, can forestall that possibility as long as possible, he will.

What happens if Santos resigns?

Depending on the timing, Gov. Kathy Hochul will call a special election and the local Democratic and Republican parties will each nominate a candidate to run. There is no shortage of ambitious Long Island Democrats who would want to be nominated. Tom Suozzi, the congressman who vacated the seat

last year for a failed gubernatorial run, could return.

Either way, keeping the district in Republican hands will be very hard for the local party, which has had to endure a barrage of ugly Santos headlines for the last six months. His bizarre tenure will keep Republicans on the defensive for some time

Quick takes

● Keep an eye on the 17th District north of New York City, where Republican Michael Lawler is going to have a hard fight on his hands to win a second term. Despite cutting a more moderate profile, he could lose if Democrats are motivated enough to show up in a presidential year.

● Mayor Eric Adams is probably hoping Helen Gym, a proud progressive with socialist sympathies, does not become the next mayor of Philadelphia. Progressives in New York who dislike him will be especially emboldened if Gym manages a primary victory on May 16. ■ Ross Barkan is a journalist and author in New York City.

A lengthy prison sentence is probably in Santos’ future if he goes to trial on federal charges and loses

ROSS BARKAN

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EDITORIAL

Employers must proactively address potential bias in AI hiring tools

In the shifting landscape that is the current-day workplace, the signi cance of diversity and inclusion has transcended mere buzzwords. Especially for younger workers, what was once a preference has become an expectation. Smart organizations that wish to attract and retain employees are prioritizing D&I initiatives, particularly in the hiring process.

One hurdle to hiring a diverse workforce is the widespread use of tools that rely on arti cial intelligence or algorithms. ese tools automate the initial screening process, saving time and expense for recruiters. But some high-pro le incidents show that these tools can build bias into the process.

University of Chicago experimented by submitting 83,000 fake job applications to 108 companies.

e researchers found that applicants with a “Black name,” like DeShawn or Imani, got fewer callbacks for entry-level jobs.

With this and similar reports in mind, New York employers are set to implement an anti-bias step beginning in July. As senior reporter Cara Eisenpress writes, employers will be required to conduct audits on automated hiring tools, looking for potential biases ingrained in the algorithms. ey will also be required to disclose whether they use AI in hiring and to share pertinent disclosures with job candidates.

NEW YORK EMPLOYERS ARE SET TO IMPLEMENT AN ANTI-BIAS STEP IN JULY

A few years back, Amazon discovered that its resume screener tool was biased against women. e algorithm had been trained using resumes of current, successful employees, who skewed male. In another famous case, economists from the University of California, Berkeley, and the

OP-ED

Local Law 144 places an additional burden on employers, no doubt. However, some of the country’s largest employers have joined an e ort, the Data & Trust Alliance, to prevent technology from perpetuating bias. ey assert—and we agree—that it’s better to address the potential dangers of algorithms in hiring decisions rather than react after discrimination becomes apparent.

Striking the right balance between human judgment and

automation is imperative in guaranteeing a genuinely inclusive and equitable hiring process.

Job candidates, increasingly, crave work environments where they can grow. Inquiries about a company’s sta diversity serve as a litmus test for its overall corporate culture. is trend is especially pronounced among candidates from protected backgrounds who carefully evaluate potential employers for their commitment to genuine diversity.

However, the value of D&I extends far beyond creating a

positive work atmosphere. Research consistently demonstrates that diverse teams spur innovation, creativity and e ective decision-making. Companies that prioritize D&I are better poised to thrive in an increasingly interconnected and globalized world.

Embracing and safeguarding D&I is not just a moral good but a business imperative. Companies that understand this will cultivate environments that attract top talent, fuel innovation and achieve sustainable success. at’s good for individuals, organizations and society as a whole. ■

Gowanus can create city’s next legacy

BY CHRIS FOGARTY

What if one of New York’s most polluted neighborhoods could emerge as a prototype for building healthy communities? With ambitious changes in Gowanus, this district o ers viable solutions to some of the city’s biggest challenges.

e sewage tanks and open space program are just two of the initiatives that are transforming Gowanus from an industrial area into a thriving community. New infrastructure is essential to support approximately 20,000 new residents in 8,500 apartments currently in design or construction (3,000 are a ordable apartments).

e rezoning process that concluded in 2022 came on the heels of an EPA Superfund cleanup that began in 2010 to decontaminate the canal and the land around it.   New Yorkers like a challenge. What if we see Gowanus as a test case for desirable, 21st-century neighborhoods built for climate resiliency and social equity and

providing much needed housing?

Gowanus can create New York’s next legacy.

As with any large change in a neighborhood, the character that makes a place so attractive can be lost. To prevent that from happening at Gowanus, during the rezoning, the Department of City Planning encouraged input from local community groups and housing

advocates. One result of this process was the “Gowanus Mix,” in which developers receive a small square-footage bonus for creating space for artisans and the arts, light manufacturing, and community groups.

Additionally, the new developments along the canal are ood resistant, aligning with zoning reg-

ulations for coastal resiliency approved in 2021 and the City’s Unied Stormwater Rule. e latter, which was rst implemented in Gowanus to protect the canal, is now required citywide. Alongside mandates for streets and sidewalks, it requires that large new buildings can manage stormwater on site. Further, the ood zoning requires that all residential uses be raised as much as eight feet above the ground, drastically reducing ood risks and insurance costs.   e ood zoning can also inspire creative solutions and incentives. In order to activate the streetscape, architects can use ood-proof glass to protect ground-level retail and keep pedestrian activity vibrant. To o set the expense of using ood-proof glass, which can be costly, owners can add residential oor area on the upper oors of buildings. is is a win for owners and city dwellers, because it keeps amenities such as

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shops and restaurants—critical amenities that bring life to neighborhoods—in local communities.

Outdoor amenities

Residents will also enjoy access to waterfront sites and open space in an area that desperately lacks it. Along with parklets along the canal, the city is developing several new public spaces and renovating existing parks. Powerhouse Arts will bring cultural activities into the community. ese citywide amenities will be enjoyed by residents of Gowanus and adjacent Brooklyn neighborhoods alike.

With housing, retail, and green space located just steps away from the waterfront, Gowanus is primed to be a citywide destination for business and development opportunities, as well as a gateway to the robust 21st-century urban lifestyle that we all need right now. ■

Chris Fogarty is co-founding principal of architecture rm Fogarty Finger based in New York City.

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New York needs to invest in its workforce

BY GREGORY J. MORRIS

Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, low-wage workers across New York City have been bearing the brunt of the economic downturn.

Those who work in face-to-face industries like restaurants and retail, manufacturing and construction accounted for three-quarters of the initi al C OVID job loss — and workers with a high school education or less and workers of color were hit the hardest. Not only did New York’s workforce fare worse than the rest of the country, but our post-pandemic economic recovery has also been slower. Today, the Black unemployment rate remains nearly four times higher than the white unemployment rate, and only onethird of the cit y’s young men are employed—a trend that has persisted for over a decade.

The New York City Employment and Training Coalition is relied upon to provide workforce development access to half a million New Yorkers every year. Our 220plus members provide skills training, employment service and individual support to job seekers — and we build employer partnerships and networks to make sure that New York talent can find a path to a living wage, prepare for in-demand occupations, or begin a second act career.

We are committed to the financial stability and economic mobili-

OP-ED

ty of working people in our city, but we do not see the investments in education and employment that are needed for those in under-

served and under-resourced communities to find a foothold.

Every budget announcement has its winners and losers, and right now, the losers are young adults and older adults, immigrants, justice-involved individuals, job seekers with disabilities, the over 80,000 human services workers (the

State lawmakers aren’t acting to stop the migration to Florida

BY HEATHER MULLIGAN

As Chair of the National Association of State Chambers, I often speak with my chamber colleagues from other states about issues impacting businesses nationwide. Our conversations of late have focused less on policy and more on demographic trends, specifically the shift of people and jobs to more business-friendly states.

Unfortunately, it’s not just grandparents leaving for the Sunshine State. More and more younger working adults are moving south and taking their wealth with them.

The Florida Chamber points out that $6.4 billion a year in taxable income is moving out of New York and into their state. The pace may not slow anytime soon as a recent poll by Siena College Research Institute showed 27% of state residents said they want to move out of New York in the next five years. There is a reason people are leaving. Despite the fact Florida’s population is larger than ours, New York State’s budget is double the size of Florida.

According to a research brief published in 2022 by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, New York’s state and local revenues and spending per resident were around $19,500 in 2019. That’s more than double Florida’s figure of $9,300. New York’s per-capita income remains much higher than Florida, but Florida has lower crime rates, fewer homeless people, and for the first time ever, more jobs than New York. In education, Floridians graduate from high school at a higher rate despite the Sunshine State’s substantially lower spending on a per-student basis.

majority of whom Black and Brown women) and New Yorkers in need of adult literacy services.

A budget that aligns with the mayor’s Working People’s Agenda would double down on all working New Yorkers. Instead, the city initiated hefty rounds of Program to Eliminate Gap plans while awarding new labor contracts that will create significant budget gaps for years to come.

The consequences to agency

cuts, municipal staff shortages and hiring delays are felt by the most vulnerable first, but those budget gaps — like the absence of wellresourced and coordinated train to hire efforts in public and private sector employment — affects all of us.

The pathway to “future-focused economy,” as highlighted in the city’s economic recovery blueprint, requires connections to quality jobs and in-demand skills. And the inclusive growth th at is necessary to become a more equitable city, as identified by the new New York panel, requires “more jobs in industries and occupations of the future, that are accessible to more New Yorkers across the city.” It is our growth that can sustain us. Without it, the city will continue to be forced to cut spending on essential programs and services from job training and continuing education to supportive housing and food.  Budgets are statements of our values. In a city where 50% of working-age New Yorkers are struggling to cover their basic needs, we must double down on the most promising job training initiatives while we expand broadband access and childcare. We can get this done; we just need to invest in our workforce instead of pretending we can’t afford to.  ■

My counterpart at the Florida Chamber of Commerce recently shared a marketing piece they use to lure people and businesses south. It states that in 2022 alone, more than 65,000 people exchanged a New York driver’s license for a Florida license.

Florida’s unemployment rate is half of New York’s while their real state GDP growth is more than double ours. And while New York State has a strong per capita GDP in the financial sector, many New York policymakers are hostile toward this sector and their employees.

