Crain's New York Business, June 19, 2023

POLITICS

Sewell’s

resignation is latest in a string of departures

Mayor

BY NICK GARBER

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration will soon look very di erent than it did when he took o ce only 18 months ago.

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell’s abrupt resignation last week was only the latest in a series of departures by key o cials that have not gone unnoticed by political observers. Changeover, while not unprecedented in city government, can be a sign of in ghting or uncertainty about the administration’s mission.

“ ere’s a need to sort of stanch the bleeding and secure the look of a stable government administering the services of the city,” said George Arzt, a longtime strategist and former aide to Mayor Ed Koch.

8THE NUMBER OF key of cials who have left or announced plans to step down from Adams’ administration

Others who have left or announced plans to step down include Adams’ chief of sta , Frank Carone; rst deputy mayor, Lorraine Grillo; social services commissioner, Gary Jenkins; buildings commissioner, Eric Ulrich; chief counsel, Brendan McGuire; communications director, Maxwell Young; and chief e ciency o cer, Melanie La Rocca.

And before Sewell, the most notable departure may have been Jessica Katz, Adams’ chief housing

See RESIGN on page 43

Eric Adams may need to “stanch the bleeding” in order to avoid more exits, one observer said

The honorees in this year’s 20 in Their 20s class are bringing fresh energy and new perspectives to New York’s business community Page 11

BUCK ENNIS

Crain’s recognizes diversity and inclusion efforts across city’s business community

BY JENNIFER SAMUELS

Almost 200 leaders from the city’s business and civic worlds gathered the morning of June 13 at the New York Athletic Club on Central Park to celebrate the nalists and winners of Crain’s third annual Diversity and Inclusion Awards.

e awards highlight the people and companies fostering diversity, inclusion and belonging across New York City, said Fred P. Gabriel, Crain’s publisher and executive editor. e nalists consisted primarily of peer nominations, allowing the members of the business community to weigh in on who’s making a di erence on the ground.

e Crain’s newsroom honored Wall Street veteran Carla Harris, a senior client adviser at Morgan Stanley, with a lifetime achievement award for her diversity and inclusion work. Harris described diversity and inclusion as a central component of a successful business strategy.

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CORRECTIONS

White Plains Hospital Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian-Queens had the largest jump in operating expenses and the Atlantic Health System had the most ambulatory visits in 2022. Last week’s largest hospitals list cited the incorrect entities.

Midtown South rm scores a bargain on a Diamond District midrise

BY MARIO MARROQUIN

“If you need a lot of ideas in the room, you need a lot of perspectives in the room,” she said. “What happens if everyone gets a chance to participate?”

e ceremony also featured a reside chat between Gerrard Bushell, president and chief executive of the new Terminal 1 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Cheryl McKissack Daniel, president and chief executive of McKissack & McKissack. She was last year’s lifetime achievement recipient.

HEALTH CARE

CARLA HARRIS received a lifetime achievement award for her D&I work.

Winners also were selected in six peer-nominated categories. e Showing the Way award went to National Medical Fellowships. e Top D&I O cer award went to Nicole Hughey, senior vice president and head of diversity, equity and inclusion and social impact at SiriusXM.

e Emerging Leader award went to Sahra Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Co ee Supply. e Diversity Champion–Small Firm award went to Genesis Cos. e Diversity Champion–Medium Firm award went to Carver Federal Savings Bank. And the Diversity Champion-Large Firm award went to Greenspoon Marder. ■

Boston-based real estate rm

TA Realty recently sold a mixed-use o ce building in the Diamond District for nearly half of what it paid to acquire the property six years ago. e company o oaded the 7-story 1200 Sixth Ave. in mid-May for $22.3 million to Midtown South-based real estate rm Empire Capital Holdings, according to city records. A limited liability company a liated with TA Realty paid $43 million to acquire the 21,600-squarefoot building back in April 2017 from Apple Core Holdings, a Midtown Manhattan-based real estate investor. e property, which was built in 1960, was renovated in 2000 and sold 17 years later, when it was 70% leased, according to real estate analytics rm CoStar.

Tenants

As of June 7, CoStar reported that three jewelers, Maldani Jewelry, Mars Jewelry and Shashvat Diamond, occupy the ground oor, while wholesale jeweler Beauty Gem occupies 3,300 square feet on the third oor. It was not immediately clear what would become of those tenants’ leases.

e sale of the mixed-use prop-

Mount Sinai opens $140M behavioral health center on the Lower East Side

BY JACQUELINE NEBER

Mount Sinai has opened a more than 133,000-squarefoot, $140 million behavioral health center at 45 Rivington St. on that will o er patients four types of mental health care: inpatient services, intensive outpatient services, integrated outpatient behavioral health care and crisis care.

Patients will be able to access existing services—such as inpatient, post-psychiatric, detox and rehabilitation care, which used to be offered at Sinai’s Beth Israel site—and new services such as an intensive crisis residence program, said Dr. Sabina Lim, the system vice president of behavioral health safety and quality.

e intensive crisis residence unit is an 8-bed space where patients can stay for up to 28 days, said Dr. Grant Mitchell, the site chair of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. It is designed for people who are experiencing acute mental health crises that are not severe

enough to require hospitalization. It can also serve as a step-down from an inpatient hospital stay.

Outpatient services

Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center will also o er intensive outpatient services, including a partial hospitalization program and an intensive outpatient program, where individuals can come to the facility for several hours per day, several days per week, over the course of several weeks to receive intensive group therapy, individual therapy and medication management. ese programs are designed for people who are displaying more severe symptoms but do not require full hospitalization, Lim said. Additionally, the center will o er a more traditional outpatient clinic with integrated substance use care, mental health care and primary care, she continued.

e center’s goal is to create a network of services for patients, many of whom live within three ZIP codes on the Lower East Side, that

includes community providers that connect patients with recovery services, social supports, and care that addresses social determinants of health, Lim added.

Most existing services had previously been o ered in Beth Israel’s Bernstein building. When the health system began transforming Beth Israel’s campus, it became clear that updating the building would’ve been more costly than worthwhile, she said. at’s when leadership began looking for an alternative space downtown.

According to Mitchell, the facility will accept walk-in patients. Individuals can walk in and be evaluated to assess their psychiatric, substance use, physical health or psychosocial needs. e facility can also take referrals from community organizations, mental health agencies, and private practitioners.

“We listened to patients and families about what they wanted and needed, and they told us they wanted a continuum of care and alternatives to inpatient treatment,” he said.

erty comes shortly after brokerage rm JLL reported that the rst quarter of 2023 was the slowest for o ce leasing since the second quarter of 2021. According to JLL, the citywide o ce vacancy increased to 16.1% in the rst quarter of the year, re ecting approximately 76 million square feet of vacant o ce space.

JLL and several other brokerage rms have continued to report that asking rents for o ce space in newer o ce buildings are higher than those for older o ce buildings. e brokerage said the overall average asking rent for o ce space in the city remained at at $76.96 per square foot at the end of the rst quarter.

TA Realty declined to comment on the sale of the property. Crain’s could not reach Empire Capital Holdings by press time. ■

THE FACILITY, which opened June 8, will offer existing services that had previously been offered on Sinai's Beth Israel campus.

“ ey shared with us some of the challenges of accessing and navigating the system, because services can be siloed and lack integration.”

Phased opening

Mount Sinai-Behavioral Health Center is part of Sinai’s department of psychiatry, which operates more than 40 labs and 15 research centers and has received nearly $50 million in National Institutes of Health funding.

According to Mount Sinai representative Elizabeth Dowling, the center will begin seeing patients in mid-July and will phase in the opening of di erent services. Patients can begin making appointments and walking in for outpatient services in mid-July. ■

BUCK ENNIS

“IF YOU NEED A LOT OF IDEAS IN THE ROOM, YOU NEED A LOT OF PERSPECTIVES IN THE ROOM”

BY C.

City bars have a new motto: Thank God it’s Wednesday

Happy hour moves to midweek and starts and ends earlier as bars adapt to new workday rhythms

Remote work has already scrambled commuting patterns, o ce layouts and businesswear. And now it’s apparently come for happy hour.

Across the city’s business districts, the traditional time of discounted drinks has been creeping earlier and earlier since the pandemic, according to bar managers, restaurateurs and landlords, to the point where the old saying about its being 5 o’clock somewhere might need its time changed to 2.

e continued absence of o ce workers and their dollars has contributed to a slowdown in business that some watering holes are trying to nd ways to make up. A rescue plan is also critical because dinner tra c has dropped o as well. e solution, they say, might come in the form of $6 bottled beers.

Complicating matters, industry sources add, the days when people go out and imbibe are much fewer than in prepandemic times. Before, bars could count on a robust business Monday through Friday. But now, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and ursdays seem to be the new normal.

“ e postwork socialization trends have de nitely shifted,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, a trade group that has 3,000 members, many of them bars. “It’s a problem that has been tough for some bars to address, and unfortunately, there’s not one easy answer.”

From the Grand Central neighborhood to

the o ce district around Penn Station to the Financial District, bars are trying di erent ways to adapt, Rigie said. And some approaches seem to be hitting the mark.

At the Landing, a one-year-old bar on West 34th Street, for instance, the ood of patrons at 4 p.m., when it opens, recently prompted the Landing to set up two over ow bar stations for the Tuesday-through- ursday crowd. Carved out of former o ce space at Penn 1, a Vornado Realty Trust-owned high-rise that’s under development, the Landing had about 100 youngish people clutching cocktails, sitting on stadium seats and bobbing their heads to up-tempo house music on a recent Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesman for the bar’s operator, DMK Restaurants, said Meta execs, Wall Streeters and sports team owners are frequent customers at the Landing, whose happy hour drinks, from 4 to 6, are up to 30% o .

Making adjustments

New bars appear to be planning accordingly. At Tribeca Social, a one-year-old o ering on Murray Street near City Hall that attracts city government workers, happy hour kicks o at noon and runs to 8 p.m. Beers are

$6, versus $9 at other times. But tra c plummets after 8, workers there say, in an example of a post-Covid theme: Whereas happy-hour gatherings used to segue into long nights out, they usually now break up at the end of the cheap-drinks window, often so drinkers can catch trains back home, observers say.

Bar operators may have nally realized remote work is here to stay. Indeed, the Partnership for New York City, an advocacy group, said in February that o ces are at about 52% occupancy, a level that has increased only modestly since last year.

Food and beverage businesses may also be reckoning with the fact that there aren’t as many new faces coming through their doors either. e

city is on track to have 63 million visitors in 2023, which is still below the 70 million it saw in 2019, according to New York City Tourism and Conventions, the city’s o cial marketing arm.

In some places, adjustments are being made on the y.

At Albert’s Bar, an upscale boite that opened in March at 140 E. 41st St., the original closing time of 3 a.m. was recently scaled back to 1. Late-night crowds just weren’t materializing, said Pete Vasconcellos, an owner

and the general manager. Similarly, Fridays and Saturdays have been quieter than expected, which has the owners o ering to lease the space for private events.

“We’re still learning the ropes,” Vasconcellos said of Albert’s, whose happy hour, which runs from 3 to 6 p.m., features martinis for $15 versus $18.

Incentives

But o ce workers, cooped up at home for years in some cases and who may have not really ever hung out with coworkers in person, have been thrilled to discover a location to interact without the aid of Zoom, he added. “ ey say thank you so much for opening, as if we have done a public service.”

Comparable businesses in o ce districts are experiencing similar patterns.

For Just Salad, a chain of eateries with 35 city locations, most of them in o ce districts, the busy days have shifted a bit to Tuesdays from Mondays, said Nick Kenner, the company’s CEO. “Midtown is strong, and downtown is still pretty weak,” he said, adding that residential areas are seeing 2019-level business.

Ultimately, a vibrant after-work scene might not just be bene cial to bars but commercial landlords and also New York as a whole, Rigie says.

“Even if people are coming into these business districts only a couple times a week,” he noted, “we need to ensure they have good eating and drinking options to incentivize them to keep coming back.” ■

J. HUGHES

“IT’S A PROBLEM THAT HAS BEEN TOUGH FOR SOME BAR OWNERS TO ADDRESS, AND UNFORTUNATELY, THERE’S NOT ONE EASY ANSWER”

DURING HAPPY HOUR AT THE LANDING, the owner experimented with comedy shows and online sales.

WHO OWNS THE BLOCK

Plaza District shaken by the downgrade of debt behind Vornado tower

New York’s longtime premier office area may no longer be a sure bet

BY C. J. HUGHES 2 E. 61ST ST.

The way some real-estate boosters tell it, the entire office market isn’t in trouble. The problem instead is limited to old, small and bare-bones buildings. Indeed, the argument goes, the city’s newest, most-amenity-laden and architecturally distinctive towers— Class A addresses—are doing just fine.

But that so-called “flight to quality” defense was weakened a bit earlier in June when some analysts painted a less-than-flattering portrait of 650 Madison Ave., which had been considered a trophy of a standout submarket, Midtown’s Plaza District.

A drop in occupancy at the 27-story greenish-glass tower has shaken the building’s financial footing, according to Fitch. The fashion company Ralph Lauren, which rents more than 40% of the building, could downsize or vacate when its lease expires in December 2024, the ratings agency said. (In 2018, the company vacated 300,000 square feet at nearby 625 Madison Ave.) Another troubling sign, per Fitch: Cancer center Memorial Sloan Kettering gave up a chunk of its office space in 2021, a year before its lease was up.

The ratings agency essentially warned investors to think twice about a security backed by a mortgage at the tower, which is owned by Vornado Realty Trust and others, by lowering its rating.

“The downgrades reflect deterioration in performance,” the agency said.

Because real-estate struggles can be highly building-specific, drawing conclusions about the entirety of Plaza District—the blocks around the Plaza Hotel in the East 50s—can be difficult. Plaza highlights include Soloviev Group’s 9 W 57th  St., Olayan Group’s 550 Madison Ave. and Carnegie Hall Tower at 152 W. 57th St.

Yet as remote-work trends harden more than three years after Covid hit, even the bluest-chip tenants are rethinking space requirements, especially as leases roll over, which suggests that the case of No. 650 may become more common.

In May, the availability rate in Midtown was nearly 16%, a slight improvement over a year ago and higher than Manhattan’s overall 17% rate, according to the firm Colliers. Average asking rents in Midtown were $75 a square foot annually, about the same as in May 2022, Colliers said.

But earlier this year Vornado, one of New York’s largest office owners, wrote down its Midtown portfolio of retail and office properties by $480 million. The seven Midtown buildings have reportedly declined by about 30% in value. ■

One of New York’s most storied hotels, the prewar landmark Pierre, stands at this Central Park-facing site. Since 2005, the Indian Hotels Company has operated its 150 rooms under the Taj brand. Stays start at around $1,000 a night and come with monogrammed slippers. Soon after the 41-story edifice opened during the Great Depression in 1930, the hotel went bankrupt, though it was later purchased by oilman J. Paul Getty. In the 1950s, Getty, whose namesake energy company had offices at 660 Madison, made part of the building into a co-op. That residential portion, which uses the address 975 Fifth Ave., has 75 units today. Its residents have included shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis, Harrods department store owner Mohamed al-Fayed and actress Elizabeth Taylor, according to news reports. Developer Michael Stern, who built a supertall condo around the corner at 111 West 57th St., is also a shareholder. The hotel is currently embroiled in a dispute with its perhaps equally aristocratic next-door neighbor, the Metropolitan Club, which has sued the Pierre over an allegedly sloppy decade-long renovation project.