As New York’s state-wide chamber of commerce, The Business Council has approximately 3,200 members; more than 70% are small businesses. Each day we hear from employers of all sizes telling us how mandates or policies impact their business. The most concerning calls are those from employers with operations in multiple states that can more easily shift investments and production to states more competitive for business. It is a reality that New York’s economic climate cannot compete with the lower taxes,

fewer restrictions and expanded economic development opportunities many other states offer to their business community and workers.

The political climate in New York is also far from welcoming. Too many elected officials express open hostility toward business, and even those who profess to support small businesses are often found supporting policies that impose additional costs, mandates and restrictions on employers, disproportionately impacting small businesses with fewer compliance resources.

Florida realizes the benefit of people voting with their feet, leav-

ing behind a state they say isn’t working for them. For those of us who are committed to New York and its tremendous opportunities, we need to voice our concerns using our most valuable asset, our votes. It is essential that we identify and support lawmakers that are committed to helping our economy grow, for the benefit not just of the state’s business community, but of its workers and residents who need expanded economic opportunities to remain in New York State. ■

Heather Mulligan is president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State.

Gregory J. Morris is CEO of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition, a workforce development organization.

BLOOMBERG

THE FLORIDA CHAMBER POINTS OUT THAT $6.4 BILLION A YEAR IN TAXABLE INCOME IS MOVING OUT OF NEW yORK AND INTO THEIR STATE

THE BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT RATE REMAINS NEaRLy FOUR TIMES HIGHER THAN THE WHITE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

THE LIST

NY AREA’S LARGEST MINORITY-OWNED COMPANIES

Ranked by 2022 revenue

Sigma Plastics retains top spot despite 10% decline in revenue

Sigma Plastics Group, a New Jersey-based packaging company once again reigned supreme on this year’s largest minority-owned businesses list. The company brought in $2.25 billion in revenue in 2022, a 10% decline from last year.

Goya Foods also held steady in the second place slot, bringing in $2 billion of revenue last year, the same as 2021. Pride Global, a staffing agency located in Midtown, brought in just under $1 billion last year, securing the third-place slot and a 144% jump in revenue. Similarly, Mindlance, an Asian-owned staffing and consulting firm in New Jersey that focuses on mindfulness and diversity, grew by 35% after notching 33% growth last year. On average, the firms across the list made $317 million, an 11% drop from last year. The total revenue from firms on the list amounted to more than $6.3 billion. The firms on the list employ more than 2,600 local employees and more than 13,000 globally. Of the top 20 firms, 60% are located in Manhattan, 25% are located in New Jersey, 10% are on Long Island and 5% are in Westchester. The highest share of companies on the list, 45%, are Asianowned, and 50% of the companies on the list are in the construction, architecture and engineering industry.

NewNewYorkYork areaareaincludes NewYorkCity andNassau,SuffolkandWestchester countiesinNew York,and Bergen, Essex,HudsonandUnion countiesinNewJersey.To qualify, a companymust be headquartered in the NewYork areaandestimated to be atleast 50%ownedbya racialminority group. Crain's NewYorkBusinessuses staffresearch,extensive surveys andthemostcurrentreferencesavailabletoproduceitslists, butgiven

of privately held companies, itis not possible to identify and include every qualified company.

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FINANCIAL SERVICES

Jamie Goris has joined J.P. Morgan Private Bank in New York City as an Executive Director and Banker. Jamie provides wealth guidance to principals of hedge funds, CFOs of family offices, portfolio managers, financial professionals and other successful executives. She is attuned to the distinctive requirements of an accomplished clientele, and strives to simplify their complex financial lives, and build their legacies. Jamie joins the firm from Bank of America.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

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LLP

Kathleen (Katie) Quinn has joined law firm Jones Walker’s premier Tax Practice Group in the New York office, representing a strategic and continued expansion of the firm’s SALT presence in the Northeast. Katie advises multinational, national, and regional businesses, as well as high-net-worth individuals, on the full spectrum of state and local tax matters, including income taxes and sales and use taxes. She has represented clients at every stage of state and local tax controversies.

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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

In assessing the impact of D&I, there are plenty of stories to tell

NEW YORK CITY COMPANIES LIKE TO SEE RESULTS. Appropriately, then, rms are beginning to assess the impact of three years of renewed focus on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

For the third year in a row, Crain’s has found no shortage of stories to tell at the intersection of business and D&I. We have also featured nearly 30 nominated nalists in four categories in our Diversity & Inclusion Awards, emphasizing the most innovative and effective programs.

One such push comes from a group of lenders called community development nancial institutions. We feature Accompany Capital, a 25-year-old lender dedicated to underwriting loans for small businesses started by New Yorkers from all over the world. The federal government is now paying attention to Accompany and its ilk, extending $90 million in grant funding to such institutions in the ve boroughs—almost like a company D&I program writ large.

There is also news about a city rule aimed at legislating hiring bias, which takes effect this summer. You’ll read about the Black Angel Group, a self-run seed-stage investing initiative that began inside Google with a group of Black tech types combining their professional expertise and lived experience to encourage the next generation of wealth.

Diversity is itself diverse, and the Crain’s staff considered ethnic and racial background, immigration experience, ability and sexual orientation as we put together our stories. Not every experience is mentioned here. We welcome your thoughts about our approach and encourage you to apply next year.

Finally, we invite you to join us at the June 13 live reveal of the D&I awards program winners, as we toast to the New York leaders who remove barriers and make business more inclusive and equitable.

–Cara Eisenpress, senior reporter

Community-focused lenders target gaps in small-business nancing

Community development nancial institutions fund a diverse range of entrepreneurs in a quest to make business fairer

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

Small businesses make up more than 90% of private rms in the city, but they face an estimated $45 billion annual gap in the funding they need, felt most acutely by minority-, immigrant- and women-owned businesses.

To address disparities in small-business nancing, policymakers are increasingly turning toward community development nancial institutions. e federally designated lenders focus their work on either low-income neighborhoods or historically disadvantaged populations—using a mix of government and philanthropic aid.

ese under-the-radar institutions,

known as CDFIs, stepped into the spotlight during the pandemic by distributing billions of dollars in government aid to businesses, and they now see an opportunity to build on that work to scale up and help underserved business owners grow. e Biden administration allocated $1.7 billion in federal grants last month to the institutions across the U.S., including nearly $90 million to CDFIs based in the ve boroughs.

“ ere are entrepreneurs and smallbusiness owners with big plans and a vision for the future—folks who want to build a brand, buy inventory, invest in online ads and hire more workers, but who cannot because they simply don’t have access to the capital or nancial services they need,” Vice

President Kamala Harris said at the April announcement, citing low rates of borrowing among Black, Latino and AsianAmerican immigrant business owners.

But there will be challenges for CDFIs to scale up in the city, where the institutions still represent less than 1% of all smallbusiness nancing. Most CDFIs are small organizations and rely on labor-intensive practices to vet and, often, mentor the business owners they fund.

“CDFIs have shown we do great work, but we do have limited resources,” said Yanki Tshering, founder and executive director of the Lower Manhattan-based Accompany Capital, a nonpro t CDFI lender.

See FINANCING on page 14

D&I AWARD WINNERS

Crain’s will host a live reveal of the winners of its third annual Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Awards at a breakfast from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 13.

The honorees are individuals and companies in the New York City metro area that are leading by example and holding themselves and others accountable for diversity and inclusion initiatives. They were independently selected from among 45 applicants in six categories: Diversity Champions Small, Medium and Large; Showing the Way; Emerging Leaders; and Diversity & Inclusion Of cer. Pro les of the nalists start on page 17. To register for the event, visit CrainsNewYork. com/D&I2023.

LEADING Morgan Stanley client adviser honored by Crain’s for diversity and inclusion work

“ e pandemic has shown us the need to nd ways to increase our impact.”

‘Story lenders’

ere are more than 1,400 certi ed CDFIs in the U.S. In the city, 36 CDFIs are focused on lending to small businesses, according to a December report from the Center for an Urban Future, a Lower Manhattan think tank.

e Center for an Urban Future cited the $45 billion annual small-business funding shortfall— rst published in a report from advisory rm Next Door—as evidence that local policymakers should help CDFIs scale up. e institutions o er small loans that

most banks no longer bother with, and they have a proven track record of nancing immigrant-, women- and minority-owned businesses, the Center for an Urban Future report said.

“CDFIs are story lenders,” said Eli Dvorkin, editorial and policy director at think tank. “ ey are willing to invest the time needed to really understand the full picture of who their borrowers are—the challenges, the needs and the opportunities.”

More than 70% of CDFIs reported that the majority of their clients are racial or ethnic minorities in the most recent Federal

Reserve CDFI Survey. Dvorkin said an analysis by CUF of new business starts has shown a signi cant increase in entrepreneurship, with the strongest growth in the Bronx and Brooklyn, indicating a likely increase in minority-owned businesses post-pandemic.

Accompany started in 1997 under the name Business Center for New Americans, launched out of an organization dedicated to settling World War II refugees. e nonpro t wrote three loans, totaling $50,000, during its rst year of operations. Last year Accompany Capital wrote 204 new loans, totaling $6 million, with 90% of the money

going to immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs and 55% of it going to women entrepreneurs throughout the city.

e lender often starts with early-stage businesses and helps guide their development, writing much smaller loans than larger commercial banks o er.

“We were so small we didn’t have the metrics for regular banking,” said Roxane Mollicchi, co-founder of Wandering Barman, a canned craft cocktails business that received a $30,000 loan from Accompany when it was starting out in 2019. “ ey took the time to hear the vision from our team and saw that we were very serious.”

Accompany’s loans have scaled up with Wandering Barman, including a $250,000 Small Business Administration-backed loan to create a tasting room and production facility that employs eight people and

CDFIS STILL REPRESENT LESS THAN 1% OF SMALLBUSINESS FINANCING

THE PERCENTAGE OF NON-WHITE EMPLOYEES IN OFFICE JOBS, MANAGEMENT AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT IS MAKING A SLOW UPWARD CLIMB

ROXANE MOLLICCHI is co-founder of Wandering Barman, which received a loan from Accompany Capital when starting out.

distributes its products to nine states.

e lender has helped launch businesses such as Ladoux Beauty Bar in Flatbush. Owner Awa Konate arrived in the U.S. from Burkina Faso in 2012 and worked at a hair braiding salon. She eventually rented a chair at a friend’s salon and launched her own business in 2015 with nancing from Accompany Capital, which also gave her a loan to move to a new location four years later. ere, Konate now employs two employees.