In the 1950s, the George A. Fuller Company, developer of the Flatiron Building, constructed an office building here for the financial firm CIT Group as Midtown began overtaking the Financial District as the city’s preferred corporate address. In the 1980s, the Hiro Real Estate Company, a subsidiary of Japan’s Takara Gumi, redeveloped the property by adding a tower to the existing structure to create today’s 27-story building, which has Central Park views above the 15th floor. No. 650 is the global headquarters of Ralph Lauren, which leases floors five through 10 and 14. The fashion giant once rented 46% of the tower but now has 41%, according to Fitch. Because Ralph Lauren’s lease is up in 2024, it poses “high rollover risk,” says Fitch, which recently downgraded a mortgage-backed security tied to the site. Other tenants include Willett Advisors, which invests Michael Bloomberg’s fortunes, the brokerage Sotheby’s International Realty and British financial firm BC Partners. Vornado Realty Trust, Oxford Properties Group and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System acquired the tower from the Carlyle Group in 2013 for $1.3 billion.

A “Class A” building can be hard to define, but there’s a general consensus that this full-block marble-clad structure fits the bill. Developed in the 1960s as a new East Coast headquarters for General Motors by a team that included William Zeckendorf and architect Edward Durell Stone, the 50-story, 2 million-square-foot tower met a rough reception. It replaced the Savoy Plaza, a chateaustyle hotel designed by the firm McKim, Mead and White that was a twin of the Plaza Hotel across the street. General Motors was gone by 1981, but other A-list companies flocked to the site. Current tenants are cosmetics company Estée Lauder, law firm Weil, Gotshal and Manges and Apple, which since 2006 has been in a subterranean retail berth topped by a glass cube. But there appear to be vacancies. The holding company Icahn Enterprises, Carl Icahn’s firm, said goodbye to its 25,000-square-foot, 47th-floor perch in 2020 to move to Florida. And investor Thomas H. Lee’s 11,000 square feet are empty after Lee’s suicide earlier this year. In 2003, Harry Macklowe bought the GM Building, which has sweeping views of Central Park, for $1.4 billion and sold it five years later, just before Lehman Brothers imploded, for $2.8 billion. Its owners today are Boston Properties, Chinese billionaire Zhang Xin and the Safra family, which has a 40% stake.

672 MADISON AVE.

This block-wide mixed-use site is an apt symbol of a transitional zone between a business district and a residential enclave. In the spirit of Midtown, there’s a big multi-level retail component. The flagship store of designer Tom Ford relocated there in 2017 from its original location at 845 Madison Ave. and now occupies 12,300 square feet of it. Thor Equities Group, a major retail landlord, controls the retail spaces, which are in a commercial condo. The upstairs floors of the red-brick-and-terracotta prewar property, meanwhile, are residential. Called the Carlton House, which goes by a different address, 21 E. 61st St., the residential part is a cond-op, or essentially a co-op that sits atop a condo. (Condos legally need to touch ground). In 2010, Extell Development Company and Angelo, Gordon & Co. paid $164 million to the Helmsley estate for the cond-op portion, a former residential hotel, and then undertook a luxury makeover. In early June, a two-bedroom, two-bath unit, the cheapest for sale, was listed for $3 million. The same unit was sold by Extell in 2014 for about the same price. In 2017, the owner listed it for $3.5 million and has been trying to sell it on and off ever since.

673 MADISON AVE.

Shorter and older than most neighboring buildings, this five-story mixed-use Italianate building is owned by the Duell family, whose patriarch, Manny Duell, developed the Upper East Side post-war co-op 1045 Fifth Ave. and also owned smaller Greenwich Village properties. Manny died in 1977, and his wife Irene passed away in 2014. Soon after, the Duell children appear to have begun unloading properties, many to Extell Development Company. No. 673 features two floors of retail space crammed with a variety of stores including the Viand Coffee Shop, a modest diner that is nevertheless popular with local fashion executives. Though the restaurant shares a name with two Upper West Side offerings, Viand Diner and Bar on Columbus Avenue and Viand Cafe on Broadway, it appears to be independently owned. (A Viand Cafe on Madison Avenue and East 79th Street frequented by neighbor Michael Bloomberg shuttered in 2015.) Upstairs at No. 673 are two apartments. One of them, a onebedroom, was marketed last year at $2,600 a month.

660 MADISON AVE.

This 22-story tower, once a symbol of Midtown cool, is in the midst of a major transformation. Its nine-story lower portion, which housed a major outpost of the department store Barney’s from 1993 to 2020, now sporadically hosts antique shows and pop-up restaurants in the wake of the retailer’s bankruptcy. That part of the building, a commercial condo, is owned by Jenel Real Estate, a national retail-focused chain that bought it in 1993 for about $118 million, according to property records. The building’s top stories, also a commercial condo, are owned by the Safras, the Brazilian banking dynasty, which acquired them in 2010 in a $300 million deal. Among the tenants on those floors for years was the real-estate brokerage Corcoran Group, which decamped in 2021 for two floors of sublet space at nearby 590 Madison. At the time, the Safras were supposedly planning to convert the office floors to apartments and hotel rooms, though public filings suggest progress has been slow. The building has seen big makeovers before. A 1950s glass-and-steel tower once home to Getty Oil, the high-rise added a limestone facade in the early 1990s to gain a more prewar look.

Hartz Mountain Industries, a New Jerseybased developer behind shopping malls, office buildings and rental complexes in and around the Meadowlands, constructed this 24-story Spanish-granite-clad office tower in 1987. The high-rise has 14foot ceilings, a gym and a lobby adorned with a painting of George Washington by artist Gilbert Stuart. Hartz founder Leonard Stern, who paid $12 million for the portrait, is an avid art collector who assembled more than 150 Greek “marbles” that are considered foundations of Western art because they date back as far as the late-Neolithic era. In the face of a movement to return art to countries from which it was possibly looted, Stern last fall gave away the collection to a not-for-profit while admitting Greece should be its true owner. But as part of the deal, the group will show the figurines and other items at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in Greece. In 2016, Deutsche Bank provided a $254 million mortgage to the building, where eight of 24 floors currently have vacancies, according to a brochure on its website.

650 MADISON AVE.

667 MADISON AVE.

767 FIFTH AVE.

Rollout of hulking 5G towers gets business backing amid neighborhood opposition, setbacks

BY NICK GARBER

Officials and business leaders defended the rollout of gargantuan 5G towers across the city last week, in the face of opposition from neighborhood groups and wary lawmakers.

The so-called Link5G towers mark the next generation of the LinkNYC program, a decade-old public-private partnership that initially entailed replacing old phone booths with Wi-Fi-emitting kiosks. Now, with the aim of expanding speedy 5G internet and cellular service to more neighborhoods, the city and its partner CityBridge are in the process of installing 2,000 transmitting towers around the five boroughs.

But residents have been stunned by their sheer size—32 feet tall— and the opaque process used by CityBridge to decide where to put them. The rollout has also faced hiccups, like the April declaration by the Federal Communications Commission that 5G towers had to face extra environmental and his-

them to hold firm in their support for expanding what they call a critical technology for the city’s growth.

“When you’re judging how much you like or dislike the 30-foot pole, make sure you understand that the future of our economy may depend on that 30-foot pole,” said Kathy Wylde, the Partnership’s CEO, in an interview.

Wireless internet will be just as critical “for the bike courier as for the investment banker,” according to the letter, whose other co-signers include a vice president at Uber, the CEO of Etsy and the heads of all five boroughs’ chambers of commerce.

Many hurdles

Wylde said criticisms of the towers boil down to typical “NIMBY” objections from wealthy neighborhoods. An Upper East Side group, Carnegie Hill Neighbors, rallied outside City Hall to protest the towers before the June 7 hearing, calling them “out-of-scale” and “unnecessary.”

THE CITY AND ITS PARTNER ARE IN THE PROCESS OF InSTALLInG 2,000 TRANSMITTING TOWERS AROUND THE FIVe BOROuGHS

toric preservation reviews.

Those were among the issues raised in a June 7 City Council hearing, in which lawmakers grilled officials from the city’s Office of Technology and Innovation as well as leaders of CityBridge, a consortium made up of tech companies Intersection and ZenFi.

Ahead of the hearing, the Partnership for New York City and dozens of other business groups sent a letter to Mayor Eric Adams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, imploring

Some local Business Improvement Districts have raised their own objections, however. Leaders of at least two BIDs— on Madison Avenue and in SoHo— have criticized the 5G poles, saying they could obstruct pedestrians and that their flashy advertising screens could outshine adjacent businesses.

Pushback against the towers is only the latest of many hurdles the LinkNYC program has faced since its inception in 2014. By 2021, CityBridge owed the city nearly $60 million in revenue-sharing payments from advertising, had fallen behind on its installation targets and had put most of its kiosks in wealthy neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn despite its stated goal of improving connectivity in low-income areas.

City officials amended their con-

tract with CityBridge in 2021, aiming to revamp the program by allowing for 5G towers and slimming the revenue-sharing payments that CityBridge had struggled to pay. Just over 107 transmitting towers have been installed around the city so far—mostly outside of Manhattan—but none have had their 5G technology activated yet, CityBridge officials said during the hearing. Instead, they are serving only as Wi-Fi kiosks.

A database maintained by the city lists 297 total locations being eyed for Link5G towers, with more to come. CityBridge’s current contract requires 90% of the new poles to be installed in the outer boroughs and above 96th Street in Manhattan.

Poles planned for historic districts are on hold as CityBridge sorts out the new levels of historical review mandated by the FCC. Nine of the currently-planned 5G towers would be in historic districts, including on the Upper East Side, Greenwich Village and SoHo.

Few specifics

Asked by council members how each location is chosen, CityBridge officials offered few specifics, saying they focused broadly on neighborhoods that need better cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. Officials also pointed to the siting constraints such as a minimum distance from

subway entrances and fire hydrants that limit where poles can go.

Choosing well-trafficked locations to maximize advertising revenue was also a consideration, conceded Robert Sokota, head of CityBridge’s wireless division.

The Link program’s stated goals include bridging the so-called “dig-

ital divide” to benefit the estimated 1.5 million New Yorkers who lack both home and mobile broadband. But lawmakers questioned whether the 5G poles will do much to meet that goal, since they will mainly benefit users at street level rather than improving people’s in-home internet connections. ■

Women-only Webster Apartments plans a move to Brooklyn

Women in search of women-only housing will soon have a familiar option in Brooklyn.

Webster Apartments, an organization originally founded in 1923 to provide residences for Macy’s sales clerks, is relocating from its longtime home on West 34th Street in Manhattan to a site near Brooklyn Borough Hall, according to sources familiar with the plans.

The site, at 229 Duffield St., is a former Hotel Indigo, which shuttered, as many lodgings did, during the pandemic and never reopened.

On May 24 the nonprofit Webster

purchased the 19-story, 128-unit vacant property for $40.9 million, according to a deed that appeared in the City Register on June 7.

The seller of the property was the developer Lam Group, which paid $31.1 million for it in 2012, records show.

Smaller footprint

In April Webster sold the West 34th Street property, one of the last women-only residences in a city that used to be dotted with them, for $53 million. The buyer was Educational Housing, a developer that is planning to remodel the building and turn it into a co-ed college dorm. It was assumed at the time

that Webster was changing directions.

Its tenants were relocated to a facility run by dorm provider Found Study in a former hotel in Midtown. But that relocation was only temporary, said broker Lindsay Ornstein, who helped Webster make its way across the East River.

Webster, which had 413 rooms on West 34th Street, gets a much smaller footprint with the former Indigo tower, which has 128 rooms.

But the tower, completed in 2009, does have perks, Ornstein said. Instead of only a sink in each bedroom and a shared bathroom down the hall, 229 Duffield has full baths for each living quarters.

“It was an incredibly challenging off-market search process,” said Ornstein, co-founder of Open Impact Real Estate, a certified women-owned firm. Webster primarily looked at hotels and considered Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, she said, adding that the site will require a two-year renovation.

In 1923 Charles and Josiah Webster, brothers who worked with R.H. Macy, bequeathed their fortune to developing a building for young professional women. By 1935, 419 E. 34th housed 84 sales clerks from various stores, according to an offi-

cial building history. In 2022 rents there were about $1,700 per month. For all of its existence, men were not allowed on upstairs floors. Siobhan McManus, Webster’s executive director, did not return a call or email for comment. And the Lam Group had no response. ■

NEARLY 300 LINK5G TOWERS ARE PLANNED OR INSTALLED ACROSS THE CITY ● Planned and installed Link5G poles

A LINK5G pole near City Hall in Manhattan. To the right, one of the newly installed Link5G poles, on East Broadway in Chinatown.

The power of gossip will rescue Manhattan’s office buildings, an MSCI economist says

The only reason to be in the office is to build and spend social capital, according to Jim Costello

Photos of Manhattan office towers vanishing into the smog provide a splendid metaphor into what’s become of the business. Even the most attractively-located buildings are grappling with large drops in rental income and the prospect of losing flagship tenants. A report from Wedbush Securities last week assessing whether lenders are ready to deal with a wave of defaults asked, “Is the market whistling past the graveyard?”

And with that, let’s introduce someone with a contrarian take: Jim Costello, head of real estate economics at investment firm MSCI.

“I’m a little optimistic about offices moving forward, especially in big moneycenter locations,” he told an audience June 7 at the National Association of Real Estate Editors’ annual meeting in Las Vegas.

His position is worth exploring because it is so out of step with the market.

Costello made his case the way any good economist would, with lots of charts and reams of figures. But in the end, his optimism is

ON POLITICS

based on a simple observation: Humans love to gossip. Whatever benefits remote work and Zoom meetings bring, gossip is usually not part of the equation. He believes the power of gossip ultimately will rescue Manhattan office buildings.

“The only reason to be in the office is to build and spend social capital,” he told me later. “That only happens in areas with clusters of talent— Manhattan, Miami, etc.” But he thinks the outlook for offices could get worse before it gets better. If interest rates don’t fall, “there’s another shoe to drop,” he said.

The biggest source of distress—“chaos” is the word he used—lies in buildings that got shortterm financing from private equity firms and other nonbank lenders in the last year or two, just before interest rates rose quickly. As those loans mature, it will be impossible to refinance them, and that could be the catalyst for a wave of defaults.

Restructuring pushback?

Most lenders are working with landlords to restructure loans be-

cause widespread defaults are in nobody’s interest. But the can might not be kicked much further. Later this month, the Federal Reserve is expected to release the results of examinations into how bank portfolios could weather economic downturns. Should those stress tests reveal uncomfortably high commercial real estate exposures, regulators will push banks to foreclose on struggling borrowers and auction off properties.

Yet Costello added that vulture investors are waiting to swoop in. Indeed, he recently had drinks with a guy looking to acquire debt or preferred shares in commercial real estate on behalf of investors in the Middle East. The fellow said he’s compressing his expected investment returns for deals exceeding $100 million because there’s so much competition for distressed assets.

“That dry powder has an impact

Can New Yorkers trust Adams’ public statements on the migrant crisis?

The mayor is raising hysteria offering to house migrants at Gracie Mansion

Mayor Eric Adams recently had his own idea for solving the migrant crisis in New York: House them at Gracie Mansion. “I wanna lead from the front, that’s the type of leader I am,” he said.

The plan, not surprisingly, was half-baked, and it’s unlikely any migrants will end up at the Upper East Side mayoral residency. Houses of worship, though, take the migrants seeking asylum, as well the city’s shelter system. Officials said more than 72,000 have come through the city since 2022.