Accompany helped her with the paperwork and licensing to launch the business, Konate said. It also regularly checked in with her in 2020 when the city closed for Covid-19—and it was able to provide a pandemic grant to help the business survive.

“ ere are no customers and you still have to pay the bills. It was really tough,” Konate said. “ en one day I got another call (from Accompany Capital) saying we have something for you, and I was so grateful for that.”

Pandemic aid

CDFIs overall played a large role in distributing pandemic aid such as Paycheck Protection Program loans. After witnessing the unequal distribution of early funds through commercial banks, the government dedicated more relief funding in subsequent rounds directly to CDFIs. Community lenders in New York provided just under $300 million in loans and grants, including PPP funds, and helped with just under 30,000 Covid-19 disaster loan applications, according to the Center for an Urban Future report.

e recent funding announced by the Biden administration followed a string of federal investments in CDFIs, including $12 billion designated for community lenders and Minority Depository Institutions through the 2020 Cares Act.

Scaling up

Advocates such as the Center for an Urban Future say there is more to be done at the local level if CDFIs are to grow beyond the 0.4% of small-business capital they currently provide in the city.

City employers required to check their AI hiring bias

BY CARA EISENPRESS

City employers will add an extra step to their hiring processes this July, when they will be required to have all automated hiring tools audited for bias. Also, they will be obligated to share certain disclosures about the results with job candidates.

e upcoming law has brought attention to a larger question for employers and job seekers, which is especially pressing as arti cial intelligence tools blast their way into o ce work. What, they want to know, is really the best way to identify and combat hiring bias—with automation or without it?

$90M AMOUNT of federal money allocated to community development nancial institutions in New York City in 2023 $45B

ANNUAL smallbusiness funding shortfall, according to Next Door

Community lenders face operational challenges in having the sta ng to vet loans and marketing to reach customers, the Center for an Urban Future report noted. Many also lend directly from their balance sheet, requiring them to raise additional equity for loan-loss reserves as they grow their lending.

“ ere’s a lot of buzz around the way that processes in the hiring process could be biased,” said Vik Bhagarva, assistant professor of strategic management and public policy at the George Washington University School of Business and an expert in the intersection of AI and the future of work. “But it’s important to stress we’re not that great at it either as humans.”

to retain bias, even if a tool passes the test. at could give companies a false sense of accomplishment if their tools make it through the audit.

Addressing bias

Lenders such as the Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, a CDFI, spent the early weeks of the pandemic responding to a massive stream of emails and trying to help struggling business owners.

“I do think that if the miserable early days of the pandemic in Brooklyn had a silver lining, it’s that the work we were doing and the work our small businesses were doing to keep a oat was recognized and rewarded with real dollars going forward,” said Samira Rajan, CEO of Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union.

e credit union expects to originate about $1 million in small-business loans this year, at an average size of $20,000. Brooklyn Cooperative also expanded with a new branch in East New York earlier this year.

e group recommends state and city o cials focus on providing operational capital and marketing resources to the organizations, including partnering directly with them on small business lending and grant programs. e city Small Business Services Department did just that earlier this year, tapping CDFIs to help distribute a record $75 million small business recovery loan fund. Better technology could help community lenders process applications more quickly, but a balancing act is necessary to avoid losing the personal touch. Tshering, Accompany Capital’s founder, said the type of long-term relationships that the lender builds with entrepreneurs can’t be easily replicated on Zoom.

Last year Accompany Capital received a grant to improve its technology from Google through the Opportunity Finance Network, a CDFI trade group. Tshering said the organization is searching for ways to not only serve more businesses but provide a broader range of products, including lines of credit, to help entrepreneurs—particularly as the rms report rising rents and other costs.

“ e pandemic really brought home the point in how limited the savings are for most small businesses,” Tshering said. “So we are thinking through, how do we provide not just the right capital for the needs of our clients, but other services and information to become more resilient businesses?” ■

e city’s rule is called Local Law 144 and rst came before the City Council in early 2020; the council passed the bill and it became law in 2021. e city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection has been completing details on how the rule will actually work for the past six six months, eventually delaying implementation until this summer.

Its goal started out simple: to reduce discrimination against job applicants who are people of color.

“ ere has been no reduction of discrimination against Black job applicants in a quarter of a century and the results are hardly better for Latinx applicants,” former City Council member Alicka Ampry-Samuel said at the bill’s introduction. “ is should absolutely be horrifying to the city, especially one that counts its diversity as among its greatest assets.”

“Job applicants,” she continued, “deserve the right to know that they are being evaluated and the fact that they are being evaluated without any bias.”

Existing laws

Ampry-Samuel and other sponsors acknowledged that there are already federal and local anti-discrimination laws governing hiring. But they argued that the additional regulation would ensure compliance, especially as companies increasingly turn to automated screening to get through big piles of résumés or evaluate rst-round video interviews. Local Law 144 mandates that companies conduct so-called bias audits on each of these tools each year and disclose to applicants that they are using such tools. e law is among the rst local attempts to govern AI in commercial uses, a topic now in the spotlight.

But there are myriad ways for humans

“It doesn't solve a manual problem that has to do with outreach,” explained Regina Gwynn, co-founder of Black Women Talk Tech. “Companies choose certain schools to recruit at, like Harvard, Yale or MIT. Whereas Baruch or Fordham might have the same kind of great talent but aren’t in the Ivy League. ere is a lot of bias inherent there.”

In addition, employers will have to post information if they nd that there is a socalled disparate impact in their tools. In the best case, potential applicants will feel as though the process is transparent.

In the worst case, however, companies could end up in big trouble, said Eric Sydell, a researcher at Cleveland-based hiring tools company Modern Hire, which counts about 700 global enterprises and half of the Fortune 100 companies as customers. Just under 10% of Modern Hire clients are headquartered in New York state.

Sydell cautioned that disparate impact calculations depend on very small sample sizes and could be unreliable. “What does a candidate do with a calculation that shows one person in a protected class scores slightly di erent?” he asked. If found to be discrimination, such unequal treatment would be illegal, he said.

Channeling larger, societal problems about what happens when too much is deferred to the algorithms, associate professor Bhagarva said employers should not risk diminishing the subtle, human-centric qualities by which they evaluate candidates.

“[ e law] nevertheless doesn’t settle the question of whether that’s su cient grounds to automate the process and then defer entirely to the output that the algorithm recommends because there could be something lost there,” Bhagarva said. “Namely, the value of us being able to choose whom we relate to in the workplace.” ■

Local Law 144, taking effect in July, is an attempt to govern arti cial intelligence in commercial uses

YANKI TSHERING (center) is founder and executive director of Accompany Capital, a nonpro t CDFI lender that wrote 204 new loans last year.

Black Angel Group, started at Google, scales into a cross-company investing club

BY CARA EISENPRESS

Jackson Georges Jr. joined Google’s New York o ce in 2015 on its human resources team. He learned the job, then sought out the Black Googler Network, one of the company’s employee resource groups—communities where employees of similar backgrounds gather for networking and support and sometimes to bring perspective on core business initiatives from hiring to user experience.

Six years later, he's pushing new boundaries in the tech industry. Georges was among a group of about two dozen who started an independent angel-investing collective inside Google called the Black Angel Group. e pitch: to extend the internal success of high-level Google employees and invest in Black startup founders that continue to receive a sliver of the funding available.

“People think about ERGs as the development that the employee gets,” Georges said. But he came to believe participation went the other way. As he became the lead for the Black Googler Network in the city, his thoughts coalesced around what he could do for the wider community. “It’s about our ability to give back, because we recognize the privilege we have in the space as Black Googlers,” he said.

at inkling followed Georges as he built his career at Google, now Alphabet. Eventually he co-led the New York Black Googler Network. He is now based in the Bay Area as a partner at Alphabet’s independent growth rm, CapitalG.

‘A ywheel of perspective’

In a little more than a year, the Black Angel Group has helped deploy that internal talent and money outward. It has grown from 25 members to 150. Although independent from Google, the company has supported the Black Angels’ e orts to scale.

“ ink of it as a ywheel of perspective,” said Bonita Stewart, another founding member who is board partner at Alphabet’s ear-

ly-stage arti cial intelligence-focused venture fund, Gradient Ventures, which is based at Google’s o ce in Chelsea. “When founders start early in terms of diversifying their cap tables”—their list of investors—“it offers them a clear trajectory for diversi cation.”

Black venture-backed founders close only about 1% of funding deals; just 4% of venture capitalists are Black. Inside tech companies, representation is somewhat larger—Black professionals account for

about 8% of tech workers.

“When I think about Googlers who are making a di erence, they’re thinking, ‘How can I take the combination of my professional expertise and lived experience and create a resource to support others?’ ” said Jonathan Priester, global community inclusion lead at Google’s New York o ce.

e Black Angel Group made its latest advance in early May, opening up membership to Black employees at a group of

high-performing tech companies. So far, the collective has sourced and screened 500 early-stage startups; members have invested more than $2 million in 22 deals so far.

Like other angel collectives, the group pools resources to screen pitches and help founders. Each member is on a team that tackles one part of the operation, from sourcing potential deals to evaluating proposals. On Friday mornings, the full group can join conversations with founders. Later, interested individual members make investments, sometimes in partnership with venture-capital funds.

Operational support

Members with relevant experience from Black Angels then provide operational support to the portfolio. e networks of the group members are often more diverse than the startup norm, thanks to relationships built in college and at ERGs at Google or previous companies. ere is not a mission to invest only in minority-owned companies, but so far half of the founders of the group’s portfolio are from groups underrepresented in the startup world.

“ e true mission is about increasing black capital and black investors in the ecosystem,” Georges said.

e result is that a founder’s earliest investors are tech executives at the top of their eld, whether in venture capital, engineering, product, design, human resources, sales or go-to-market, “who happen to be Black,” Georges said. e set-up o ers a combination of inclusivity, access to skills and access to capital that they might not nd in many other boardrooms. As in other boardrooms, the underlying mission is not philanthropic.

“We are investing for nancial returns,” Georges said, “always with the goal of increasing nancial return for our members.” ■

THE BLACK ANGEL GROUP has helped deploy internal talent and money outward.

MEMBERS OF the angel-investing collective include Jason Scott and Bonita Stewart.

PHOTOS, BUCK ENNIS

How an independent collective used its network and know-how: ‘It’s about our ability to give back’

MEMBERS SO FAR HAVE INVESTED MORE THAN $2M IN 22 DEALS

Diversity champions

INCLUSION UNPACKED

Inclusion Unpacked is a businessto-business membership group founded by Tori Bell, who previously managed internal culture and community at Facebook.