Here’s the first truth: There must be a federal solution to the influx. The Biden White House should coordinate with New York and other states to disperse migrants across the country and expedite their work permits. Many of them come from Venezuela and other nations in economic turmoil. They deserve

our help, and the United States is large enough to accommodate them. Given the current labor shortages, particularly in the service sector and construction, there’s no reason to turn away people who want to work hard in the U.S.

If New York is bursting at the seams, as Adams says—and there’s reason, as we’ll get to in a moment, to be dubious of his claim—then the federal government should be moving more migrants to depopulating cities that will need, in the coming years, much more human capital. Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis and Buffalo are just some of the cities that have bled residents over the last few decades.

The immediate challenge for New Yorkers, though, is figuring out how much to trust Adams’ public pronouncements. Since the lifting of Title 42, a Covid-era immigration restriction, Adams’ office has said

as many as 4,300 migrants a week and 900 a day are coming through New York. But volunteers posted at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and LaGuardia Airport have found far lower numbers. One volunteer group logged less than 200 on a particular day when 900 were supposed to have streamed in. (The Adams administration argues there are other points of entry, like buses in Chinatown, and some migrants come on foot from the southern border.)

Crunching numbers

The budget numbers haven’t lined up, either. The Adams administration has consistently said the migrant crisis will cost at least $4.3 billion over the next two fiscal years. The Independent Budget Office, however, found the Adams estimate is overblown. The costs of sheltering and providing aid for migrants could range between $2.7 billion and $3.7 billion, according to the IBO.

Finally, there are the shelters

and I only learned that by being in the city and walking around,” Costello said. “You can get some of that on Zoom, sure, but just by sitting down with people over a drink you learn so much more.”

More opportunity

Sure, that’s anecdotal. But one person’s anecdote is another’s information edge. In a market with as little transparency as commercial real estate, good information is literally money.

Still, I was skeptical. I approached Costello after his presentation and asked how he could be even “a little optimistic” given that Manhattan office landlords face a double whammy of falling cash flows and rising borrowing costs.

He didn’t back down. Remote work can kill demand for what he called “commodity space” in lowcost locations, he said, but money is going to be made by people who interact in person with others and are better informed because of it.

“The truth is low-value jobs have been leaving the city for many years and high-value workers have increased in numbers,” he said. “That will continue because there is more opportunity in New York than anywhere else. It’s not complicated.” ■

themselves. Adams has declared the system is at a breaking point and stirred up hysteria with his plans to house migrants in public school gyms and even Rikers Island. Yet there are more than 1,000 beds and hundreds of rooms currently empty in city shelters, as well as more than 2,600 apartments that are meant for the homeless. Will they be utilized soon? Perhaps. Either way, there’s no need to kick up so much panic when options like these still exist.

New Yorkers tracking the migrant influx don’t quite know what to believe anymore. There are, certainly, many more migrants—but how many? Why now all these pitched battles with upstate communities?

It’s up the federal government to step up, no doubt, and Adams is correct to complain about their response. But his own use of facts cannot be so free-floating. His credibility with the feds—and, more importantly, the people of New York— will soon be shot.

Quick takes

● Lo and behold, Albany inaction strikes again. The state legislature claimed it had agreed to a package of housing reforms, including vouchers for the homeless and eviction protections, before the end of session. The leaders of the state Senate and Assembly said they couldn’t pass them because Gov. Kathy Hochul didn’t agree ahead of time. But why not pass them anyway and dare her to veto them? The Democrats appear cowardly.

● Adams and city officials must develop a much better system for alerting New Yorkers when air quality deteriorates, as it did when smoke from Canadian wildfires covered the Northeast in a sickly orange haze this month. ■

ALAMY

AARON ELSTEIN

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

ROSS BARKAN

MIGRANTS ARRIVE after traveling on a bus from Del Rio, Texas, at the Port Authority Bus Terminal on May 13.

BLOOMBERG

Founding director of Cannabis NYC on the factors thwarting the rollout of legal weed

INTERVIEW BY RAINA LIPSITZ

Dasheeda Dawson believes her personal and professional experiences with cannabis uniquely suit her to run Cannabis NYC, housed within the city’s Department of Small Business Services. Growing up in East New York she saw firsthand how harshly various authorities treated friends and neighbors who used or were suspected of using cannabis during the so-called war on drugs. For a long time she associated cannabis with such severe stigma and potential consequences that she wanted nothing to do with it.

Now a proud cannabis patient, educator and regulator, Dawson sees the transformative power for individual communities—and New York as a whole—of demystifying and destigmatizing the plant, empowering civic-minded entrepreneurs, and bringing the industry out of the shadows. She talked to Crain’s about persuading legacy operators to join New York’s legal market, ensuring that the industry is just and equitable as well as profitable, and what we should—and shouldn’t—tell young people about cannabis.

What’s a typical day for you as founding director of Cannabis NYC?

The average day is a mix. Sometimes I’ll focus on digging into strategic planning, procurement planning, fleshing out how we will execute certain things that we’re trying to build and curate for the city. I work with more than 120 city leaders across 15 agencies.

Cannabis use is far less stigmatized now that it’s legal in so many places. How did you view it when you were growing up?

Takeaway for business professionals

Part of Dawson’s role is to help New Yorkers who have been selling cannabis illegally transition into the city’s burgeoning legal market. To that end, she connects legacy operators with city resources designed to support small businesses and entrepreneurs, especially those harmed by the criminalization of cannabis.

I grew up in East New York in the ’80s and ’90s during the height of the city’s war on drugs. East New York was one of eight neighborhoods in New York City that represented more than 80% of the prison population. I still have a lot of trauma from the way we were overpoliced and disinvested in, and a large part of my negative perception of cannabis had to do with watching people, young men in particular, 12, 13, 14 years old, dropped to the ground or abused in some way for [possessing] very, very small amounts of cannabis. [I was] constantly being warned that if I wanted to make something of my life, I needed to stay away from all drugs, in particular cannabis, since that was the one that you could smell right away and it would give you away.

Fast forward to my twenties; after having a child, I started [experiencing] a lot of flareups of the kind pregnancy will trigger if you have an autoimmune condition. It became clear that I had early signs of MS and cannabis became one of the best [treatment] options. My relationship with cannabis changed to one of necessity, but I felt very ashamed of being a user because it wasn’t something I could readily talk about. Part of my desire to come into the industry was to demonstrate that there are millions of responsible users and consumers within New York City and all over. I deserve to be a patient with dignity; we all do.

How do you think we should talk to kids about drugs?

I have a 19-year-old son so I’m speaking from experience. We know that when we educate with the truth, young people tend to choose a bit better. I’d rather give my son real scientific information about the

plant, real data about the risks and the rules and what that meant for him, but also what it meant for me as a mom, particularly as a Black mom and certified patient. His relationship [with cannabis] as a 19-year-old is just far more mature and understanding compared to that of some of his friends. We’re aiming for more responsible thinking about cannabis as opposed to it being something salacious and fun to do behind parents’ backs.

What’s the best way to persuade someone who has been selling cannabis illegally to enter the legal market?

The policies have changed and it’s either going to be folks who have been in the previously existing market for decades coming to the table or people who don’t belong to our communities. A lot of these entrepreneurs and operators are tired of living in the shadows, and although

there’s a lot of frustration with bulky frameworks and over-regulation, they’re willing to go on that journey because they want to try for the chance [to build] generational wealth. People are fearful because they don’t trust the government and don’t trust that [cannabis will remain legal]. I hear a lot about it potentially being a scam.

What do you think of the deal Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature recently struck to crack down on unlicensed shops?

It’s one part of the equation. Adding a bit more teeth to what can be done with unlicensed establishments will be a critical part of ensuring that we can transition people into the space and achieve the equitable outcomes that we want. Communities want to support the legal businesses that are owned and operated by people from their community.

DOSSIER

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES Three and growing

ON HER RÉSUMÉ Founding director of Cannabis NYC and chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition; founder of and bestselling author at The WeedHead & Company; host of She Blaze podcast; cannabis program manager in Portland, Oregon’s Office of Community & Civic Life; founder and CEO of MJM Strategy, a management and strategy consulting firm for the global cannabis industry

BORN Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn

GREW UP East New York

RESIDES Weeksville, a historic Black neighborhood in Crown Heights

EDUCATION Bachelor’s degree in molecular biology, Princeton University; MBA, Rutgers University

BREAKING THE MOLD Dawson is New York City’s first-ever cannabis czar.

It took nearly three years after Illinois legalized cannabis for the state to open its first majority Black-owned dispensary. How is New York doing from an equity perspective?

We’ve issued as a state nearly 600 licenses, and 165 of them are for dispensaries. We’re already winning compared to New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois. I use those as examples not because I’m hating on those states. But the way they approached it did not lend itself to seeing [many] Black- or minority-owned establishments…[By contrast, New York’s program to license] Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensaries (CAURD) focuses on entrepreneurs who had previously been arrested. Based on the data, over 90% of arrests during the height of the war on drugs were of men, more than 50% were of Black people, and more than 30% [of arrestees] identified as Hispanic. Women were not arrested at the same rate, but they were left in the communities that were being damaged and there’s a lot of trauma and harm there, too. Based on our numbers versus those in other states, we already have more [open minority-owned dispensaries]. When I convened the first member symposium for the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition in New York in April, we learned that New York is the tip of the spear as far as our intentional focus on an equitable rollout. ■

ASHLEY HOLT

Legislature whiffs on what should have been its highest priority: affordable housing

During their justwrapped session, New York lawmakers weighed legislation on data security, sovereign-debt investing and cryptocurrency. ey passed new laws requiring businesses to cut back on their use of paper and allowing liquor stores to open before noon on Sundays. ey voted to seal old criminal records and passed, for a second time, an expansion of damages from wrongful death lawsuits, even though Gov. Kathy Hochul already vetoed it once.

But barring a post-session surprise, they appear to have run out the clock on the most important issue facing the state, one that’s putting a chokehold on our

the session’s waning hours playing the blame game: Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins called out Hochul in a joint statement, saying the Legislature had come close to a housing package but could not get her on board. e claim is a stretch, as the chambers have veto-proof majorities that could have overridden a Hochul veto with enough votes.

Hochul’s communications director, Julie Wood, stressed that nothing was stopping the Legislature from passing a housing package and accused them of “blaming the governor for their own failure to act.” At least the governor put forward a serious proposal, a big housing compact with mandates for transit-oriented development. (It was not well received.)

LAWMAKERS SPENT THE SESSION’S WANING HOURS PLAYING THE BLAME GAME

post-Covid economic recovery – a crisis-level shortage of a ordable housing with scarce new units in the works to relieve relentless upward pressure on rents. Quite simply, they failed to deliver.

So naturally, lawmakers spent

OP-ED

As the legislative session wound to a close, the late deal was said to include an extension of the 421-a program that incentivizes developers to build a ordable housing, a version of good-cause eviction, measures to enable more o ce conversions to residential, and a proposal by Hochul to boost the density

allowed for residential development statewide. But it, too, zzled. Housing admittedly is a di cult issue, one marked by political paralysis that pits the real estate industry on one side and tenant advocates on the other. But sometimes the hard stu is the most important – and lawmakers certainly could have spent more time on housing in a session ooded with ideological bills brought by various advocacy

groups that ultimately distracted from pressing local problems.

One worthwhile late-session move was to follow California’s lead in creating a reparations study commission to look at slavery’s impact and recommend remedies in New York. One conclusion that should not require further study:

e state’s continued inability to take real action on a ordable housing disproportionately harms communities of color. ■

For the Penn Station we need, Madison Square Garden must get on board

BY FELICIA-PARK ROGERS

I’m experiencing déjà vu. Just 10 short years ago, the city had a very similar conversation about Madison Square Garden to the one we’re having now. In 2013, MSG requested a renewal of the special permit in perpetuity to continue operating above Penn Station. e City Council granted a 10-year permit with the understanding that MSG would nd a new home during that period, hoping to decouple the arena from the busiest transit hub in North America.

Fast forward to 2023, and MSG is again seeking a special permit in perpetuity. MSG claims it has no intention of moving. But what happens to Penn Station?

Everyone agrees that Penn needs a serious overhaul and needs it now. Built to handle 200,000 passengers daily, it served over 600,000 in 2019 and is projected to be serving more than that by 2038. Overcrowding exacerbates the station’s

poor way nding, low ceilings and minimal daylight.

As the MTA, NJ Transit, and Amtrak make clear in their recent report, MSG today is not compatible with the current or future Penn Station, and MSG should only receive its special permit when it shows that it will meet the needs of transit users, which includes the vast majority of MSG’s sta and patrons.

While relocating MSG remains the best choice, if they continue to refuse to do so, we can’t wait to reimagine Penn Station. e MTA, along with multiple architects and development rms, have released conceptual designs that would relieve overcrowding, improve accessibility and safety, introduce daylight into the terminal, improve way nding and signi cantly enhance the passenger experience.

All these bene ts can be achieved without moving MSG — but only if MSG cooperates. And it is the least MSG can do, in return for the right to remain on the site

and continue to bene t monetarily from the public transit access Penn Station o ers. Some key areas where MSG must support Penn Station reconstruction include:

● Handing over the mid-block taxiway to allow for the creation of a large, light- lled train hall for Penn (the taxiway is no longer even used for taxis)

● Allowing for new entrances to Penn Station to improve accessibility and improve pedestrian ow

● Structural improvements that will directly bene t MSG’s facility, including their loading docks, which cannot t today’s trucks

● Paying its fair share for improvements to loading and the MSG bridge e arena owes it to commuters and transit riders to commit to xing Penn and pay their portion of the costs of improvements that will directly bene t them. is cost is not only fair, but it pales in comparison to the $43 million a year MSG avoids in taxes and the immense nancial

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bene t their location provides.

Speci c commitments are what is needed of MSG now. MSG is asking for a special permit in perpetuity—no way. But even if the city gives them a short-term extension, MSG needs to commit to making itself compatible with the needs of Penn Station and the public.

It is in MSG’s best interests to improve Penn Station; it stands to bene t from upgraded systems, exterior renovations, structural improvements and loading docks.

MSG must play ball. e City Planning Commission should use the special-permit process to ensure MSG upholds its responsibility to x Penn Station and contribute its fair share of the costs. New Yorkers can get a lot closer to the Penn Station we deserve, but to do so, MSG must get on board. ■

Felicia-Park Rogers is director of regional infrastructure projects at Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

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UNITED NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSES/FLICKR

ASSEMBLY SPEAKER Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in a joint statement said the Legislature had come close to a housing package but could not get Gov. Kathy Hochul on board.

Broadway’s audience is evolving and becoming more diverse; it’s time the industry did, too

BY HUNTER ARNOLD

When Broadway closed its doors in March 2020 at the peak of the pandemic, many predicted the end of live theater. Broadway proved itself resilient above all speculation and over the next two years, performances gradually reopened to the public. By December 2022, Broadway grossed $51.9 million, its highest sum since 2019. To paraphrase Mark Twain: The reports of Broadway’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

However, as performers returned to the stage, they were met with a very different post-pandemic audience. Until recently, the majority of Broadway’s audience consisted of elderly, white, patrons from wealthy backgrounds. ZIP codes tracked through ticket purchases have anecdotally revealed that current attendees are a new, diverse generation of millennials who are Black, indigenous and people of color as well as Gen Z individuals.