While at Facebook, Bell established a 3,000-member employee resource group called Black Women at Meta.

With Inclusion Unpacked, Bell is building an education-focused community for companies seeking to improve the inclusiveness of their workplace. Its focus is on early-stage companies. Bell was profiled in Forbes earlier this year.

“Early companies oftentimes are so focused on surviving and building a profitable product that they neglect the critical components of building inclusive organizations,” Bell told the publication. “We provide a centralized resource that these organizations can leverage as they grow and scale.”

Inclusion Unpacked was a Columbia Business School Summer Pitch Competition winner. It has grown to 40 member companies this year.

The membership group is organized around four components, as described by Bell, that businesses can follow as they grow to promote inclusion. Bell said efforts should be personal, applicable and community-driven and powered by know-how.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AWARDS

SMALL FIRMS This award recognizes organizations with fewer than 100 employees that have committed to a diverse workforce and have programs or initiatives advancing diversity in the workplace

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

COHEN ZIFFER FRENCHMAN & MCKENNA

The insurance recovery boutique law firm Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna, founded in 2021, has steadily built up a diverse staff.

That has been a priority from the start for its chair, Robin Cohen. “I admit to taking pride in the fact that the first name of our firm is a woman’s,” she said in a press release at the time of the firm’s launch. “We are determined to recruit and retain diverse lawyers because, among other reasons, diversity on our teams enhances our work and maximizes the results we achieve for clients.”

After launching with 12 attorneys, the firm has grown to 31 lawyers and 44 employees. Four of its equity partners are women, and five of the firm’s new associate hires are from groups underrepresented in the legal profession.

To help the attorneys move up through the ranks, the firm has launched an associate training program that mentors young lawyers within Cohen Ziffer Frenchman & McKenna. The firm sponsors its attorneys’ involvement in groups such as the LGBTQ+ Bar and the South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey.

To encourage a wider pool of job candidates, the firm has bolstered its parental leave policies and flexible scheduling.

COPY & ART

Copy & Art is a White Plains-based boutique advertising agency that has been focused on diversity, equity and inclusion since its inception.

The advertising agency, which employs 14, is a woman-owned-certified minority business enterprise. Founder Elena Rivera-Cheek has been asked to speak about DEI at several events and conferences. Most recently she spoke at the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors’ DEI Summit.

Copy & Art’s team of employees is 75% women, 40% minority and 35% minority women. The firm partners with local colleges to broaden its employee pipeline and supports DEI-focused networking groups, including the Westchester Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Westchester Multicultural Chamber of Commerce and the Women’s Enterprise Development Center.

“We recruit, hire and retain with a high level of intentionality to ensure our employee base reflects the diverse demographics of the country and world,” Rivera-Cheek said in a submitted statement. “It’s proven that diverse teams produce diverse ideas that move the needle in marketing.”

Last year Copy & Art was honored by the Business Council of Westchester as a Hall of Fame winner in the minority business success category.

GENESIS COS.

Genesis Cos. is a 38-employee real estate development firm that specializes in mixed-income and affordable housing in New York and New Jersey.

THE MIXX

The company, founded in 2004, says its work has translated into more than $700 million worth of economic impact. It often works with minorityand women-owned firms, among them architects, engineers and expeditors.

“The lack of permanently affordable housing is a critical issue for underresourced communities, especially in communities of color,” Karim Hutson, Genesis Cos. founder and managing member, said in a statement. Hutson was previously recognized by Crain’s as a notable Black business leader.

Genesis has built up relationships with local organizations to build a staff that “lives in and represents the communities we work with,” as described by Hutson.

Earlier this year Hutson joined a panel of Black business leaders hosted by the Association for a Better New York for a discussion called “The Evolution Of Black Communities In New York City: Development, Culture And Economic Empowerment.”

Genesis has updated internal policies to encourage inclusion. The firm expanded maternity and paternity leave. It made Juneteenth a new paid holiday, before the city and the federal government recognized the date.

The Mixx is a 45-employee creative marketing agency that last year became a certified B Corporation, which means it meets the highest standards of accountability, transparency and sustainability. The Chelsea-based firm is also certified by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

The Mixx’s chief executive officer, Robyn Streisand, has been recognized with the 2021 Adcolor Advocate of the Year Award and by Crain’s as a notable LGBTQ leader and executive.

As of last year, the company said, it is made up of 63% female managers and 75% female executives; 43% of its individuals identify as LGBTQIA+ and 20% of its individuals identify as an ethnic minority.

At least 30% of its revenue comes from projects the Mixx considers “diversity-focused,” meaning that they speak to marginalized communities with inclusive messaging.

An employee-led initiative, Mixx Acts, organized charitable work for employees, including a team event on Earth Day and crowdsourcing charities to which employees contribute.

The company launched a series called “DEI Changemakers” that highlights trailblazers in the marketing industry that promoted diversity and inclusion with their brands.

The Mixx has transitioned to a fourday workweek at the same pay as a way to create flexibility. The company completed a pay-equity analysis in partnership with Salary.com that the Mixx said found no pay discrimination.

INCLUSION UNPaCKED HAS GROWN TO 40 MEMBER COMPaNIES THIS YEAR

“IT’S PROVEN THAT DIVERSE TEaMS PRODUCE DIVERSE IDEAS THAT MOVE THE NEEDLE IN MARKETING”

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AWARDS

Diversity champions

EMPIRX HEALTH

Last year EmpiRx Health joined a consortium of health industry leaders supporting Dominican University of New York’s Public Health Informatics and Technology Program, one of several education-focused programs that keeps diversity at the forefront.

EmpireRX Health describes itself as the only pharmacy bene ts manager in the country using a value-based model. The Montvale, New Jersey-based company has just under 200 employees. It has established relationships with local colleges that serve diverse student populations to broaden its pipeline of applicants. At Dominican University, EmpiRx is providing curriculum support, student mentorship and paid internship opportunities. The rm has longstanding relationships with the pharmacy school programs at Touro College and Rutgers University.

About 70% of its employees are women and 40% are people of color.

Last year EmpiRx Health also joined the Techquity for Health Coalition, an effort led by the nonpro t HLTH Foundation to better factor health equity considerations into health care technology and data practices.

The company’s chief people of cer, Alisia Gill, thinks companies can move beyond “performative DEI,” according to a column she wrote earlier this year in Human Resource Executive about how to drive real organizational change “Companies must be mindful of the unique and speci c needs of the diverse workforces they’ve committed to cultivating,” she said in the piece. “This includes addressing pay, gender and health inequities inherent in every employee population.”

AMIDA CARE

MEDIUM FIRMS This award recognizes organizations with 100 to 250 employees that have committed to a diverse workforce and have programs or initiatives advancing diversity in the workplace

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

LVMH

Amida Care is a private, nonpro t community health plan specializing in providing health coverage and care to Medicaid members with chronic conditions, including HIV/AIDS.

While serving and being an advocate for a diverse patient population, Amida Care has launched a series of efforts at improving diversity, equity and inclusion within its workplace of roughly 150 employees.

In 2021 Amida Care launched a new Racial Equity and Inclusion Work Group made up of employee volunteers, including the president and chief executive of cer and other senior staff, and a board sponsor. The goal of the group is to create what it terms an anti-racist workplace by identifying and changing policies that undermine wellness or withhold opportunities for employees of color. Its efforts include:

● Creating a list of organizational core values, such as inclusion and transparency.

● Supporting several new employee resource groups, including Asian/ American Peoples and African American/Black American Peoples.

● Launching a review of Amida’s recruitment and retention policies, as well as a pay-equity analysis.

● Revising career path and tuition reimbursement policies.

“As part of Amida Care’s mission to advance health equity and break down barriers to care among all New Yorkers, we recognize that true equity and inclusion must start from within the organization,” said Chantal Innocent, Amida Care’s vice president of human resources.

With a workforce across more than 80 countries, LVMH describes itself as diverse by nature.

The luxury goods company has set a series of diversity and inclusion goals for its workforce, including 50% women in group key positions and pay equity by 2025, 2% employment of

KAPLAN HECKER & FINK

Kaplan Hecker & Fink describes diversity, equity and inclusion as core values, as a rm founded by LGBTQ+ women.

CARVER FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK

people with disabilities by 2025 and 30% of key positions in North America held by Black, indigenous and people of color.

In 2022 LVMH said it had reached its goal to have 30% of senior positions (outside its C-suite) in North America lled by people of color, four years ahead of its plan.

In the spring of 2022, LVMH committed to the Mitigate Racial Bias in Retail Charter, co-founded by the nonpro t Open to All and Sephora. The charter is focused on implementing tactics at retailers to eliminate racial biases from the shopping experience and create more welcoming retail environments.

Last year LVMH launched a new partnership with Harlem’s Fashion Row, an agency creating a bridge between brands and designers of color in fashion. The two organizations are working together on initiatives to advance inclusion in the fashion industry, including mentoring opportunities for more than 100 BIPOC designers and students.

The Midtown-based boutique law rm, with about 50 lawyers and 115 employees, has a national pro le. Two of its founding partners, Roberta Kaplan and Julie Fink, represented Edith Windsor in the United States v. Windsor, the landmark 2012 Supreme Court case that deemed the federal ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional. It recently completed a high-pro le investigation of gender inequities within the NCAA that led to policy changes.

Just under 90% of the lawyers and staff the rm has hired since the start of 2020 identify as women, people of color or LGBTQ+. A diversity and inclusion committee oversees the law rm’s strategy in creating an equitable workforce.

The law rm said it is focused on developing a strong pipeline for diverse talent, which includes teaming up with Bronx community development nonpro t WHEDco on a high school internship program, college day and career panel.

Its efforts to support employees include a generous parental leave policy. Fink advocates the adoption of gender-neutral parental leave policies for employees everywhere, writing in Bloomberg Law that such policies “normalize the sharing of caring and household responsibilities and are also essential for the redistribution of unpaid care.”

Carver Federal Savings Bank, founded in 1948, is one of the largest AfricanAmerican-operated banks in the U.S. The Harlem-headquartered bank has seven full-service branches and ATM centers in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

Carver’s loan book has grown by 40% in the past three years to $160 million, in part because it became a meme stock in 2020, as Crain’s reported. As a community development nancial institution, Carver focuses its lending portfolio on serving low- and moderate-income communities, as well as women- and minority-owned businesses that often struggle to secure funding.

In an interview with Crain’s earlier this year, Chief Executive Michael Pugh called on all banks to better serve Americans.

“More than 40 million Americans today don’t have a traditional credit score that would allow them to qualify for nancing,” Pugh said. “We know that there is other data that can be used to determine the credit characteristics of a customer, such as timely payments of rent and utilities.”

Carver’s executive leadership team is 45% African American, 12% Latino and 31% women. One of the bank’s founding members 75 years ago was a woman and today more than half of the bank’s 110 employees are women.

CARVER FOCUSES ITS LENDING PORTFOLIO ON SERVING LOWAND MODERATEINCOME COMMUNITIES

LAST YEAR LVMH ENTERED A NEW PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE INCLUSION IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

Diversity champions

USHG

Union Square Hospitality Group believes that its workforce of more than 2,500 should re ect the demographics of its home city.

The restaurant group said it has exceeded that goal, employing 74% people of color across its businesses, which include top city restaurants Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Cafe. The company publishes detailed demographic data on its website as part of its diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Last year USHG was recognized by the advocacy organization One Fair Wage as an industry leader in ensuring equitable pay practices. Earlier this year the mayor’s Of ce for People with Disabilities honored the company for its commitment to consistently hiring individuals with disabilities.

The restaurant group has used data to inform its decision-making. When it noticed a disparity between the number of men and women applying to its open positions, the company began offering a wider range of shift times in the hopes of accommodating working parents.

Chief Executive Chip Wade wrote on the company website that these efforts tie into a larger goal: to make USHG a place where “people of all ages, races, religious af liations and sexual orientation feel welcomed, valued and respected.”

Wade added: “When you see yourself represented—in the waitstaff, the bartender, the maître d’, and yes, the CEO—the message is unmistakable: You belong, you are welcome here.”

LIVEONNY

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AWARDS

LARGE FIRMS This award recognizes organizations with more than 250 employees that have committed to a diverse workforce and have programs or initiatives advancing diversity in the workplace

AHRC NASSAU

CLIFTONLARSONALLEN

LiveOnNY, a federally designated organ procurement organization that works with more than 100 hospitals and transplant centers in the region, has launched several annual training initiatives focused on equity and inclusion in recent years.

Programs focus on topics such as anti-racism and preventing gender bias. In addition, the organization has developed a designated Multicultural Engagement Department to ensure its programming reaches a wider range of communities, with more than 30 languages represented among its employees.

The nonpro t AHRC Nassau serves more than 2,200 Long Island residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities each year.

About 60% of LiveOnNY’s employees are women and 60% of employees identify as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian or two or more races.

Last year was a record-setting one for the 300-employee nonpro t. It saw a 30% year-over-year increase in organs transplanted and a 28% increase in tissue donation. During that time, CEO Leonard Achan highlighted in a column for U.S. News & World Report that Black Americans are signi cantly less likely than white Americans to receive a kidney transplant, despite being 2.5 times more likely to develop end-stage kidney failure.

Achan encouraged federal efforts to better monitor organ procurement organizations and wrote, “As one of the very few minority CEOs in the industry, I implore all organ procurement organizations across the nation to prioritize health equity.”

The Brookville-based nonpro t is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in its 1,770-member workforce. In May 2022 the organization teamed up with the Arc of the United States, the national organization serving people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, to host a virtual conference called “Beyond the Comfort Zone: Understanding and Eradicating Injustice, Racism and Inequality in the Field of DevelopmentalDisabilities.” More than 3,000 people attended.

In September the organization hired Sarah Gonzalez Noveiri as its rst diversity, equity and inclusion of cer. The nonpro t developed a diversity, equity and inclusion strategic plan that includes improving its data collection to analyze demographic representation of candidates in the hiring process and regularly analyzing its hiring process for potential barriers to equitable outcomes.

AHRC Nassau is one of just four Compass agencies designated by the state Of ce of People with Developmental Disabilities. It said the nonpro t “demonstrated dependable focus on person-centered processes, which resulted in high levels of both health and safety compliance and valued outcomes.”

Executive Director Stanfort Perry chairs the diversity, equity and inclusion committee for the state-focused Arc New York, the largest entity in the country that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Last year CliftonLarsonAllen, the eighth-largest accounting rm in the United States, launched an outside assessment of its diversity and inclusion efforts, added nine full-time roles focused on diversity and inclusion, and provided a $1 million grant to the National Association of Black Accountants.

CEO Jen Leary has taken the CEO Action Pledge, a chief executivedriven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. In 2021 the company published its rst DEI transparency report, providing data on gender diversity at the rm, the representation of people of color and annual turnover. Its most recent transparency report, for 2022, the company said it had increased the representation of Black, Indigenous and people of color 68% in the past ve years and these groups now account for about 19% of the company’s workforce.

“I don’t know another accounting rm that has named 10 people of color as rm-wide leaders, including three female people of color leading of ces,” said Guylaine Saint Juste, president and chief executive of cer of the National Association of Black Accountants, in a quote that was included in the company report. “And I’m excited to see where CLA grows from there.”

CliftonLarsonAllen is also a nalist in Showing the Way on page 22.

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

GREENSPOON MARDER

Greenspoon Marder is a full-service law rm with more than 200 attorneys and just under 700 total employees, including a New York of ce in Midtown.

In 2019 the company launched a Diversity Council to direct diversity and inclusion efforts throughout the rm. The council hosts a series of events, podcasts and webinars aimed at discussing how to improve inclusion throughout the company. That includes a recent series of webinars called “Diversity Speaks: Bridging the Generational Wealth Gap.”

Last year the law rm achieved Mans eld 5.0 Certi cation, a title conferred by a third-party review where a law rm must show that diverse candidates represent at least 30% of the pool for various leadership roles, partner promotions and other hiring. It is named for Arabella Mans eld, the rst female lawyer admitted to practice law in the U.S. Greenspoon Marder is regularly recognized for its diversity and inclusion efforts by industry publications. That includes rankings last year on American Lawyer’s Diversity Scorecard, Women in Law Scorecard and LGBTQ+ Scorecard. The rm’s chief diversity ofcer, Myrna Maysonet, was recognized by Chambers Diversity and Inclusion as a diversity-and-inclusion lawyer of the year.

THE FIRM IS REGULARLY RECOGNIZED FOR ITS DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION EFFORTS BY INDUSTRY PUBLICATIONS

THE COMPANY POSTS DETAILED DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AS PART OF ITS DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION INITIATIVES

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AWARDS

Top diversity and inclusion officers

NICOLE HUGHEY

Nicole Hughey, the head of diversity, equity and inclusion at SiriusXM, describes DEI as rooted in creating a sense of belonging. “The idea of feeling that your opinions, ideas and presence are welcomed, valued and celebrated,” she said.

Hughey’s job at SiriusXM is to create the feeling for more than 5,000 employees at a satellite radio network that serves tens of millions of customers.

Since taking over the role in 2020, Hughey has established a pathways program that places recent college graduates and early-career professionals from historically Black colleges and universities in a full-time career track at SiriusXM.

She leads SiriusXM’s corporate philanthropy strategy and oversees SiriusXM Cares, a $25 million donoradvised fund that contributes to organizations focusing on furthering social equity, education, hiring and combating racial justice. She led the implementation and execution of the company’s first mandatory training focused on unconscious bias and mitigating biases.

Before joining SiriusXM, Hughey was senior in the office of diversity, equity and inclusion at Mass General Brigham and second vice president in the office of diversity and inclusion at Travelers Companies.

MEGAN HOGAN

As the chief diversity officer at Goldman Sachs, Megan Hogan is a leading voice for driving diversity and inclusion in the workplace, especially on Wall Street.

Last year Hogan also took on the role of global head of talent for the company, which has nearly 50,000 employees. Under Hogan’s leadership, Goldman Sachs has launched a series of DEI-focused efforts, including a $25 million, five-year commitment to historically Black colleges and universities and a Neurodiversity Hiring Initiative paid internship program.

Hogan is on Goldman’s One Million Black Women Steering Committee, an initiative from the company committing $10 billion in investment capital and $100 million in philanthropic support investing in Black women.

Last year Hogan oversaw Goldman’s inaugural Allyship Conference, convening more than 100 of the firm’s top clients and chief human resources officers to discuss allyship in the workplace.

“I am an Afro-Latina woman. The granddaughter of Dominican immigrants. A first-generation college student and the mother of a child with learning differences,” Hogan wrote in an op-ed in Fortune previewing the event. “These aspects of my identity have had a profound impact on how I navigate the world. . . . Were it not for colleagues and mentors who prioritized understanding and respecting my personal lived experience, I wouldn’t be on this stage.”

BOMI KIM

This award recognizes individuals whose primary job is promoting diversity within their organization and who have successfully steered the diversity agenda, including in the wider community BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

JANESSA COX-IRVIN

MALIA TURNER

Bomi Kim is taking experience honed as a civil servant to help advance women- and minority-owned businesses in the construction and development industry.

Kim has served for three years as vice president of M/WBE services and outreach at McKissack & McKissack, the oldest minorityowned design and construction firm in the nation. Kim is responsible for developing strategies to advance M/WBE and workforce inclusion in construction projects. In one initiative, she forged partnerships with leading training organizations to provide a green construction certificate program for small, minority firms working on city projects.

Kim also monitors and reports on McKissack’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The development firm is the lead program consultant on the $9.5 billion Terminal 1 project at John F. Kennedy International Airport, which has a goal to use M/WBE contractors for 30% of its work.

Kim previously was senior vice president and director of opportunity for minority-, women-owned and disadvantaged businesses at the New York City Economic Development Corp. She developed several of the EDC’s small-business lending projects, including Kick-Start Loans and the Emerging Developer Loan Fund. In addition, Kim implemented a reporting and monitoring program to track the EDC’s progress in meeting M/W/DBE participation goals.

Janessa Cox-Irvin joined investment company AllianceBernstein eight years ago as its first head of diversity and inclusion.

Cox-Irvin oversees a top-down approach to diversity and inclusion that includes recruiting diverse talent and setting clear metrics and goals around employee retention.

In 2018 she oversaw the launch of AllianceBernstein’s Career Catalyst program, which pairs women and minority vice presidents at the company with senior vice presidents for six months of career coaching.

Cox-Irvin helped build a hiring pipeline for AllianceBernstein at historically Black colleges and universities, including through an HBCU Scholars program.