While this change represents an exciting development, to keep and burgeon this audience, Broadway must cultivate a more diverse audience in every sense of the word: race, age, socioeconomic status and more. It’s a painful fact that this awakening has come at the expense of terrible events but it has acted as a wake-up call to an industry that is supposed to be a beacon of openness and inclusion, and we have finally started to take on this necessary transformation.

Meaningful steps

Shows like “Ain’t No Mo’ ” and “KPOP” tell stories that aren’t often heard on the Great White Way. They are meaningful steps toward making Broadway a more inclusive space, and their closing doesn’t mean that conveying diverse experiences won’t work on Broadway; it means that building a bigger, more diverse audience won’t happen overnight.

Shows that push boundaries are often labeled as failures by critics if

they are not financially successful, but is that the definition of failure? Take “Ohio State Murders” and “A Strange Loop” as examples. Despite “Ohio State Murders” closing early, it was a groundbreaking work of art that celebrated one of America’s greatest playwrights, Adrienne Kennedy. “A Strange Loop,” written by Michael R. Jackson, won the Tony Award for Best New Musical. Do these shows sound like failures?

If the definition of failure is “didn’t make money on Broadway,” then it’s true of about threequarters of the market in a given year. So why is no one shouting when a “white” show fails? Sadly, society still uses a different scoreboard for shows about underrepresented communities, and even more so regarding scoreboards used by critics for those same works. Bias is real. The question is, who among us is going to help fix that?

Producers must invest in different types of shows and be willing to

take risks. We must support all underrepresented communities— who have already contributed so much to Broadway—and bring in and support new artists whose work will only further enrich the theater world.

Not every show will turn a profit, but putting on any Broadway show is always risky. Some shows may feel riskier than others, particularly those that haven’t already proven their ability to attract and retain

audiences.

We’re trying to turn around a very big ship here, and it’s going to make some waves. If we want a theater that represents the diversity and richness of New York City, the only way we can get there is to put our blood, sweat, tears—and yes, money—where our mouths are until we succeed. ■

Hunter Arnold is a Tony Award–winning producer.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

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Soho Experiential Soho Experiential, a global marketing agency with expertise in beverage alcohol, finance, and retail sectors, announces the addition of Ken McCallum, a 20-year media director veteran to strengthen and drive the agency’s Automotive Division. Ken’s extensive experience in luxury, auto, & retail categories specifically marketing Acura, Cadillac, Hummer, GMC and Saab brands, gives him insights into luxury vehicle brand positioning that deliver successful experiences for today’s consumers.

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BankUnited, N.A.

Matthew Gallo, executive vice president, managing director, leads BankUnited’s new corporate banking team serving the New York Metropolitan area. With two decades of experience, Gallo most recently served as managing director, business banking for First Republic Bank and returns to BankUnited where he served as a senior vice president from 2013-2018. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Providence College, Rhode Island, and a master’s degree from John Jay College in Manhattan.

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Pacific Program Management

Priya Sood was named the new Business Development

Market Lead, East Region for Seattlebased CRE firm, Pacific Program Management (PPM). An experienced business executive and alumni of Rutgers University, Sood will be responsible for facilitating company growth on the east coast. With locations across the nation, PPM serves mid-size and Fortune 500 companies across three integrated service lines: Workspace Consulting, Capital Project Management, and Transition and Relocation Management.

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James Starace, PE, has joined HNTB, a leading transportation infrastructure firm, as vice president and project director in the New Jersey office. Starace brings nearly four decades of industry experience, most recently as Chief Engineer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where he led the engineering support for major projects such as the new Goethals Bridge, the Bayonne Bridge “Raise the Roadway” project and the LaGuardia Airport and JFK Airport Redevelopments, among others.

BankUnited, N.A.

Joining BankUnited’s new corporate banking team serving the New York Metropolitan area are: Daniel Mills, senior vice president, corporate banking relationship manager. With 12 years of commercial banking & lending experience across New York and Long Island, Mills most recently served as director, senior banker, business banking with First Republic Bank. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Delaware.

Laura Ackerman, vice president, corporate banking relationship manager, brings substantial experience in underwriting and credit analysis to her new role. Ackerman recently served as senior underwriter at First Republic Bank. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester.

BankUnited announced the addition of James Groves, senior vice president, senior relationship manager, and David Jeddah, vice president, relationship manager, to its team serving the CRE, Institutional and Specialty Real Estate (ISRE) & Real Estate Syndication needs of New York Metropolitan area clients. They are responsible for providing dual coverage for syndicating real estate transactions and structuring new lending opportunities for REITs and real estate funds, as well as sponsors in healthcare real estate and affordable housing. Groves joins BankUnited with 25 years of experience in real estate finance. A 10-year banking industry veteran, Jeddah rejoins BankUnited after a one-year stint at Bank Hapoalim in New York City.

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Craig Evans joins BankUnited’s corporate banking division as senior vice president, enterprise practice leader, healthcare. An industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Evans served most recently as senior healthcare banker at Citibank in New York City. His extensive knowledge of partnering with healthcare services platforms across the country supports BankUnited’s expanding healthcare practice. Evans holds an MBA from the University of North Florida.

Josh Kalish joins as an Emerging Companies & Venture Capital (ECVC) partner. His background includes a broad range of transactional and general counsel experience, including early- and growthstage equity and debt financings, strategic partnerships, M&A, technology development and licensing, founder dispute resolution as well as corporate governance and outside general counsel advisory work. David Goldstein joins as a partner in the Trusts & Estates practice. David’s experience includes representing both domestic and international clients in a broad range of estate planning and tax matters. His experience working with international families and complex intergenerational wealth transfers continues to expand the reach of the practice in NYC and beyond.

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Tarter Krinsky & Drogin

In a strategic expansion of its Matrimonial and Family Law Practice, Tarter Krinsky & Drogin welcomes Jennifer L. Schenker as a partner in New York. Wellknown as a matrimonial and family law litigator throughout New York City and Long Island, Jennifer brings an innovative and specialized perspective to the group. As an advocate for her clients, Jennifer regularly conducts matrimonial and family law trials and negotiates complex settlements in a wide range of matrimonial actions.

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Barclay Damon LLP

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Holland & Knight LLP

David Hryck has joined Holland & Knight as a partner in the firm’s Private Wealth Practice. Mr. Hryck represents celebrities, entertainers, designers, global companies and international families with cross-border investments and various licensing structures while focusing on tax and business transactions. Mr. Hryck is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian and French. He was previously a partner with Duane Morris.

Xun Chen, associate, has joined Barclay Damon’s Commercial Litigation and Torts & Products Liability Defense Practice Areas. Xun focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts and represents corporate and individual clients across a variety of industries in products liability cases, class actions, securities litigation, and contract disputes. Prior to joining Barclay Damon, Xun was an associate at Lynch Daskal Emery LLP.

Groves Jeddah

Mills

Ackerman

LAW

Farrell Fritz

Kalish Goldstein

A bright future

New York City has emerged from the pandemic to find a changed world. Residents have a new outlook on balancing work and life, landlords are struggling to find tenants for skyscrapers and choking wildfire smoke from Canada drove home the reality of climate change.

Fortunately, a new crop of leaders has proven they are ready to take on these challenges with fresh energy and perspectives. The honorees on this year’s 20 in Their 20s list are redesigning neighborhoods to make them accessible, expanding access to health care and renewable energy and strengthening New York’s emerging cannabis industry.

These individuals are a testament to the city’s changing demographics, and their unique outlook on the future is a boon to industries searching for the next big thing . More importantly, this group embraces the notion of “pay it forward,” using their platform to support other like-minded young people.

If this is the best of New York, the city has a bright future ahead.

—TAYLOR NAKAGAWA, DIGITAL EDITOR

PHOTOGRAPHS BY BUCK ENNIS CrainsNewYork.com/awards/20-their-20s-2023

CATHERINE HURLIN, 27

Principal dancer, American Ballet Theatre

Arriving at the American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at 12 years old, Catherine Hurlin had a revelation. Though she’s been dancing since she was about 3, something about joining this group felt different. Seeing what the ABT company members did day-to-day, what their life was like, made Hurlin think, This is exactly where I want to be. She kept at it and joined as a company member upon her graduation in 2013. Hurlin started as an apprentice, was promoted to soloist in 2018 and became principal dancer last year. Now she takes on leading roles.

How do you prepare for a role?

It’s about dedication to your craft. Whether you’re a lawyer or a dancer, I think that the more that you put effort into what you do, the better outcome you’re going to have. The more obsessed you become with it, the better outcome you’ll have. I just debuted Giselle, which was created in 1841, and in preparing for a role like that, you really have to dive into the character, into the story. That way, no matter what you do on stage, you are Giselle. I don’t want to be Catherine doing Giselle steps. I wanted to be Giselle. I wanted to be Kitri. I wanted to be a swan.

What resources have you turned to for support over the years?

My mom was a big part of [my support] when I was in school. She was also a ballet dancer. Also, my teachers and coaches, my most recent artistic director—he just retired. I’m also very excited about our new artistic director, Susan Jaffe, who is a very famous ballerina from the American Ballet Theatre. And my colleagues. I’m so fortunate that I get to dance in a big company where there are so many inspiring dancers that I get to watch and learn from.

What initiatives do you take part in outside of work?

I grew up doing volunteer work with Dancers

Respond to AIDS. My mom [Denise Roberts Hurlin] is the founding director. When I was a kid, she would tell us what to do, whereas now I’ll do more organizing, like for the Fire Island Dance Festival or the Broadway Flea Market [and Grand Auction.]

Since I was 12, I’ve volunteered and done backstage work and all the stuff that leads up to the production at the dance festival, so that makes it even more special. With the Broadway Flea, it’s my job to get all my friends from ABT to help bubble wrap all the items bought at the action and ship them.

How have the past three years changed the way people come across ABT and ballet in general?

SARAH HSIEH, 29

Chef de cuisine, The Modern

People have likened Sarah Hsieh to a boomerang. After working as a line cook at The Modern, her rst job in the city, with brief stints at Aquavit and Per Se and a few months as a private chef, Hsieh returned to the two-Michelin-star restaurant a little under two years ago as its newest chef de cuisine. Closed for more than a year because of Covid, the restaurant was pretty much starting over from scratch— and this was an opportunity for change. Hsieh served as an advocate for a better work-life balance, implementing better hours and pay for the more than 50 cooks she supervises.

You started at The Modern in 2014 as a line cook, and now you’re back with much more responsibility and authority. How does it feel?

In my many years of working as a line cook and working in so many different kitchens, I realized the kitchen culture had to change. It’s great to see how far we’ve come: from the way we talk to each other to the number of hours that cooks now work to how much we’re getting paid. If I re ect back to when I rst took my job at The Modern, I was getting paid $10.50 an hour, and now the starting rate for my cooks is $20 an hour, and we do revenue share. It used to be that you had to work 60 hours a week minimum—like, you gotta pay rent, you gotta work 60 hours. Now my cooks work 45 hours, and it’s not like the work suffers.

How did you think through those changes and implement them?

DOSSIER

RESIDES Lower East Side FROM New Jersey

FUN FACTS You can nd Hsieh at the dog park with her miniature schnauzer-shih tzu mix, Maxwell, or playing a ruthless game of Monopoly, which she rst got into at 5 years old.

ADVICE “Constantly keep learning. It’s more important than just liking to cook. It’s learning from everywhere, everyone, regardless if they’re your boss or the porter washing dishes.”

Some of those changes, like the base rate going up, were something that Union Square Hospitality Group [the restaurant’s parent group] had already decided. Other things, like the workweek situation, were a bit more challenging. But we just realized we needed to open up more roles, and it’s worked out for us. I also always tell my cooks “I have an open-door policy. You can come talk to me about anything. It doesn’t have to be work-related.” I recognize that while we say “work is life,” everyone has a life outside of work. It’s important to talk about mental health, and if things are really affecting you, it’s OK to talk about it. It’s OK to take a sick day if you need it.

DUANE DAVIS, 26

Associate, retail advisory & transaction services group, CBRE

The city’s retail industry has been enjoying a fairly strong recovery from the pandemic, a trend CBRE associate Duane Davis is witnessing rsthand. Davis came to the commercial real estate services and investment rm right out of college, starting in research there in 2019 before shifting to the brokerage side. Since 2021 he has inked more than 300,000 square feet of retail leases and is actively involved in nding space for one of the sector’s newest entrants: recreational

DOSSIER

RESIDES Upper West Side FUN FACTS Her favorite role that she’s played so far has been Kitri from Don Quixote. “I identify a lot with the character, so it was easy for me to step into her shoes. The energy in Don Quixote is … it’s Spanish, it’s ery, it’s sassy, and it’s fun.”

ADVICE “Stay hungry for more.”

The pandemic really boosted [our audience], because while we didn’t have the stage to present ourselves, we had social media. We also did a bus and truck tour during the pandemic, and it was a huge success. The truck literally folded out into a stage outside, and it was summertime, so it was nice and warm. I think in Iowa City we had 6,000 people come to the show, which is more than any theater that we’ve ever been in.

—Olivia Bensimon

What resources did you lean on to get here?

I always look at the people that came before me and try to learn as much as I can from them. It’s not necessarily that you’re emulating them, but there are definitely qualities that good leaders have. And I think over the years I’ve come to see what kind of leader I want to be based on the many people I have worked for.

Where do you think your industry is heading?

We’re kind of seeing an influx of new cooks joining the industry. I think we’re about to see a huge boom of young chefs. Cooks these days are so young, and they’re so hungry for knowledge, growth and everything. But it’s also good to see this new generation advocate for themselves. I can only see the industry getting better. I feel like it’s a very unpredictable time, which makes it really exciting.

—Olivia Bensimon

cannabis stores. His team has so far closed on 18 leases for the dispensaries across the state.“It’s been super fun because there are definitely markets that a typical Manhattan real estate broker or adviser would never go to,” he said, “but this program has taken us really to all parts of New York.”

What has been the biggest challenge in finding space for marijuana dispensaries?

COLBY WILSON, 27 Director, financial operations–perioperative services, Northwell Health

Colby Wilson has worked within Northwell Health, the state’s biggest health care system, since 2017, a year before he graduated from Johns Hopkins University. As an intern in Northwell’s health care management program, Wilson learned how to apply the business principles he learned in the classroom to a hospital setting—and discovered he loved how business and care intersect. Since his internship, Wilson has climbed the financial operations ladder at two of Northwell’s 22 hospitals and now leads financial operations for perioperative services (or care around the time of a patient’s surgical procedure) at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

What is your typical day like?

On a day-to-day [basis], I work with the senior leadership, the perioperative leadership and our staff. We have the strategic goals of the organization, and my job is to try to figure out how to operationalize that into the work that our team is doing, whether that’s expansion of different programs or expansion of services. So it’s a lot of analytics, and in health care, analytics are pretty key to all the decision making. Health care in general has a lot of constraints on resources. [We try] to maximize the spend in the areas that are going to have the biggest impact.

What twists and turns did your career take before you took this role?

I found Northwell through an internship called the Health care Management Program that this system has. That’s how I started to learn more about this type of work, where you can take some of those business skills and apply [them] to a health care atmosphere. I then transitioned into the associate program coming out of undergrad, where I did a lot of the same type of work—doing almost like internal consulting business functions, but at a hospital.

I found myself leaning toward the perioperative environment, which is how I transitioned into the director of the ambulatory surgery program at Peconic Bay and then now the director of finance at LIJ.

How do you give back to your community?