She has made appearances on national television and in magazines discussing how corporations can improve diversity efforts. That included an interview on CNBC in early June 2020, as the protests over the murder of George Floyd by a police officer were spreading across the nation and prompting conversations about racism in corporate America. She encouraged corporate leaders to lean into uncomfortable discussions and reframe how they assess talent.

“Retiring this term we use, ‘culture fit,’ and thinking about culture-add,” Cox-Irvin said in the interview. “What do we actually need? Where are the gaps? Let’s stop thinking about what we’ve done in the past, because there isn’t one set face of leadership.”

Malia Turner, senior global diversity, equity and inclusion manager at Epiq Global, is leveraging data and employee feedback to inform DEI efforts at the 10,000-employee legal services provider.

Turner developed a yearlong interactive inclusive leadership training program for Epiq’s senior leaders and human resources department. Last year she oversaw a series of leadership listening sessions for employees.

She led efforts to create a DEI committee at the company and formalized policies for creating employee resource groups. Turner chairs Epiq’s first LGBTQ+ employee resource group, called Epiq Pride.

The company credits her work with reducing turnover and increasing representation among women and people of color in the company’s workforce.

Turner hosts the podcast “DEI is Epiq,” which offers recorded discussions with colleagues and industry experts on the best paths for creating diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

Turner “is not just a leader but a mentor, a role model and a champion for change,” said Olivea Holley, Epiq’s director of document review services operations and chair of the company’s DEI committee.

Before her current role, Turner was a design operations manager at Epiq, where she started in 2019.

HUGHEY HOGAN

KIM

COX-IRVIN

TURNER

KIM ALSO MONITORS AND REPORTS ON MCKISSACK’S DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION EFFORTS

“THE IDEA OF FEELING THAT YOUR OPINIONS, IDEAS AND PRESENCE ARE WELCOMED, VALUED AND CELEBRATED”

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AWARDS

Emerging leaders

This award recognizes emerging leaders at a New York City company or organization that has promoted programs or initiatives advancing diversity and inclusion

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

CLARENCE EDWARD BALL

Fordham University

When Clarence Ball took leadership of the diversity, equity and inclusion office at Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business five years ago, he led a shop of one.

Since then, he has built out a new website for the business school’s diversity and inclusion efforts, won corporate grants to offset costs, and created a high school pipeline to ensure the school attracts a diverse range of talent from its Bronx community. So far, 15 students have attended the school through the pipeline.

Fordham’s Gabelli School also now has two student boards focused on diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Ball called it a “pedagogical imperative” to increase diversity among Gabelli School students in an interview with the school’s magazine. “Learning outcomes for all students— at the Gabelli School and at the high schools—are increased when they have access to a diverse range of human perspectives,” he said.

Ball, who teaches business communications at the Gabelli School, in 2014 won an Emmy for producing the documentary, Looking Over Jordan: African Americans and the War, that details the Black experience in the South before, during and after the Civil War.

SAHRA NGUYEN

Nguyen Coffee Supply

Sahra Nguyen is a champion of Robusta coffee beans from Vietnam—and an advocate for diversity within the coffee industry and the coffee supply company she founded and leads.

The Brooklynbased Nguyen Coffee Supply, which launched in 2018. is the nation’s first importer of Robusta beans from Vietnam. Nguyen, the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, has been a leader in persuading retailers such as Whole Foods to carry the style of coffee bean, saying its taste has been unfairly maligned at the expense of the fourth-generation farming communities in Vietnam that the import company supports.

To promote diversity and inclusion within the company, Nguyen shares job listings across a wide range of community groups and websites, and requires that the applicant pool is at least 50% people of color and 50% women before starting interviews.

Nguyen is a documentary filmmaker, whose 2016 work for NBCNews.com, Deported, followed a grassroots fight to end deportation of Cambodian Americans from the U.S.

As the pandemic took hold in New York in 2020, Nguyen worked with RAISE NYC to start the Undocu Workers Fund, which raised and distributed more than $90,000 to undocumented workers ineligible of receiving government assistance.

CRAIG JOHNSON Webster Bank

As vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion and belonging at Webster Bank, Craig Johnson’s job is to create a welcoming environment at the Stamford, Connecticut-based financial institution, which last year completed a $10 billion acquisition of Rockland County-based Sterling Bancorp.

Johnson has helped more than 1,100 Webster Bank employees—more than a quarter of the company—join or otherwise engage with internal business resource groups dedicated to promoting inclusion, such as Webster Pride, Allies for Disabilities & Accessibility and the Webster Women’s Network.

He has steadily moved up in responsibility since joining Webster as a banking center manager in 2014. Before taking his current role in May 2022, he served as a vice president, bank at work relationship manager, at the bank.

In Yonkers, Johnson is a member of the Pride Board.

His colleagues say he leads by example at the company. “He is a young, Black, Latino, out gay man who embraces and values everyone’s differences, obvious or not,” said Andrea Kantor, managing director of nonprofit banking at Webster. “He walks the talk of (diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging).”

FREDDIMIR GARCIA

Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors

Freddimir Garcia became one of the first diversity, equity and inclusion officers at any local Realtor association in New York state in May 2021. The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors includes more than 13,000 real estate agents stretching north from Manhattan to Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties.

“Real estate is one of the industries where it wasn’t too long ago that discrimination was the norm, and groups of people were not accepted into the profession,” Garcia said. He described his role as acknowledging that history while creating programming and other efforts that embrace differences. Last year Garcia launched the first regional DEI Summit for New York and New Jersey Realtors. Within the Realtor association, he has integrated a new interview process and hiring process to encourage diversity and inclusion in recruiting at the real estate firm.

Before joining Hudson Gateway, Garcia was a regional director for diversity, inclusion and community engagement at the Westchester Medical Center Health Network and special assistant to the president for diversity, inclusion and community engagement at Marist College. He received the President’s Community Service Award by Marist College in 2022 for his positive contributions to the Hudson Valley.

NEFERTITI ALEXANDER Kasowitz Benson Torres

As a partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres, Nefertiti Alexander handles complex, high-stakes legal matters involving antitrust, securities fraud and intellectual property, among other categories.

Alexander has used her position to serve as an example and help drive greater diversity and inclusion in the legal field. She mentors Sponsors for Educational Opportunity Fellows in law school and serves on the Kasowitz Benson Torres’ diversity and inclusion committee.

The Legal Aid Society awarded her pro bono legal work representing labor trafficking survivors with its Pro Bono Publico Award. She is a volunteer with the nonprofit Sanctuary for Families, which supports victims of domestic violence. Alexander is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and contributed to educational materials focused on creating a more inclusive environment in law and on representing people who have experienced trauma.

Alexander was selected as a 2021 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow, an industry program that identifies high-potential diverse attorneys for leadership positions in the legal profession.

She is a “true leader” in her commitment to pro bono work and diversifying the legal profession, said Cindy Caranella Kelly, a partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres.

NGUYEN

JOHNSON GARCIA ALEXANDER

“HE WaLKS THE TaLK OF (DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION aND BELONGING)”

SHE HAS USED HER POSITION TO HELP DRIVE GREATER DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE LEGaL FIELD

BALL CALLED IT A “PEDaGOGICaL IMPERaTIVE” TO INCREASE DIVERSITy AMONG GABELLI SCHOOL STUDENTS

BALL

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AWARDS

Showing the way

CLIFTONLARSONALLEN

Last year CliftonLarsonAllen, the eighth-largest accounting rm in the United States, launched an outside assessment of its diversity and inclusion efforts, added nine full-time roles focused on diversity and inclusion, and provided a $1 million grant to the National Association of Black Accountants.

CEO Jen Leary has taken the CEO Action Pledge, a chief executivedriven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. In 2021 the company published its rst DEI transparency report, providing data on gender diversity at the rm, the representation of people of color and annual turnover.

Its most recent transparency report, for 2022, the company said it had increased the representation of Black, Indigenous and people of color 68% in the past ve years and these groups now account for about 19% of the company’s workforce.

“I don’t know another accounting rm that has named 10 people of color as rm-wide leaders, including three female people of color leading of ces,” said Guylaine Saint Juste, president and chief executive of cer of the National Association of Black Accountants, in a quote that was included in the company report. “And I’m excited to see where CLA grows from there.”

REGENERON

Regeneron, an 11,900-employee biotech company, is working to advance diversity in science, technology, engineering and math.

The company has created an executive diversity, equity and inclusion council that meets once each quarter to ensure alignment between the company’s inclusion and business strategies. Its leadership says one can help the other.

“Creating an open and inclusive culture that embraces diversity is the right way for Regeneron to lead with science, take on big ideas and make a lasting impact in the world,” cofounders Leonard Schleifer and George Yancopoulos said in the company’s 2022 annual DEI impact report.

In April, Regeneron published a breakdown of the demographics of its leadership positions, showing that people of color represent 22% of U.S. vice president and higher titles and 36% of management roles, compared with 18% and 33%, respectively, in 2020. Both numbers have increased since Regeneron began publishing the data in 2020.

The company is working to attract a broader pool of candidates to its jobs through partnerships with the National Society of Black Engineers and Society of Women Engineers. The company, among others, fosters employee resource groups that support women, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ employees, with the goal of improving worker engagement and retention.

NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT

A racial equity council launched at Norton Rose Fulbright in 2020 has brought a series of changes at the international law rm.

The company has created a career accelerator program that pairs Black nonpartner lawyers with rm partners and increased its focus on creating a pipeline for recruiting people underrepresented in the legal industry.

The success and interest in the career accelerator program led the law rm to create additional leadership development programs. That includes the Mid-Level Development Program, a two-year sponsorship initiative that pairs partners at the law rm with associate-level attorneys who are racially or ethnically underrepresented in the legal eld to help mentor them on advancing to the next career stage.

The career development program was launched out of a Minority Equity Council that the rm created after its Racial Equity Council. The new council’s goal, the company said, is to advance equity at the rm through improvements to its recruiting and retention practices.

Norton Rose Fulbright was recognized last year for the ninth-straight time with a gold certi cation from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum.

The law rm received a perfect 100 score on the Corporate Equality Index, which is run by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and measures LGBT workplace equality.

NATIONAL MEDICAL FELLOWSHIPS

National Medical Fellowships is a nonpro t with a mission to bring greater diversity to the medical system. The organization, founded in 1946, provides nancial support for medical students underrepresented in the eld. The nonpro t has more than 32,000 alumni practicing as physicians, researchers, educators and health care administrators.

National Medical Fellowships has partnered with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation to increase diversi-

BY RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

GILBANE BUILDING COMPANY

Gilbane Building Company is working to support women, veteran and minority-owned contracting businesses historically underrepresented in the city’s construction business.

ty in medical trials. The nonpro t NMF, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, has an of ce in Midtown.

Chief Executive Of cer Michellene Davis, who was named to the role in 2021, was previously an executive vice president and chief corporate affairs of cer at RWJBarnabas Health. In an interview with Crain’s in January, she called on employers to be more proactive in promoting diversity and inclusion in their workplace.

“Do not wait to attempt to recruit a diversity candidate to begin bringing about equitable practices in your institution,” she said. “You should be trying to create an environment that cultivates inclusion.”

As part of that effort, the company pledged in the spring of 2022 to direct $4 billion in contract awards to underrepresented rms in the next ve years. The company has an annual goal of 20% participation for womenand minority-owned businesses in its projects.

To promote inclusion within its workplace, Gilbane has launched several employee resource groups and regularly exhibits at conferences such as those hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Last year Gilbane’s New York business hosted a conference, Capital Projects as Engines of Equity, that featured Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer and representatives from Google, Columbia University and the New York Public Library as speakers. The speakers focused on debunking the idea that minority- and women-owned contractors are too hard to nd and suggested that developers add M/WBE utilization rates into industry requests for proposals.

“I DON’T KNOW ANOTHER ACCOUNTING FIRM THAT HAS NAMED 10 PEOPLE OF COLOR AS FIRMWIDE LEADERS”

This award recognizes real-life examples of diversity and inclusion practices that have produced a positive change within an organization’s corporate culture

GILBANE HAS LAUNCHED SEVERAL EMPLOYEE RESOURCE GROUPS AND REGULARLY EXHIBITS AT CONFERENCES

Leading Morgan Stanley client adviser honored by Crain’s for diversity and inclusion work

Carla Harris is the winner of our D&I Lifetime Achievement Award

BY AARON ELSTEIN

Hard work is one key to success, but Carla Harris figured out early in her investment-banking career it’s not enough.

“You can’t just allow work to speak for itself,” she said. “Work won’t speak on its own.”

The daughter of a commercial fisherman and a schoolteacher in Jacksonville, Florida, Harris is a Wall Street success story. She has worked for more than 35 years at Morgan Stanley, where she’s a senior client adviser, the person called into the room to close a deal. She’s been a vice chairman and portfolio manager, a member of MetLife and Walmart boards, an author of books on leadership, a public speaker, a podcast host and a gospel singer.

Now she is a Crain’s D&I Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Harris has been speaking up for herself since high school, when a counselor told her Ivy League colleges would be too difficult and she would be better off setting her sights on state universities in Florida.

“Good Catholic girl that I am, I was obedient and got into those Florida schools,” she said. “But I went to Harvard.”

Massachusetts winters were “stark and startling” to someone who had never seen snow or heard of the prep schools that many classmates attended. But Harris refused to be intimidated, and one summer she landed an internship on Wall Street, thanks to Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a program started by investment banker Mike Osheowitz. She didn’t know anything about finance, but she was hungry to learn and working 100 hours a

week didn’t bother her.

“I had a pretty strong hustle gene,” she said.

The beginning was anything but smooth. Harris joined Morgan Stanley in 1987 and was doing the number-crunching and financialmodeling stuff that junior analysts do when a managing director told her to write a letter explaining how much a client would be charged for services. She had no idea what a fee letter was because she had focused on mastering only those tasks that were clearly part of her job. She still remembers the surprised and disappointed look on her boss’s face.

Changing perceptions

Harris made it her business to figure out how to write a fee letter, but it took time to change the managing director’s perception of her.

By the late 1990s she was help-

ing Morgan Stanley sell its highest-profile deals to institutional investors, such as the initial public offering for UPS, the biggest in history at the time.

She’s devoted considerable energy to opening the doors of Wall Street to others who historically have been denied the opportunity. She oversaw Morgan Stanley’s multicultural client strategy, organized conferences for senior leaders of color, built an in-house multicultural innovation lab and

partnered on a fund geared toward small inner-city entrepreneurs.

When not wearing her banker’s hat, Harris sings at her Harlem church, St. Charles Borromeo, where the congregation is Catholic but the tunes are Baptist gospel. At Harvard she sang with the Radcliffe Choral Society and in her own band, Rhythm Company. In 2000 she performed solo at Carnegie Hall and released an album, “Carla’s First Christmas,” followed

SHE’S DEVOTED CONSIDERaBLE ENERGy TO OPENING THE DOORS OF WaLL STREET

by another in 2005, “Joy is Waiting.”

In 2016 she was subject of a case study by Harvard Business School, which meant listening to students recommend what she should do based on what they had read before debating them for 20 minutes. Were the students’ judgments sound?

“There were some that just got it wrong,” she said.

Even as Harris works to make Wall Street more inclusive, the business remains dominated by white men. Women hold only 24% of leadership roles in financial services, according to a recent Deloitte study. Whites hold 9 out of 10 C-suite jobs and 81% of vice president positions, according to a 2020 McKinsey study.

Harris thinks a big change is going to come as younger people move up in organizations.

“My biggest hope is millennials and Gen-Zers will turbo-boost it,” she said. “They have no patience for these sorts of things. They say, ‘Are you still dealing with this stuff 50 years later? Are you kidding me?’” ■

Notice of Formation of LITTLE MAC'S MARKET LLC

Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/17/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 228 Park Ave S, #48324, NY, NY 10003. R/A US Corp Agents, Inc, 7014 13th Av, #202, BK, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act

Notice of Formation of Bonfatti LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/5/23. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon who process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 115 W 130th St. Bsmt A, NY , NY 10027. R/A: US Corp Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave. #202, BK, NY. Purpose.: any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of PICKS AND SHOVELS GP, LLC

Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/04/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/10/22. Princ. office of LLC: 625 W. 57th St., Apt. 713, NY, NY 10019. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity

WEDDLE & GILMORE

ARCHITECTS, PLLC filed an App. for Auth. with the Dept. of State of NY on 5/1/2023. PLLC formed in AZ on 8/21/1998. Office located within NYS: New York County. The Sect'y of State of NY is designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Goetz Fitzpatrick LLP, Attn: John B. Simoni Jr. Esq., One Penn Plaza, Ste 3100, NY, NY 10119. Purpose: Architecture.

NOTICE OF FORMATION of DU SEL LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 3/17/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 99 Warren St, NY, NY 10007. R/A: US Corp Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave, #202, BK, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act.

PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Formation of STURDY INCLINE LLC, Arts of Org filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/24/23/ Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 228 PARK AVE S, #974932 NY, NY 10003 R/A: US Corp Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave, #202, BK, NY 11228 Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of REED PLACE LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy . of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/27/23. Office location: BX County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 1418 Reed PL. Bronx, NY 10465.

Purpose: any lawful act

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Psychotherapy Counseling Services LCSW PLLC. Arts of Org filed with the Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/2/23. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The Post Office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the PLLC served upon him/her is: 418 Braodway ste N, Albany, NY, 12207. The principal business address of the LLC is: New York.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Prince Driving Schol LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/12/23. Office Location: BX County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 1759-B Jerome Ave, Bronx, NY 10453. Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of Qualification of 744 Madison Sale Center, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/08/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/04/23. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with State of DE, Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

SUBMIT YOUR BUSINESS CLASSIFIEDS TODAY

Get

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Notice of Formation of 80TH 12J, LLC

Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/02/23. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Daniel Sperling, 300 Manida St., Bronx, NY 10474.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

BRONX PRIMARY MANAGEMENT, LLC filed Arts. of Org. with the Sect'y of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/16/2023. Office: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: c/o Julio A. Sanchez, 3421 Broadway, NY, NY 10031. Purpose: any lawful act.

912 PLYMOUTH STREET LLC.

Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/01/22. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 234 Bradhurst Ave 6, New York, NY 10039. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of JOSEPH DEFRAINE GREENWELL LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/4/23. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to 603 West 148th St, Apt 10B, New York NY 10031. Purpose: any lawful act.

Notice of Formation of SILVER HILL MANAGEMENT GROUP, LLC

Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/14/23. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 208 Valley Rd., New Canaan, CT 06840. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Leonard East 68 LLC-Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/27/23. Office location: New York Co. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Steven R. Ganfer, Esq, Ganfer Shore Leeds & Zauderer LLP,360 Lexington Ave, NY, NY 10017.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

RI Feng LLC filed w/ SSNY 4/24/23. Off. in NY Co. SSNY desig. as agt. of LLC whom process may be served & shall mail process to the LLC, 57 E. Broadway, NY, NY 10002. Any lawful purpose.

Vice President, Business Intelligence (Citadel Securities Americas Services LLC –New York, NY); Mult. Pos. Avail.

Offering a salary of $101,000 to $255,000 per year. Develop & maintain a BI data warehouse of core financ’l & operat’nal data to streamline managem’t report’g & analysis. Develop systematic reporting & dashboarding to address standard/recurring questions & info needs. F/T. Resumes: citadelrecruitment@citadel.com. Job ID: 6608433.

Producer positions (Turner Services, Inc.; NY, NY).

Work closely w/ Executive Editor to build & output a daily business news program, featuring the most relevant internat’l business stories. Salary range is $88,960/yr.-$100,110/yr., depending upon qualifications. Email resume to GMRI@warnerbros.com. Ref: 6623844P2.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Invitation to Prequalify and to Bid

Rehabilitation and Flood Mitigation of the New York Aquarium, Brooklyn, NY : Turner Construction Company, an EEO Employer, is currently soliciting bids for the Rehabilitation and Flood Mitigation of the New York Aquarium from subcontractors and vendors for the following bid packages:

BP #041B - Plumbing

Only bids responsive to the entire scope of work will be considered and, to be successful, bidders must be prequalified by Turner. Certified M/WBE and Small Business (13 CFR part 121) companies are encouraged to submit.

In order to receive the bid packages, potential bidders either (1) must initiate the prequalification process by submitting a Subcontractor/Vendor Prequalification Statement to Turner, or (2) must be prequalified based on a prior submission to Turner (Note: Prior prequalification submissions that remain current will be considered as previously submitted or may be updated at this time.) All bidders must be prequalified by the bid deadline: July 6th, 2023 and initial submission of a prequalification statement not later than July 6th, 2023 is strongly encouraged All bidders must have an acceptable EMR, and will be subject to government regulations such as 44 CFR and Federal Executive Order 11246. Successful bidders will be required to use LCP Tracker compliance verification software. Note that while this is a New York City prevailing wage project, union affiliation is not required for BP #041B

A Webcast about the above Bid Package/s will be held on June 8th, 2023 Attendance is optional for all; the Webcast is designed to assist potential M/WBE subcontractors/vendors.