I’ve worked a little bit with the Special Olympics, and some events that they’ve had have just been really cool. And Northwell itself has a lot of business functions where staff can be a part of different groups. I’m a part of one called N Able, which does a lot of work [with] individuals with disabilities and how they can provide back to the community.

—Jacqueline Neber

DOSSIER

LIVES Port Washington, Long Island

FUN FACT Wilson recently completed the NYCRuns Brooklyn Half Marathon.

DOSSIER

RESIDES Williamsburg

We’ve looked at now probably 12,000 or 13,000 sites across the state. The biggest hurdle for Manhattan is finding landlords that have lenders that approve these leases. Finding a landlord that doesn’t have a lender is ideal. There’s such a stigma still on marijuana, so getting them comfortable with it is the first phase. Then, because this program is implemented to help people that have had a past offense or some type of run-in with marijuana on the legal side, getting them comfortable with that operator coming in is also an uphill battle. Luckily, you have a lot of landlords that are super excited about the use. They believe in second chances and in being a part of history.

What do you think is behind the retail industry’s recovery from the pandemic?

Early on in the pandemic was rock bottom for retail, and then in the middle of the pandemic, activity started to pick up. You had space in the market that was really cheap, pennies compared to what it typically is in New York, and a lot of retailers took advantage of these opportunities. It shifted from a tenant market to a landlord market very fast. Now we’re in one of the best markets. Right after Covid is a strong thesis to never bet against Manhattan. People are social creatures, and I think being pent up for X amount of time really exacerbated those needs.

What is a good piece of advice you received to help propel your career?

FUN FACTS Davis is a twin. His brother, Dylan, has worked in commercial lending. Davis is also a tennis enthusiast. He has been playing the sport since he was 7 years old and was the captain of the tennis team at his alma mater, Bates College. He still enjoys playing today.

GIVING BACK Davis has been volunteering with the Project Hope food pantry in Huntington, Long Island, since high school and is also a member of New York Junior Tennis & Learning, a nonprofit youth organization. He volunteers at the Special Olympics tennis clinic at Bates as well.

Use the first few years at CBRE as a kind of graduate school, where you just network and absorb everything. Be a sponge because you’re going to learn a lot, and it’s kind of like drinking out of a fire hose. You can’t learn everything, but make sure that you’re making friends and putting yourself in good positions to learn.

—Eddie Small

ADVICE “Remember what it’s like not to know,” he says, “whether you are reflecting on your own professional growth or recognizing that others may not have the same knowledge or experience that you do.”

ANMOOL SINGH, 23

Senior league operations analyst, NBA 2K League

Growing up in Washington, Anmool Singh idolized NBA star Kevin Durant, who was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics before the team became the Oklahoma City Thunder. Basketball was a family affair, and in addition to watching games, Singh would spend hours playing “NBA 2K,” the league’s of cial video game. Soon, gaming became more than a hobby. At the age of 14, Singh began entering amateur “2K” tournaments and eventually worked his way up, becoming a professional e-sports player. He played for digital teams af liated with the Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks, going by the name “ChaChingSingh,” referring to the cash register sound when a player sinks a shot in the video game. Now, Singh is on the business side. As a senior league operations analyst with the NBA 2K League, Singh plays an integral role in expanding the league’s presence internationally. It now has teams that represent Australia, Mexico City and Shanghai.

How would you describe what you do?

I help develop players, teach them nancial literacy and prepare them for the real world. The league has 25 teams, and I used to be a player.

How did you make the leap to professional e-sports?

When the NBA started this e-sports league six years ago, there was an open tryout. I got called by teams who interviewed me and watched video of my performances, just as they would when drafting an NBA player.

Do “2K” players travel, work and practice together to build team chemistry, as NBA players do?

The game is a bit less physical than the NBA, but players on “2K” teams all live in the same market. They travel to places like Washington, D.C., for tournaments.

Close calls in all “real” sports are reviewed now, at least in part because in e-sports, referees can be programmed to never make mistakes. What do you make of that?

Worlds are colliding. LeBron James recently said he uses “2K” to help prepare for real games.

What do your parents think of your career path?

It never occurred to them I could make a living at this until I got drafted.

—Aaron Elstein

DOSSIER

RESIDES Lower East Side FROM Seattle

FUN FACT Singh says the money from playing “2K” can be quite good. Players make $37,500 for a sixmonth season, plus there are housing bene ts. And there’s a $2.5 million prize pool at the end of the season that is divided up. Players must constantly work on their shots and moves because a new version of the video game is released shortly before every NBA season.

VOLUNTEER WORK He volunteers at his local gurudwara, or Sikh place of worship, in Queens, assisting kids ages 6 to 18 with tutoring sessions, helping them set goals and lending an ear to anybody who may need it.

“The Sikh community in Queens is large,” he says, “and I think mentorship is a really important piece of helping our youth develop.”

Who decides where the bus stops go?” Brittany Simmons asks in one of her pinned TikToks, which sits atop her pro le. The answer, Simmons tells viewers, is urban planners. She loves her eld, she says, because it’s all about making cities better and easier for people to live and work in. But despite this passion, Simmons wasn’t always on the path to urban planning. Now she displays her creativity on TikTok to engage with followers who may be curious about the eld.

What is a typical day like for you?

I work in an urban planning consulting rm, working on projects that deal with things like offshore wind, economic and community development, and business improvement districts. But I also identify myself as a creative person. So when I’m not at work, I make informative videos on TikTok about urban planning and design to raise awareness of the eld, but also to connect the dots of physical design and its wide-reaching impacts on people and communities they belong to.

What led you to urban planning—and TikTok?

DOSSIER

RESIDES Upper West Side FUN FACTS Simmons has more than 50,000 followers on TikTok. Overall her content has amassed more than 2 million likes.

ADVICE “You can’t be afraid of trying new things or being bold,” she says.

In college I was pre-law until I discovered urban planning, and I basically dropped everything for urban planning. After nishing undergrad, I went straight to grad school for my master’s in urban and regional planning because I wanted to learn more and understand what it means to plan for and engage with communities for the greater good. So that’s what landed me here professionally. But in terms of social media, I never intended to post about my job on TikTok. But I decided to once, and I haven’t stopped since just because people really took an interest [in] it.

What are some resources that you were able to take advantage of as you got into your eld?

When I was starting out in grad school, I just wanted to learn more about the day-today of being a planner, so I turned to podcasts. At the time, there was one podcast that I really enjoyed. It was called “The Urban Planner’s Podcast,” where the host spoke to her experiences in the eld and also interviewed other practitioners. And at the time, she was one of the few resources I found in the media that spoke to that. I [also] reached out to people on LinkedIn—other women, particularly Black women and other women of color—who work in the eld to learn more about their lived experiences so I could kind of get a sense of what I could expect.

How are you paying it forward or giving back?

It’s very closely linked to TikTok. A lot of people will see my TikTok, and then they’ll reach out either on TikTok itself or on Instagram or via email, asking me more tailored questions about their speci c experiences. Aside from those connections, I have done podcasts, where it’s putting me in front of different audiences who have similar questions and interests. It’s mostly routed through social media. People will nd me, and then they’ll reach out, and I’ll just answer whatever questions they have.

—Jacqueline Neber

BRITTANY SIMMONS, 26

TikTok creator; urban planning analyst , Karp Strategies

MELODY QIU, 29

Vice president of business strategy and analytics, Progyny

Melody Qiu pays close attention to the numbers. As the vice president of business strategy and analytics at the fertility benefits company Progyny, Qiu parses data on patients’ clinical outcomes, benefits use and costs to measure how her company provides care. Since Qiu joined Progyny in 2018, the company has gone public and expanded its customer base from 700,000 people to 5.4 million. In today’s health care landscape, Qiu said, successful companies must back up how they improve outcomes with data.

What made you want to work in the fertility industry?

The technology for IVF is incredible. It was created a little over 40 years ago. We’re constantly innovating in the industry, but unfortunately not a lot of people can access it, whether that’s because of financial barriers or the lack of coverage. There’s a lot of stigma, a lot of inequity in what coverage there is.

You’re also a venture fellow at Coyote Ventures, where you invest in women’s health startups. What do you think makes companies successful?

There’s so much money being poured into health care these days. Especially in this macroeconomic environment, payers want to make sure that their health care dollars are being spent in a valuable way, where they have outcomes to show for it. I think for companies to really be successful in health care and women’s health, they have to tie why their spending is resulting in those outcomes.

What do you see for the future of the fertility industry?

Fertility has gotten a lot more attention as of late. Hopefully we can see more open conversation and spotlight on the topic of infertility, because it is so often stigmatized. I also think there will be a huge focus on the equity of access to care.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

I get to talk to a lot of people who have gone through fertility benefits. It is so rewarding to talk to people who go through such a tough time trying to have a baby, and then go through Progyny and have a patient care advocate to navigate them through this very stressful time of their lives, and then, ultimately, hopefully have a healthy baby. It is so satisfying, because I feel like there is nothing more intimate than building a family.

—Amanda D’Ambrosio

DOSSIER

RESIDES Brooklyn Heights FROM Richland, Washington

FUN FACTS Qiu is a volunteer coach for the King’s County Tennis League, an educational nonprofit that provides lessons to kids living in and around Brooklyn public housing. She also loves taking long walks with her fiance and corgi in Brooklyn Bridge Park.

ADVICE “There’s so many different career directions that you can take. But do something that you can relate to yourself. And that will always make you happiest.”

JAY GLICKMAN, 29 Chief acquisition officer, Vero Sade

Two subjects Jay Glickman has found interesting dating back to high school are geography and architecture, and he views his career in real estate investment as a fitting continuation of them. “Experiencing different cities and places around the country, that sort of piqued my interest,” he said, “and I get to continue that working in real estate.” Glickman is the chief acquisition officer at Vero Sade, an affiliate of the private equity and real estate investment firm Vero Capital, where he focuses on multifamily properties. He is extremely bullish on the multifamily market given the supply-and-demand imbalance when it comes to housing and thinks there is still plenty of runway for the asset class, particularly in the Sun Belt states.

What trends do you see ahead for New York’s residential real estate market?

I think there has been a pretty large snapback in rents since Covid. Rents at this point are starting to level out more, so the large year-over-year growth that we saw since the pandemic is going to taper off. But I don’t expect necessarily a decline—just a slower increase. It’s still a tight market. There’s still strong rental demand, but you’re not going to see the same double-digit growth we’ve been seeing and experiencing over the last few years.

What is a deal Vero has worked on recently that you’re excited about?

About two years ago, we created this experiential living concept where we basically integrate [the] hospitality lifestyle with multifamily living, and the whole idea of it is to just foster better connections among residents. The inaugural property is this Houston asset called Us Bayou Park that we bought in September 2021, and we just finished the amenity renovations in February. We’ve started to really curate all of the events that we’ve been pitching to residents. We have workout classes three times a week, croissant tastings, a private dining room. It’s an elevated living experience that we think is the direction multifamily is headed.

What advice would you give to someone looking to start a career in your industry?

Start networking at a young age, even if it’s cold reaching out to people. There are plenty of people who have reached out to me, and there are people whom I reached out to at a young age who were nice enough to give me advice or help me out. I want to do the same thing. If someone reaches out to me on LinkedIn or sends me a cold email, I’m always open to having a conversation with them and trying to help out where I can.

—Eddie Small

DOSSIER

RESIDES NoMad

FUN FACTS Glickman is a longtime geography buff and has memorized the capitals of all 50 states. He is a huge tennis fan as well and has made it to three of the four majors: Wimbledon, the French Open and the U.S. Open. Wimbledon was his favorite of the three, given all the deep-rooted traditions of the tournament.

GIVING BACK Glickman’s love of tennis shows in his nonprofit work as well. He volunteers with the New York Junior Tennis League, which serves about 85,000 children. “It’s an awesome organization because it’s giving kids the opportunity who otherwise wouldn’t have it in these lower-income areas to play the sport,” he said.

TYLER MCGILLIVARY, 28

Tyler McGillivary was looking for a way to combine her studies in sociology and visual culture with her experience working for independent designers and turn it into a career. Then a friend passed along her grandmother’s sewing machine. She taught herself how to sew by watching YouTube videos, created sketches from her Bed-Stuy apartment and started selling her pieces on Instagram and at Cafe Fogot, a shop on the Lower East Side that supports emerging designers. Now, McGillivary’s vibrant garments are carried by Urban Out tters and other retailers and have been worn by the likes of the Haim sisters, Olivia Rodrigo and Madonna.

What were the beginning days of your brand like?

It was so crafty. I was making textiles with hot glue, and it would take me hours. One time, I was cutting pieces of yarn and hot-gluing them to mesh fabric in a wiggle design. I was hand-painting ower tops. It was weird because it would take me 10 hours to make something, but the quality of the piece, if it were to be a piece of clothing and not a piece of art, was not good enough.

As soon as people started showing interest in it, I quickly knew this could be a business. That’s when I realized I needed to pivot to production.

How did you do that, and what were the challenges?

I was good at Instagram during a time when it was more discovery-based. I had a friend who had a clothing line who said if I helped her do marketing, she would help me gure out production. She arranged for us to go to India to see the factory I was going to use. It was fun because I was with my friend and fascinating because I had no idea what I was doing. There was a lot of disappointment and stress around that rst season because I had drawn things and had this idea of what I wanted them to look like. I was used to being able to personally execute, even if my stitching was messy. It was really dif cult to have the piece not look like what I imagined.

How did you navigate the industry?

Having friends in the industry who are also on the rollercoaster is reassuring. Sometimes you’re doing amazingly, and sometimes you’re doing terribly. Whenever I was freaking out and being like “Oh my God, what’s happening? We’re all going to implode and go up in ames,” having friends who have dealt with similar things helps you realize it will all be OK.

What’s next for the brand?

The next phase is growing from a business perspective as opposed to an artistic-based perspective. My next full-time hire is going to be a business manager. I want to scale the business pretty signi cantly in the next ve years. I’m hoping to open a store, and we are expanding into home goods and swimwear.

JAMIE VINICK, 25

Founder and CEO, The Women’s Network

Maryland native Jamie Vinick started The Women’s Network as a club at Syracuse University after she found it wasn’t easy for women to obtain information about internships and other opportunities. Today her network has 46,000 members across 120 college campuses, and 15% of them are college graduates. The network makes money by charging employers and recruiters fees to speak to members.

Why did you start the network?

DOSSIER

RESIDES Bedford-Stuyvesant

FUN FACTS Between her home and of ce, McGillivary cares for more than 50 plants. And she says that once she stopped trying to design for the wholesale market, her brand “completely took off,” adding that “once I started making things I felt good about personally, it was re ected in the sales and the way people interacted with the brand.”

We also want to be more sustainable. Everything is ethically made without fail, but I’m excited about the technology that is allowing for huge advances in sustainable sourcing. There are cool algae-based bers and tree-based bers. There’s a whole world around it, but it’s expensive right now. But it’s super important because we’re a brand that highlights so much of the beauty of our earth and focuses on nature and the phenomena of our planet.

—Amanda Glodowski

What explains its success?

Most college graduates don’t leave school with skills to succeed in the workplace. They don’t know how to network, they don’t have the information they need about salary or how to negotiate one. There’s a lot to learn after college.

How can someone so young help someone with their career?

Everyone can be helpful. For instance, the way to nd a mentor isn’t to ask someone, “Will you be my mentor?” You might scoff, but a lot of people don’t know that, because no one has taught them.

How did you get interested in starting a business?