Link: Please join this meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetupjoin/19%3ameeting_NTVjNmZlMTctODdjNy00YWRmLWJmMmYtZjI4NzNjMzcwNWVi%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%2220e277 00-b670-4553-a27c-d8e2583b3289%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22732a90ce-24b7-42eb-bf78-d638e2a629ac%22%7d

To obtain further information about contracting opportunities and/or the prequalification package and bid solicitation package/s, please contact Lyndsey Spangel, lspangel@tcco.com 646-842-1659. The date for the virtual public opening at the Turner Construction Company office located at 66 Hudson Yards, New York, New York, is July 7th, 2023 10 AM

Link: Please join this opening meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetupjoin/19%3ameeting_NThmN2MzNDctNGEzNC00MTA5LWE2NjYtZTI0ZWVjZGVmM2Nj%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22 %3a%2220e27700-b670-4553-a27c-d8e2583b3289%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22732a90ce-24b7-42eb-bf78d638e2a629ac%22%7d

PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Qualification of VANDERBILT HEALTH CLUB

LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 04/04/23. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/28/23. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Rd., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of the State of DE, c/o The DE Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., P.O. Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity

Notice of Qualification of BRSP BLANCHARD LIC, LLC

Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/12/23.

Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 04/27/23. Princ. office of LLC: c/o BrightSpire Capital, Inc., 590 Madison Ave., 33rd Fl., NY, NY 10022. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

DROPPED

studio could become a prime location for lucrative film productions just as the state is expanding incentives for the industry.

“This is a ver y strong deal in terms of private sector investment being leveraged in a sector that’s important for the city’s growth,” Kimball said. He also argued against claims that Vornado should be held responsible for repairing Pier 92, noting that the original lease made clear that the city would handle its upkeep.

“I think, over time, this is going to

New York City’s position as a leading market for content production and studio space,” spokesperson Bud Perrone said.

Seeking change

Meanwhile, the community board has mounted a last-ditch campaign to change the lease in terms it views as more favorable to the city, writing a series of letters to the EDC that demand Vornado cover more costs.

Vornado is not alone in the studio venture. Investors Blackstone and Hudson Pacific Properties will each contribute a one-quarter stake, with Vornado covering the remaining 50% of a combined $250 million private investment that will help raise Pier 94 out of the flood zone, Kimball said.

be a deal that is well-received and people are happy about,” Kimball said.

A Vornado spokesperson said the company is “pleased” to work with the city on the studio project, noting that it would create 1,300 construction jobs and build longsought public restrooms in nearby Hudson River Park, as well as a community facility and 25,000 square feet of new open space on and around the pier.

“This development will solidify

(A Blackstone representative said the company is only considering joining the venture and has not reached a final agreement.)

The renegotiated lease is now largely finalized, and the only remaining hurdle will be a May 24 hearing by the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, according to the EDC. A lease could be signed shortly thereafter, with demolition of the existing pier structure starting this fall and construction on the film studio wrapping up by late 2025.

Under the new lease, the city would pay about $80 million to

maintain the substructure of Pier 94 for the next 37 years—then shift that responsibility over to Vornado and the other investors, which will take over upkeep for the ensuing 50 years. That represents a “significant enhancement” to the original deal, Kimball said, which had made the city responsible for all 99 years.

Lease terms

But LeFrancois and CB4 counter that other tenants of West Side piers, such as the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and Chelsea Piers, are all held responsible for pier maintenance and upgrades under

their respective leases, making Pier 94 a raw deal for the city.

And after viewing a copy of the lease, LeFrancois said he was taken aback by another factor: the low asking rent. The new lease would have Vornado pay $900,000 in base rent for Pier 94 over the next five years, with subsequent increases every five years before maxing out at $2.8 million in 2100, the lease’s final year. That total, which would not be adjusted for future inflation, seems paltry for prime waterfront space in the heart of Manhattan, neighbors say.

“This is such a sweetheart deal,”

said Leslie Boghosian Murphy, who chairs CB4’s waterfront committee, during a recent board meeting. Vornado currently pays $1 million a year in rent under the soonto-be-amended lease, according to the EDC.

As for the future of Pier 92, Kimball said the EDC still hopes it can be salvaged, and will explore “a variety of different uses” that could allow for public access to the structure.

LeFrancois said the lease offered one clue: The city may be asked to open up the pier for parking by tenants of Pier 94. ■

THE RENEGOTIATED LEASE IS LARGELY FINALIZED, WITH A MAY 24 HEARING PLANNED

BUCK ENNIS

VORNADO PLANS to build a film studio at Pier 94 with help from Blackstone and Hudson Pacific Proper ties.

Former mayoral candidate Maya Wiley on reclaiming democracy

INTERVIEW BY RAINA LIPSITZ

Maya Wiley learned early in life not to shrink from a fight. Her parents were committed civil rights activists and her father, George Wiley, once led the National Welfare Rights Organization, an anti-poverty group that demanded adequate support for poor mothers raising children. Wiley followed in their footsteps by pursuing a career in public service. In addition to heading The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, she has been a litigator at the ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. When then Mayor Bill de Blasio named her Counsel to the Mayor in 2014, she became the first Black woman to serve in that role. In 2021, she ran for mayor of New York City, earning the endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and coming in third in a crowded field.

Wiley spoke with Crain’s about her parents’ legacy, reining in police violence, and how to reclaim our democracy from a powerful few.

You’ve spoken a lot about your parents’ civil rights activism. What does that legacy mean to you and how have you carried it forward in your life and career?

I get a little emotional because my parents were incredible people and incredible role models. And for me it was their tenacity and determination to make this a better country for people of color, for women of all races, ending poverty—all those were bound up together for them. And the importance of people, particularly people impacted by the problems that needed to be solved, having a central voice and real power in identifying the problems and the solutions. And they were not shy about fighting for them, they were not shy about direct activism, they were not shy about the risks that posed because they were the right things to do, and they never demanded credit for it…. It always felt like an incredibly important set of principles and a very high bar. And I think about trying to meet it every day.

Takeaway for business professionals

The Leadership Conference is a coalition of more than 230 national organizations charged with promoting and protecting the civil and human rights of all U.S. residents. It partners with companies interested in supporting the conference’s work.

You’ve held roles inside and outside of government. Which do you prefer and why?

I prefer them both, and I say that because they’re both really important. It’s about when you do what. When I went into City Hall, there was real promise that city government was going to make big change for the better for people, including, and in particular, people of color in the city, low-income people, and in ways that would be lasting, like universal pre-K, like figuring out how to improve the schools and make them fair and just for Black and brown kids in the city, and being a welcoming city for immigrants, whether they were documented or not. These were big ideas but with real promise. And so it felt very much like a critical time to go inside of government to be part of that change making. As the mayor [Bill de Blasio] once said to me, to be a foot on the gas pedal that says we’re going fast and we’re going hard and we’re going to make change.

And sometimes it’s good to be on the outside pushing government hard … those kinds of times when we see, as we do now, our democracy under attack, and the need to pull us all together, recognize that those who are trying to drive division are simply trying to drive us away from our own democracy. It’s a really important time to be doing the activism and the advocacy work.

Seventy-five percent of respondents to a 2023 Morning Consult/Politico survey believe police violence against the public is a problem. That’s comparable to the 74 percent who held that view in 2020. What do you see as the biggest obstacles to reining it in?

The biggest obstacles are those who would deny that police violence exists at the scale that it exists or suggest that it’s a price we have to pay for safety, rather than recognizing it’s the opposite of safety. That denialism is a minority of the country and I know that through polling. But even for folks who say, rightly, that we want to have a closer relationship with our police officers, our police departments, but recognizing that there’s no public servant that shouldn’t be held accountable to protecting the public and not abusing their power. So I think the biggest obstacle is this notion that if crime is high, then people’s constitutional rights and their sense of safety from police violence are legitimate sacrifices to make for broader public safety.

Do you share the view of some

organizers that curbing the power of police unions is essential to progress on police reform? Why or why not?

I am pro-union personally. One of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights’ three founders was a union. Almost all the unions are members of our coalition. The difference here is that the police union, some of them, do not act like unions. And they are able to gain protections in their collective bargaining process that none of the rest of us would get. It shouldn’t become protection against laws and protection against accountability.

In 2021 you and Kathryn Garcia came closer to being mayor of New York City than any woman has since former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn in 2013. Why do you think New York has yet to elect a woman mayor and what did you learn from your campaign?

I’ll say two things. I think the fact that Kathryn and I were able to be two of the top three candidates in the race, and me in particular as a Black woman, what

POWER MARKS

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 103

ON HER RÉSUMÉ President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Candidate for NYC Mayor; Henry Cohen Professor of Public & Urban Policy at the Milano School of Policy, Management & Environment, a school at the New School University, and Senior Vice President for Social Justice at the New School; NBC News & MSNBC Legal Analyst; Counsel to former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, Founder and President of the Center for Social Inclusion BORN Syracuse, New York

GREW UP Washington, D.C.

RESIDES New York City and Washington, D.C.

EDUCATION B.A. in Psycholog y from Dartmouth University; J.D. from Columbia Law School

BREAKING THE MOLD Wiley is the first Black woman to serve as counsel to a New York City mayor. She served in former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.

that showed is that the city is ready. The barriers to entry for women are very high. If it weren’t for the public financing program in New York City, it would have been very hard for me to run. [My opponents who were longtime politicians] had built war chests to run. We didn’t have a war chest. The barrier to entry on fundraising is a big one for women. Then there’s getting questioned on whether you’re qualified and credible. Unless you have had the ability to establish yourself with a lot of power brokers, it can be very difficult to have a real chance at running.

What would you tell young people who see a gap between what they have fought for and what our government is delivering?

Recognize your power. Gen Z is the most diverse generation this country has ever seen. It is the future of this country in terms of how it is going to look, but also what it’s going to demand. Even if it’s hard right now, the more you show up, the more you demand, the more you vote, the more you shape the policies that you’re demanding that our elected officials deliver. Whether it’s showing up in the streets, in the polling sites, or in the halls of Congress, that is the change that will be made and you will make it. And it won’t happen in one cycle. None of it happened quickly or easily.■

ASHLEY HOLT