DOSSIER

RESIDES Manhattan FROM North Potomac, Maryland

I was a sophomore majoring in business. There weren’t that many women in my major, and in my experience, we weren’t helping each other much. Men were much more con dent seeking out opportunities, even if they weren’t quali ed, and I wanted to meet ambitious women in a noncompetitive setting. I had just opened a second club, at Cornell University, when the pandemic ended my academic journey late senior year, and now all of a sudden I’m at home, colleges have shut down, and I need to connect with people. Soon the network was in ve schools, then seven, and it just blew up.

FUN FACT Vinick is a voracious reader and has devoured books by Anne-Marie Slaughter and Emily Chang as well as the biographies of Anna Wintour and the Obamas.

ADVICE “Our fear of rejection and failure often prevents us from taking risks and can stand in the way of securing potential opportunities and in uential mentors,” she says. “Ask for clari cation, speak up in the meeting—even if doubts are circulating in your brain—and send that cold email.”

My grandfather and aunt were successful entrepreneurs. In high school I read Lean In, and it had a big impact on me. For my high school thesis, I wrote a paper titled “Death by a Thousand Cuts: An Examination

MEGAN YEN, 29

Vice president of customer activation, Ramp

In 2020 Megan Yen signed on to be the 30th employee at Ramp, the fast-growing startup that helps companies streamline their expenses. She built out the rm’s sales and marketing organization and played a pivotal role in growing its revenue by 100. Ramp is now valued at $8.1 billion. Earlier this year she took on the new challenge of serving as vice president of customer activation, meaning she and her team help customers who are new to Ramp get the most out of its software. Yen’s rst position out of college was as a management consultant. In that role, she learned as much as she could before giving into an “itch to build inside a company and create something.” That’s when she jumped ship for her rst startup position: “I looked for the job that would be most ambiguous and let me build.”

Founder, Tyler McGillivary

of Psychological and Social Barriers That Hinder Women in the Workplace”—or something like that, anyway. This area will always be my life’s passion. I will always care about this.

What are your future plans for the network?

I’ve only been doing this for three years, though it feels like a lifetime. The truth is, I have no idea what my future holds. I know my appetite for risk is not normal, especially in relation to my friends and peers.

—Aaron Elstein

SAKIB JAMAL, 26

Senior investment associate, Crossbeam Venture Partners

Sakib Jamal grew up all over the globe. Born in Bangladesh, he moved around the country and then the world, thanks to his father’s army job and later a scholarship to the Hong Kong campus of United World Colleges, an international network of schools. From there, he went on to Cornell and a rst job at JPMorgan. He later joined investor Ali Hamed’s nascent venture capital rm, Crossbeam, which now has six professionals who invest in seed and Series A rounds. Jamal has sourced and closed commitments from limited partners for a $50 million fund inside Crossbeam focused on Amazon’s third-party sellers.

How has your global upbringing shown up in your work life?

At my nal-round interview at JPMorgan, the answer I gave [to the question of what sets me apart] was that if you drop me in Dhaka, Bangladesh, I can go to the tea stall, enter and talk to that person. And I can also sit here at JPMorgan on the 40th oor and hold a conversation with you and nd things to relate with you. I learned skills of adaptability.

How have you grown your network in New York?

I seek out mentors. As an international student, when I’d come to the city for my job interviews, I needed someone to crash with. One person was an alum of Cornell—Ali Hamed. He had been a guest speaker, and he offered a place to stay. I left him a copy of the book The Black Swan with a note. His girlfriend said, “He’s a sweet kid. Stay in touch with him.” I’m always willing to go out and talk to people. One day, when I was doing diligence for a product for ride-hailing, I just went place to place aimlessly to have talks with Uber drivers. I also started a WhatsApp group with 84 Bengalis who work in the U.S., including Slice founder Nabeel Ilir. We have created a community.

How did you end up working in venture capital?

After JPMorgan, I didn’t get my H1-B visa. I met with Ali, and he said, “I’m going to start a new fund.” I was wondering whether I should take the job, and another mentor, Fahim Saleh, asked me, “What are you scared of?” He asked it again and again and said, “I don’t think you should be scared. You’ll gure it out if it doesn’t work out.”

Where is your industry heading?

You’re building new teams at new companies in new industries. How do you know how to do this work?

The thing consulting taught me—in addition to Microsoft Excel—was how to manage people. I got the opportunity to run a team of ve at age 23, and that exposed me to being in situations I wouldn’t have been in. It also got me more comfortable with not being the expert in a space. That’s the mentality I take: knowing I need to build up and I’m not an expert.

How do you stay in the driver’s seat of your career?

I’m not always con dent in everything I’m doing! There was a point in my consulting career when I was going to quit and pursue teaching. I had a conversation with my mom, and she said, “That’s OK, but can you do something to make the most of your experience here? What can you learn?” Not everything is perfect, but now I think about what I can do to learn the most out of the experience I have.

What people and resources do you lean on?

An adviser at Ramp taught me to check out Slack groups. I joined demand-generation marketing groups, and then customer success and operator groups. It’s a helpful wedge in, if you feel like you need support.

DOSSIER

RESIDES Williamsburg

FUN FACT Yen has been researching uses for arti cial intelligence in her industry. So far, though, she has found it most critical for a personal need: picking the colors for her upcoming wedding. She typed all of her ideas into Midjourney, a program that generates images from text.

“It brought to life what it will look like, versus comparing photos to each other,” she said. The dresses will be a darker, brighter terracotta that picks up the venue’s hue.

ADVICE She says cold outreach can yield solid information.

“The thing I like to do is reach out cold to people on LinkedIn. I have as many conversations as I can, knowing that not everything will be directly applicable but that I’ll end up getting the experience of about 20 people.”

When I joined them, I also realized that others doing those roles don’t know everything all the time. It lowers the imposter syndrome. For books and articles, I read Lean In in high school, and it was the rst time I considered a career as a businesswoman. And then the other is Matt Mochary’s The Great CEO Within Where is your industry—business-tobusiness software—heading?

AI is very buzzy. It’s just the beginning of thinking about where AI will show up in B2B. The mindset I have is how to embrace it and be adaptable. For customer activation, there’s so much to do with analyzing transcripts of customer calls, for example, or how to generate a template of a follow-up email that someone can then go in to customize further. —Cara Eisenpress

Like everything else, it’s a function of technological advancements. The cycle keeps going, and it’s important to stay up to date on what the cycle is to make sure you can invest in the future, which is what we get paid to do. You have to be both contrarian and right. You have to believe in an idea that’s different from what most people believe but also be correct about it.

DOSSIER

—Cara Eisenpress

RESIDES Hudson Yards

FUN FACTS Jamal’s eyes are always open to what people share. He enjoys small talk and makes friends on the subway. He is also writing a book that will provide an outline of how to succeed as an entry-level venture capitalist. He has crowdsourced the chapters from 49 different young partners and associates and will donate proceeds from the book to JAAGO, an education nonpro t in Bangladesh.

ADVICE “You can have all the good intentions [to execute something] in the world,” he said, “but without a proper plan and schedule, it won’t happen.”

MIR HWANG, 27

Founder and CEO, GigFinesse

For many, the memory of relying on parents for rides as a teenager is a cringey one best forgotten. But for Mir Hwang, who was driven by his mother to clubs in Washington, D.C., as he searched for session work as a drummer, the experience proved illuminating.

Connecting musicians with music venues is dif cult even under the best of circumstances. Determined to streamline the process, Hwang ditched plans to become a doctor and in 2019 launched GigFinesse, a musical matchmaking service that also helps schedule events, pay performers and track taxes. Today, the SoHobased, 30-employee company has a roster of 7,500 acts, who can enjoy GigFinesse for free, and 100 venues, which pay a subscription fee. “It didn’t take long to play around to realize that the concert industry needed innovation and change,” Hwang said. “But it was something that I had to feel rsthand.”

How did you go from being an artist to starting your business?

I started playing drums in middle school in Vancouver, Canada, and by high school, in D.C., I was playing professionally, in jazz bands, punk bands, even bands that play cover songs for weddings. In a way, I was born into the wrong household. My Korean mom wanted me to be a doctor, so I majored in chemistry at NYU and then applied to medical school. But I didn’t want to be getting out of a residency program in my late 30s and thinking, What if I had tried something different instead?

What was your impression of the concert industry when you were in it?

The whole system was old-fashioned. People had to ll out forms by hand, there were often predatory middlemen, and the back of ce was extremely antiquated. There was also a lot of overpricing and underdelivering. We wanted to bring more transparency and ef ciency to the equation.

Why bet on concerts in our age of streaming music?

Live is everything right now. Technical advancements have made music a lot more affordable, and that’s been great, but it’s also made it more dif cult for artists to make money, even the biggest ones. I don’t think streaming is going anywhere. I don’t think the infrastructure is going to change to favor the artist. So concerts are where the money is.

How is the industry evolving?

The pandemic has really expedited the rethinking of their business model. Can we operate better? Can we be more cost-ef cient? And concerts run the gamut. We work with Kimpton hotels looking for jazz brunches, Equinox gyms that want DJs and even coffee shops interested in standup comedy. We also set up concerts in senior centers and apartment buildings. There are so many ways GigFinesse can help.

—C. J. Hughes

DOSSIER

RESIDES Murray Hill FUN FACTS Hwang’s favorite musician is jazz trumpeter

Roy Hargrove Jr. His favorite local club is The Bowery Electric, his rm’s rst post-pandemic client. And he enjoys a good stroll. “I like to mindlessly walk,” he says. “In New York, if I want to people watch, I go downtown. But if I want to relax, I go uptown.”

ADVICE “Run lean, and cut back on expenses that are nonessential,” he tells entrepreneurs. “And build a team that you can trust to execute.”

LIBBIE WILCOX, 29 Associate director, Bevel

Libbie Wilcox says working as a communications of cer on Capitol Hill is a lot like a never-ending exercise in crisis management. The skills she built during her ve years in government have helped her excel in a transition to the private sector. Wilcox is an associate director at Bevel, a NoHo-based public relations rm, where she represents technology and private capital companies. She admits the switch was not easy, but she says branding and marketing in both realms are perhaps more important now than ever before.

How did you decide to make the switch from public communications to private sector marketing?

I started working for Congresswoman Gwen Moore, and then, after a few years there, I was trying to get back to New York or close to New York. So I moved to [former Congressman] Sean Patrick Maloney’s of ce. I was with [Maloney] for the impeachment hearings, Covid emergency response and insurrection, and ran point on communications for all those things. So I have learned a lot on the run.

I did that for about ve years, and I decided I just wanted to bite the bullet and test what I had learned on the Hill in the private sector. So that led me to my role as a director at Hiltzik Strategies. But when the opportunity arose at Bevel, I absolutely jumped on it.

What attracted you to Bevel?

At Bevel, we work directly with founders, and I missed the mission-driven attitude that politicians and founders share. Bevel is structured like a startup, so that founder energy is also something you can nd in Jessica [Schaefer], our CEO. She is an electric personality who cares very deeply about her work and her company.

DOSSIER

RESIDES Gramercy FROM Upper West Side FUN FACTS Wilcox still listens to Harry Potter audiobooks. And she just learned to drive last year.

ADVICE She says, “There are ways to nd values and mission-driven work across every industry, whether that is in your of ce, in your daily work or with your personal life.”

What advice would you give young people in communications deciding between work in the private and the public sectors?

The Hill is pretty much all “crisis comms,” and the stakes are really high. Bringing that ability to communicate in a crisis and get down to the facts of the matter is a unique skill that you can de nitely get in politics and you can bring into this world of strategic communications and public relations. It is more similar than you think. And you should take the leap. If you don’t do it now, when are you going to do it? Those are all things I told myself.

Where do you see the tech industry headed?

A lot of companies are really struggling right now, but that also means they need really strong strategic communications. I think we are moving past what one would understand is traditional PR and also providing SEO and reputation management, social media, etc., for our clients and just building up a larger portfolio of services to be a one-stop shop. We are seeing that across the industry. —Mario Marroquin

DAPHNE FRIAS, 25

Freelance organizer

If you ask Daphne Frias to describe herself, she’ll tell you she is a disabled organizer and storyteller. The 25-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, is a passionate activist who has organized across issues: climate change, voting rights, gun control, accessibility. Frias entered the world of advocacy in 2019, when she was appointed the New York state director of March for Our Lives, which began as a student-led demonstration in support of gun-control legislation. After a year, she decided to work on a mix of issues as a public speaker—at universities, summits and conferences—and as a consultant. More recently she worked with the Museum of Natural History in London on planning a week of events in 2022 focused on engaging younger generations on the climate crisis. Currently, she’s working on advancing Box the Ballot, a nonpro t she founded in 2018 that strives to help young people navigate the absentee ballot process.

Your activism spans a range of issues. How do you describe the work you do?

I really think the thing that ties it all together is being a champion of public health at the intersection of advocacy. If we think about the climate crisis, it is one of our original public health crises. When we talk about gun laws, it’s clearly a public health issue. Our lived environment really impacts our physical health.

What inspired you to create Box the Ballot?

For me, it was like, what is the one way I can effect change in all these areas that are important? Being a minority in many facets of my identity, I understand how the electoral process has not always been a safe space for the multiple identities I occupy. So my goal with Box the Ballot as a whole is to try to improve advocacy around engagement and then really target these communities that have not felt safe in electoral politics and help them realize that we can be a powerful force in the direction of our country if we utilize this system of civic engagement.

What’s your advice to someone who wants to get involved in advocacy?

I always say that change starts with communication. It’s really that: starting with conversation and nding the community of people that believe the same things that you believe. I’ve actually set up Google search ags for topics that I’m interested in. So I have one for “environmental justice” and “climate crisis NYC,” and then I usually read through those articles and nd any interesting organizations or new events that might be going on that I can support or poke my head into. And it’s a really good way to keep track.

Where do you see the role of grassroots organizing headed?

I see grassroots organizers as the liaisons between what our politicians do and accomplish and what the community needs. The more that grassroots organizing proliferates, we can make sure that the stories of the people most affected by the most crucial issues really get out there.

—Caroline Spivack

DOSSIER

RESIDES West Harlem

FUN FACTS During the pandemic, Frias experimented with digital drawing on her iPad as a creative outlet and now runs an online shop where she sells the seasonal and travel-related stickers she designs. She also enjoys cooking and baking with her mother and siblings in her spare time. One of her favorite dishes to make is her sister’s mango pineapple cheesecake pie.

ADVICE For budding advocates, Frias recommends Googling your ZIP code, identifying your elected of cials and sending a letter introducing yourself. “You might think, ‘That’s so silly. Why would I do that?’” Frias said. But “it’s starting that conversation, letting someone know that you’re part of the community they represent, and that will go a long way.”

JACK STERNE, 29

Senior vice president, SKDK

The horse-racing industry applauded lawmakers when the new state budget included a $455 million loan to rebuild the Belmont Park racetrack on Long Island. Industry insiders surely saved some praise for Jack Sterne, senior vice president at public affairs rm SKDK, who marshaled pro-racing forces from around the state to convince legislators that a new racetrack would be an economic boon.

At 29, Sterne is one of the youngest senior executives in the history of SKDK. He traces his quick rise to an internship on Scott Stringer’s 2013 campaign for city comptroller, which led to gigs with Letitia James’s campaign for attorney general and in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s of ce, before he landed at SKDK as a director in 2021.

How did a campaign internship jump-start your career?

I was looking for a quiet campaign to join to learn the ropes in New York politics and started working for Scott Stringer, the only Democrat running in the primary. It seemed like it was going to be a good place to learn and wouldn’t be crazy. It became a crazy campaign. I learned so much, and when we won, they asked if I wanted to come intern in the comptroller’s of ce.

I graduated and got a full-time job in Scott’s press of ce, where I cut my teeth and learned how political communications in New York works. I had great bosses who gave me some of the best advice about how to do this job. Really, it was that network from the rst job I had that allowed me to get where I am today.

What kind of advice have mentors given you about political communications?

One of my rst bosses told me that in this industry, speed and competence are closely related. You need to make sure you’re responding to people externally and internally as quickly as you can, even if you’re just telling them you’re on it and you’ll circle back. You work in communications, and if you’re not communicating with someone, they don’t know you’re working on something.

DOSSIER

RESIDES Battery Park City

FUN FACTS His brother, Peter, is an editor at City & State magazine–allowing them to continue their “long-standing sibling rivalry in a professional setting,” Sterne says. And as a child, he and his father won a local sailing race by default after all the other boats misunderstood the instructions, started early and were disquali ed.

GIVING BACK Sterne has stayed involved with the debate team at his alma mater, Regis High School, where he returns to judge tournaments.

The other piece that stuck with me is making sure that everyone walks away from every interaction with a positive feeling. It can’t always happen, and I’ve been in places where you need to argue with reporters. But you nd a way to build it back. You don’t know what your next conversation with them will have to be.

—Nick Garber

UV FELDMAN, 28 Executive pastry chef, Manhatta

Israel native UV Feldman nished her training as a pastry chef at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City in 2017, then went to work at acclaimed restaurants such as Michelin-star-rated L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and Dominique Ansel Bakery. After about a year, she landed a job at Manhatta, a high-end new-American restaurant in the Financial District that’s part of Union Square Hospitality Group. Starting as a pastry cook, she worked her way up the ranks and became executive pastry chef in 2022. In the role, she hires pastry chefs and oversees dessert offerings.

You spent a couple of years serving in the Israeli Air Force before you came to the U.S. When did you take the leap to become a pastry chef?

I knew that if I wanted to really make this my career, I needed to leave Israel. That’s why I decided to come to New York and go to the Culinary Institute of America. After working at a few bakeries, I had three months left for my student visa. And I said, “OK, I either can go back home right now or just enjoy my last three months in the States. And I’m going to learn as much as I can.” That’s when I got to Manhatta.

How do you build a team?

I don’t like to run a very tight, intense kitchen. Some kitchens, people are not allowed to even speak during work. I don’t like that. I think it kind of takes the fun out of it. I always tell my clients and my sous chef, “I just want everyone to be happy.” I like to keep a positive vibe within the team.

What’s your process to create new desserts?

It takes me a lot of tries until I actually put a dessert on the menu. Maybe it’s the perfection that I’m going for. But it’s also a learning curve of how I imagine I’m going to plate it. I’m a big texture person. I love to have all the different types of things, like a creamy mousse and then a sorbet and something crunchy and an element of cake. You just put one bite in your mouth and get everything together. It’s magical.

Can you talk about the steps you’re taking to develop new desserts?

RUTH LIND, 28

Director of business development, Convergent Energy and Power

Ruth Lind fondly recalls visiting nearby wind farms with her father while growing up in Portland, Oregon. He worked in procurement for a wind developer, so the idea of a career in the renewable energy sector was never far from her mind. After graduating from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 2017, she explored working as a recruiter in the industry. In 2019 she decided to transition to sales at Convergent Energy and Power, which provides energy storage solutions. Within two years, at the age of 26, Lind was assigned to build and oversee the organization’s inside sales function. She managed a team of six that landed $400 million in deals.

How did you get your start in the renewables industry?

After college, I knew I wanted to get into renewables. I wasn’t an engineer; I wasn’t a mathematician. All the very standard ways in which someone succeeds in energy, I didn’t have those skills. And so I went into recruitment because it’s those sales skills that I have. I soon found that recruitment wasn’t for me, but I loved working with energy storage companies. I really see the future of renewables as integrating storage. I was lucky enough to nd Convergent and joined their sales team.

Did you have mentors who helped you develop your career?

My SVP of sales, Toby Tiktinsky, has been an amazing mentor. I came in, and I was 24, just a sales associate, and I knew I was doing my job well, but he came to me with our CEO, Johannes Rittershausen, and was like, “Build out a team.”

So I think without him and our CEO identifying that, I wouldn’t have advanced the way I have.

How have you grown your network?

DOSSIER

RESIDES Crown Heights

FUN FACTS One deal Lind is particularly proud of signing is a large solar contract with a chemical manufacturer that owns a facility in Illinois. She also makes time for a week or two of international travel at least once a year. She has gone on a campervan tour of Iceland, a yoga retreat in a forest in Colombia and a trekking trip in Peru.

ADVICE To those just getting started in renewables, Lind says: “Be a sponge. There’s so much you can learn by actually listening to those around you.”

For networking groups, there’s Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy. They’re a national organization based out of Brooklyn. They have an annual conference for women in the industry, and when I was a recruiter, I went and helped women with their résumés. I’m still a member and go to their networking events.

DOSSIER

RESIDES Financial District FROM Modi’in-MaccabimRe’ut, Israel

FUN FACTS After serving in the Israeli Air Force, Feldman used her experience as an acrobatic gymnast to join the circus for a few months. Now, she enjoys acroyoga as a hobby.

ADVICE “One of my rst chefs at the Culinary Institute always said, ‘When you have an opportunity, take it.’ After heard him say that, I knew that every opportunity I have, I’m just going to grab it.”

Summer is the best season, I think, because there’s a lot of fruits to choose from. I pick one and think about two main other avors that will go with it. It doesn’t have to be another fruit; it can be a spice, a tea or coffee. Then I build on that. I want to have all of the elements: creamy, crunchy and maybe a cake of some sort. From there, you can always add more.

—Amanda D’Ambrosio

Talk about being in the right place at the right time. When Kara Fragola was an intern at global construction giant Skanska, a senior engineer stepped down, freeing up an immediate opening. Even though she was an undergraduate at Columbia, she said yes and has been with the company since, even though juggling school and work often required a balancing act worthy of a Skanska bridge.

Just scan the landscape to nd a Fragola project. One involved LaGuardia Airport, which shed its “third world” tag by way of a $8 billion, six-year and almost universally praised upgrade. “For a long time all I heard was, ‘Why is nothing happening at LaGuardia?’ And then when it was done, everybody was like ‘Great job!’” said Fragola, who worked on the airport’s access roads.

Another focus has been Harmon Yard, a Metro-North facility in Croton-on-Hudson

Where is the industry headed?

Energy storage is here. I think five years ago, people didn’t know what to do with it. It was just a concept that was discussed. I think now that we’re here and it’s getting integrated, it’s about making it better. There are technology limitations. There are only so many hours that you can operate, that you can discharge and charge a battery. As the technology improves, there’s just more and more that we can do with the battery.

—Caroline Spivack

in Westchester County, where about 150 contractors are developing a $360 million, 240,000-square-foot maintenance structure. Fragola’s oversight responsibilities there include the minute and the monumental, from selecting bathroom tiles to installing hoists that can lift entire train cars to allow them to be repaired.

It’s not often you encounter a woman who went to an Ivy League school working in the construction industry. How did you get there?

SHÉÁR AVORY, 24

Statewide lead organizer, New Pride Agenda

Shéár Avory has lived a few lifetimes in their 24 years on earth. A survivor of homelessness, conversion therapy and the foster care system, Avory, who identifies as a Black and indigenous nonbinary trans femme, has fought for LGBTQ rights since age 13. So far they’ve managed to help secure $10 million in funding for marginalized groups and win eight legislative victories—including the repeal of “Walking While Trans” laws in New York and California.Stints at the New York City public advocate’s office, at the American Civil Liberties Union and as an LGBTQ Equality fellow at President Joe Biden’s personal foundation propelled Avory to their current role, pushing for statewide policy change at the New Pride Agenda in New York. Along the way, Avory co-founded the nation’s first Trans Wellness Center in Los Angeles—and they aren’t done yet. Avory is now considering a run for an office they wouldn’t specify “sooner rather than later.”

How did your upbringing inform your advocacy work?

The formative experience in my childhood was learning that I needed to be my biggest ally and my most vocal advocate, to speak up and advocate for my own needs, or I would be left behind. Literally everything I’ve done to this point in life, professionally or out of passion, has been because I saw how rare it was for young people in circumstances like mine to speak up for themselves. My life experiences have allowed me to have a unique perspective, to advise policies and to contribute to community-engagement strategies for organizations.

What guidance has helped you succeed in your current role?

[New Pride Agenda Executive Director] Elisa Crespo is a mentor of mine. The biggest piece of advice she’s given me is to trust in myself, trust my vision, and to know that the community will show up and show out when it’s most important. As an organizer and advocate doing this work, sometimes in the push and pull of everything that goes on day-to-day, it can feel like every road I turn down is a dead end. Elisa has encouraged me to just trust the process.

What is the proudest moment you’ve had professionally?

As a young person with the experiences and identities I have, it isn’t lost on me how much of an opportunity it was to serve then-former Vice President Biden [as a 2018 Biden Foundation fellow]. It speaks back to myself, that I am capable. Young people with experiences like mine, our lives do matter. We don’t need to be picture-perfect or have the most perfect upbringing to make something out of ourselves in life.

—Nick Garber

DOSSIER

I didn’t even know what an engineer was when I was growing up. But I loved math and science, and did well in physics. And when I was growing up in Westchester, the new Tappan Zee bridge was being built, and I thought that was the coolest thing. But my parents also guided me. My dad, Robert, who did sales for cybersecurity companies, also coached my basketball team. He taught me about teamwork, and construction really is a team sport. My mom, Lauren, works as an administrator at a law firm in Midtown Manhattan. When the firm was renovating its office, my mom let me sit in on Friday meetings when they talked about the job with a hardhat on. After my dad died from cancer, my mom also exemplified how to be a leader. She worked and allowed us to continue living our life.

I bet there are many people who wish their own college internships led to such a big break. Can you share more?

The summer after my junior year, I was working on the LaGuardia project, commuting back and forth to Queens from Morningside Heights. When you start out as an intern and get thrown into a megaproject, it can be daunting, but from day one it was just open arms from the team. When I agreed to accept the engineering position, I had to rearrange my Columbia schedule so all my classes fell at the beginning of the week. That way I could work for Skanska on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Tell me about one of your proudest accomplishments at Skanska outside of construction sites.

DOSSIER

RESIDES Fleetwood, Mt. Vernon FUN FACTS Fragola owns three rescue dogs, Gino, Sal and Baci. One of her hobbies is kickboxing in 30-minute intervals without breaks: “It’s an intense and efficient workout,” she says.

ADVICE To women working in a male-dominated field, she says: “Approach challenges with a can-do attitude, and trust that hard work and determination lead to great success.”

RESIDES Hudson Valley FUN FACTS Avory dotes on their 2-year-old miniature Australian shepherd, Nutmeg—short for “Nutmeg Cinnamon Chocolate.” Both Avory and their dog are “happiest on a farm,” they said. ADVICE After accepting an award at age 16, Avory told trans activist Ashlee Marie Preston that they felt “humbled.” Avory will never forget Preston’s reply: “Baby, don’t ever be humble. Humble should not be a word in your vocabulary.” Avory’s takeaway: “When we humble ourselves, we shrink ourselves.”

I’ve been licensed to fly a drone since high school and founded a drone program for the company in the Northeast. We now use survey-grade drones to map out sites for jobs we’re pursuing and to take photos for marketing. We also use drones for inspections, like we did recently for a Philadelphia bridge. If we had done that one in person, it would have required scaffolding and been time-consuming and had some safety risks.

—C.J. Hughes

Return-to-office marks return to higher revenue for online fashion service Rent the Runway

BY CARA EISENPRESS

As office employees flock back to consistent inperson work, they are digging their blazers out from their closets and clicking “buy” or “subscribe” on new dresses, blouses and heels.

To look office-appropriate, women are renting workwear from Downtown Brooklyn-based Rent the Runway at levels not seen since early 2020, according to the company’s latest quarterly filing.

“Demand for workwear is continuing to increase,” Rent the Runway’s founder and CEO Jennifer Hyman said on the company’s earnings call June 7. The percentage of overall demand for work clothes was “very similar to preCovid for the first time since Covid has occurred.”

Hyman’s observation coincides with a new push by New York City executives to increase the number of days that workers come into the office. In April, JPMorgan Chase ordered managing directors back five days a week and pledged consequences for employees who are at their desks fewer than three days

each week. Last week, Alphabet’s Google said that it would check employees’ badges to be sure they were on-site for the three required days each week.

The warnings followed January figures that showed little momentum for return-to-office: Just 52% of Manhattan office workers were in their offices on an average weekday, up from 49% in September, with only 9% in five days each week.

The result is a record-high glut of empty office space, and some companies continue to pull back on space needs.

But for those who are in the office, outfits are an increasing concern, especially for women. After a dramatic fall-off of women working during the Covid-19 closures, there is now a record share of women aged 25 to 54 in the workforce nationally—over 77% of the demographic.

The trend has been a boon to Rent the Runway, one of the city’s consumer-subscription start-ups that went public in the fall of 2021 and struggled in the months following. For the first quarter of this year, things were beginning to look up. Rent the Runway’s revenue was

$74.2 million for the quarter, 11% higher than the first quarter of 2022 but below the revenue for each of the other three quarters in 2022. The number of active subscribers hit an all-time high of 145,220 on April 30, the company said.

Better prediction

Having its users back to work and attending social events does more than bring in revenue from continuing subscriptions, company leaders said. The norms allow for better prediction, according to Hyman, which means the company is able to add the appropriate styles and more accurately forecast the amount of inventory it will need.

At MM LaFleur, founder Sarah LaFleur said that dress purchases are strong once again. The Financial District company, which sells through its e-commerce site and at three brick-and-mortar locations in the city, had seen purchases of dresses fall by half during the days in 2020 when white-collar workers stayed at home. In 2019, dress sales represented about one-third of the business, and they neared that level again over the last quarter.

“People are also starting to wear

more formal shoes again,” LaFleur said in an interview with Crain’s “They had veered off into sneaker land.”

LaFleur attributed some of the shift to the rise and fall of fashion trends, but she also noted an increased nervousness among workers. They are regaining their footing at the office at the same time as a possible recession looms.

“They want to show that they’re serious, they’re there to work,” she said, “and that [seriousness is] often showing up in their clothes.”

In keeping with the times, Rent the Runway also plugged its generative artificial intelligence technol-

ogy into its business. The company said that its new AI-driven search experiments would allow customers to input terms like “clam bake in Nantucket” or “Miami vibe” to surface checkered blouses or slinky floral dresses, respectively.

The hopeful insight into workplace trends did not endear the stock to investors. Rent the Runway’s shares fell from about $2.80 per share to about $2.35 per share following the report. The company lowered its revenue expectations for the second quarter, and Hyman said several discounting programs would end, in a bid to acquire longer-term customers. ■

IN THIS 2023 LIST OF NOTABLE WOMEN IN LAW, Crain’s recognizes leading female attorneys in New York who are furthering justice and keeping the cogs of commerce spinning. More than a third of America’s lawyers today are women—but of course, it was not always that way. In the decades since Kate Stoneman (1841-1925) became New York’s first female attorney in 1886, women have contributed immeasurably to the legal profession, excelling in their work but also leveraging the law to promote fairness and provide aid. Crain’s sought to highlight lawyers of this genre: Women at the pinnacle of their profession whose impact radiates well beyond the clients they serve.

The 100 lawyers who grace this list work in a range of legal arenas, from labor and employment to real estate and intellectual property. You’ll read about attorneys who have achieved precedent-setting victories in all areas of the law, representing prominent clients ranging from Verizon to Kenneth Cole, from the United Federation of Teachers to Jay-Z. You’ll also meet people who volunteer their time helping immigrants applying for asylum, serving economically disadvantaged communities, and mentoring young female lawyers and people from underrepresented groups.

To qualify, candidates needed to serve in a senior-level role at a law firm in the New York City metro area and have at least a decade of experience. We also looked for individuals who have performed consequential legal or pro bono work, served as mentors, promoted inclusivity and assumed leadership roles in civic or philanthropic endeavors.

Read on to meet 100 female lawyers who rise to that high bar of excellence.

Terri Adler

Managing partner

Adler & Stachenfeld

Terri Adler is managing partner at the real estate law firm Adler & Stachenfeld, a position she was appointed to in 2018. Her role involves executing the strategy and vision of the firm, mentoring and supporting attorneys and employees, and furthering the growth of the company.

Adler helps professionals at Adler & Stachenfeld build their careers and helps clients grow their businesses. An advocate for female representation in leadership, she speaks at conferences about the professional advancement of women and on matters related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Adler also serves as the board chair for the Rudolf Steiner School.

Mala Ahuja Harker

Partner

Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins

As a partner and management committee member at Friedman Kaplan Seiler Adelman & Robbins, Mala Ahuja Harker maintains an active litigation and white collar criminal defense practice. Her recent work has ranged from internal whistleblower investigations to representing the former chief executive officer of WeWork. She mentors attorneys of color regarding business development, and helped lead the firm through challenges posed by the pandemic. Ahuja Harker, who spearheads Friedman Kaplan’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, serves as the firm’s representative to the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. She also sits on the board of trustees of Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, which serves economically disadvantaged communities.

A partner at the law firm Proskauer Rose, Elise M. Bloom focuses on employment law, discrimination and class/collective actions. A leading female voice in the male-dominated world of sports law, she has handled numerous high-profile employment discrimination matters for the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball. Bloom serves as a mentor for her firm’s women’s sponsorship program and advocates for the recruitment and retention of female attorneys at Proskauer Rose. Additionally, she serves on the board of directors for Northwell Health and as a member of the sports law committee for the New York City Bar.

Executive partner

Abrams Fensterman

RoseAnn Branda is an executive partner at Abrams Fensterman and co-director of the firm’s family and matrimonial law department. She has worked on an online consensual divorce program prototype serving low-income New Yorkers and serves the family law section of the New York State Bar Association’s executive committee as a representative of the Second District. In her nearly 40 years practicing law, Branda has mentored dozens of attorneys with a focus on increasing their knowledge in a substantive area of law and instilling organizational skills and a dedication to ethics. She recently worked as a member of the Mayor Eric Adams’ Advisory Committee on the Judiciary.

Partner

Katten Muchin Rosenman

Lorie Almon was recently selected to serve as the next chair and managing partner at Seyfarth Shaw—the first woman elected to those positions in the firm’s history. Active in its labor and employment practice, she has been a co-managing partner at Seyfarth’s New York office since 2005. Almon has focused on recruiting talent and developing young lawyers from diverse demographic groups, and has instituted a post-pandemic mental health training program at the firm. She serves on the national board of directors of Jumpstart, a nonprofit in the early childhood education space, and on the board of the Christine M. Loeber Foundation, which focuses on veterans’ services, education and wellness.

Candace Arthur

Partner

Weil, Gotshal & Manges

As a partner in the restructuring department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Candace Arthur counsels creditors, debtors and investors in out-ofcourt and in-court restructurings. She recently guided Insys Therapeutics in its Chapter 11 cases following hundreds of opioidrelated lawsuits, and advised ATI Physical Therapy on securing a senior secured term loan and revolving credit facility. Focused on developing new talent, Arthur mentors Black lawyers and helps lead events for Weil’s diversity, equity and inclusion program. Prioritizing pro bono work, she advises nonprofits and individuals in Chapter 7 matters and hosts programs for small businesses in distress in conjunction with the Legal Aid Society.

As a partner and co-chair of the affordable housing and community development practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman, Louise Carroll oversees work with government entities nationwide to help clients navigate financial and legal complexities related to the development of affordable, multifamily and mixed-income housing. In a previous role as commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, she guided the design and implementation of the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. Carroll, who was named a National Law Journal 2022 “Real Estate Trailblazer,” sits on the boards of Community Preservation Corporation and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing.

Partner Herrick, Feinstein

Carolyn Caufield, a partner and chair of the private clients department at the law firm Herrick, Feinstein, oversees a team of attorneys, tax managers, accountants, and paralegals. She prioritizes maintaining a culture of inclusivity and transparency. This past year, Carolyn was primarily responsible for moving her entire team to Herrick after spending more than 30 years at her previous firm, seamlessly transitioning the group and bringing her clients an array of new offerings. She also mentors staff by providing counseling and encouraging team feedback via monthly departmental meetings. Caufield helps fund education, health, and the arts by serving as vice president of the EHA Foundation.

Elise M. Bloom Partner Proskauer Rose

RoseAnn Branda

Louise Carroll

Carolyn Caufield

Lorie Almon Chair-elect

Seyfarth Shaw

Jennifer W. Cheng Partner

Reed Smith

Jennifer W. Cheng serves as a partner and U.S. vice chair of the global corporate group at Reed Smith, where she manages a team of more than 180 attorneys. She has worked to build the firm’s public mergers and acquisitions practice and has advised on transactions involving Verizon, Hearst, Cascadian Therapeutic and Shawn “Jay Z” Carter. Cheng served as partner chair of Reed Smith’s Asian-American business inclusion group in 2019 and 2020, and is currently a member of the Asian Affinity Roundtable, an association of corporate Asian-American employee networks. She speaks regularly at events aiming to increase female representation on corporate boards.

Marilyn Chinitz Partner

Blank Rome

Marilyn Chinitz is a partner in the matrimonial practice group at the law firm Blank Rome. She recently represented a billionaire hedge fund manager and the president of an international clothing brand in their marriage dissolutions and subsequent negotiations. Chinitz has been recognized in Chambers High Net Worth Guide and in Variety’s “Legal Impact Report 2023.”

Committed to advancing the profession of law for women, she speaks on her firm’s podcast with successful women regarding their accomplishments, challenges and leadership experience. Additionally, she works with The Foundation for Gender Equality, which aims to address key disparities and create advancement opportunities for women.

Arlene Chow

Partner

Latham & Watkins

A partner at the law firm Latham & Watkins and global vice chair of the firm’s healthcare and life sciences industry group, Arlene Chow represents pharmaceutical and biotech companies on intellectual property matters. She has represented Merck in patent and trade secret litigations against Pfizer, Biogen and Amgen in patent litigations protecting their branded drugs, and Regeneron in patent litigation. Chow is a mentor for other lawyers, promotes diverse teams and serves as co-chair of the firm’s “women enriching business” committee, a group that aims to support female lawyers and executives through committee events and activities that promote networking and growth opportunities.

Amy Cococcia

Partner Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy

Amy Cococcia, a partner at the law firm Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, serves as an advisor and global engagement partner for many of the firm’s clients, including a global financial services and investment banking company and a global payment solutions and technology company. She provides clients with counseling, guidance and solutions regarding multijurisdictional compliance matters. By working with immigration and business professionals and helping skilled refugees connect with employers, Cococcia also provides individuals with equitable employment opportunities. As secretary and a board member of the Tufts Lawyers Association, she is launching a mentorship program that will provide undergraduate students with networking and pro bono opportunities.

Harriet Newman Cohen

Partner

Cohen Stine Kapoor

A partner at the law firm Cohen

Stine Kapoor, Harriet Newman Cohen provides representation in contested trials and settlements as a negotiator and trial attorney. Cohen handles all aspects of matrimonial family law, including litigation. In 2022, she received an award from and was the keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Association for Justice. Cohen serves on the board of directors for The Lotos Club, a cultural club in New York City founded by Mark Twain. She is also on the board of directors for the Stecher and Horowitz Foundation, a nonprofit that supports and inspires young musicians.

PER AN AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SURVEY, THERE WERE MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION LAWYERS IN THE U.S. IN 2022. OF THAT NUMBER, 38% WERE FEMALE.

AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION

Elizabeth Columbo Partner

Nixon Peabody

Elizabeth Columbo is a partner at the law firm Nixon Peabody. Her work involves representation of issuers, underwriters, financial institutions, industry groups and investors in matters relating to public infrastructure projects. As a public finance practitioner, she focuses on areas including public power, transportation and multi-family housing facilities. Columbo’s pro bono work includes preparing wills for low-income cancer patients, helping with private placement adoptions, and working on name changes for transgender individuals. Due to her work with the City Bar Justice Center’s Cancer Advocacy Project, she received the Jeremy G. Epstein Award for Outstanding Pro Bono Service. Additionally, Columbo is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers.

Victoria Cook Partner

Frankfurt Kurnit

As a partner and member of the entertainment group at the law firm Frankfurt Kurnit, Victoria Cook represents filmmakers, writers, producers, authors and financiers on projects related to social justice, culture and democracy. Her recent projects include the Academy Awardshortlisted documentary “Descendant” by Margaret Brown, the Emmy-nominated documentary “The Andy Warhol Diaries” by Andrew Rossi, and the Academy Award-nominated animated film “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.” Cook also advised Liz Garbus and Story Syndicate on the series “Harry & Meghan.” She is a founding member of her firm’s racial justice task force and advocates for underrepresented groups by mentoring young lawyers of color.

Elizabeth Cooper Co-administrative partner

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

As a co-administrative partner and co-head of the private equity mergers and acquisitions practice at the law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Elizabeth Cooper has advised companies including Blackstone and Vivint. In a recent transaction involving Spanx, Cooper and her womenled team negotiated a deal to ensure that the company’s female founder would maintain a significant stake and role on the company’s new board. She was recognized as the Law360 Private Equity MVP and among dealmakers of the year noted by The American Lawyer. Cooper also promotes inclusivity, works to support and showcase female and diverse lawyers, and is a member of the 2022 David Rockefeller Fellows program.

Maria Cruz Melendez

Partner

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

A partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Maria Cruz Melendez represents individuals and corporations in matters related to domestic and cross-border government enforcement and internal investigations. She also advises corporations on workplace culture issues, including sexual harassment and diversity and inclusion. Cruz Melendez previously served as a federal prosecutor for more than a decade with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, where she was the deputy chief of both the public integrity and civil rights sections. She currently serves on Skadden’s diversity committee and has regularly participated in and moderated panels for diverse lawyers.

Jennifer Daly

Partner King & Spalding

Jennifer Daly, a partner at King & Spalding, leads the firm’s private credit and special situations practice. She spearheaded the creation of The Hub, an interactive app offering advice to lenders as they manage the private credit market—an idea influenced by her experience in senior business roles at financial services and investment management firms. Daly serves on King & Spalding’s recruiting committee and its policy committee, which determines strategy for the firm globally. She works to ensure visibility for lawyers of color and was recognized by the New York Law Journal in 2021. Daly is a member of the American Theatre Wing’s advisory committee.

Debra Dandeneau Partner

Baker McKenzie

Debra Dandeneau is a partner in the law firm Baker McKenzie’s global restructuring and insolvency group, advising clients worldwide on debt and financial issues. In 2022, she was nominated by her peers as one of The Deal’s Top Women in Dealmaking for her contributions to the dealmaking community and her leadership in promoting change.

Dandeneau has done significant pro bono work, including volunteering her time as a member of Baker McKenzie’s leadership team to assist Florida voters in ensuring their votes were counted during the 2022 elections. She also worked with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Election Protection to staff the 1-866-OUR-VOTE hotline, providing assistance to callers with questions about registration, polling places and more.

Sarah Davidoff Partner Ropes

& Gray

Sarah Davidoff is a New Yorkbased partner at the law firm Ropes & Gray. She is an advisor of choice for many alternative asset managers on various aspects of raising and operating private funds. Davidoff is recognized for her skill as a strategic thought partner, helping clients with mergers and acquisitions and launching hybrid, credit, buyout, growth equity and venture capital funds. She is a member of Ropes & Gray’s women’s forum, providing training, development, mentorship and leadership opportunities for female attorneys. Davidoff volunteers with the Food Bank

For New York City and serves on the board of the nonprofit A BroaderWay Foundation.

Lisa Davis Partner Frankfurt Kurnit

At Frankfurt Kurnit, Lisa Davis is a member of the management committee, co-chair of the diversity committee and a partner in the entertainment group, where she represents businesses and celebrities in the film, television, publishing, music, theater and sports industries. Recent clients have included Black Theatre United, Amanda Seales, Stanley Nelson, Kamilah Forbes and Encantos. Davis was instrumental in the creation of a working group examining internal hiring practices at Frankfurt Kurnit, and she helped arrange several anti-racism and implicit bias workshops for attorneys and staff. She serves as co-chair of the national trends committee of the MetroManhattan (NY) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, which delivers volunteer services in Harlem.

Gina DelChiaro Partner Akerman

At Akerman, Gina DelChiaro is a partner and director of pro bono initiatives, a program that leverages the skills of the firm’s lawyers to meet the legal needs of vulnerable groups such as foster and incarcerated youth, lowincome families, veterans, domestic violence survivors, the LGBTQIA+ community and immigrants seeking refuge. DelChiaro helps lawyers apportion their time between billable and pro bono work and has also mentored lawyers in pro bono immigration matters. She volunteers with several organizations that drive access to justice for the underserved. DelChiaro serves as national co-chair of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance Working Group and is a member of the New York City Bar Association Committee on Pro Bono and Legal Services.

Mylan Denerstein Partner Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Mylan Denerstein is a litigation partner and co-chair of the public policy practice group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She also serves as global chair of the diversity committee and is co-partner in charge of the New York office. Denerstein leads complex criminal and civil litigation, as well as internal investigations, representing companies confronting a wide range of legal issues. Last year, she was appointed to serve as the independent New York Police Department monitor to oversee a court-ordered reform process. Denerstein also spearheaded Gibson Dunn’s Black Advancement Initiative and has contributed to an increase in the number of Black lawyers hired and promoted to leadership positions. She serves on the boards of the American Red Cross of Greater New York.

Michelle Diamond Partner WilmerHale

Michelle Diamond, a partner at the law firm WilmerHale, is a lead trial counsel who restored abortion access in Ohio by obtaining a preliminary injunction for Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union. She also achieved a victory for Planned Parenthood when the Montana Supreme Court affirmed a preliminary injunction blocking state laws that would have restricted abortion access. Additionally, Diamond advises on the evolving legal and regulatory landscape around cannabis and psychedelics. Her practice focuses on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion, and she conducts civil rights audits and workplace culture reviews for major tech companies, corporations and nonprofits. Diamond also leads a diversity mentoring circle and a women’s leadership initiative.

Kate Doniger Partner

Kaplan Hecker & Fink

One of two assigning partners of Kaplan Hecker & Fink, Kate Doniger is also a key member of the firm’s commercial litigation, white collar and public interest practice groups. She is currently representing students and parents who are taking legal action against Governor Ron DeSantis over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. Doniger, who was named the firm’s 2022 fellow on the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, also aims to actively recruit and promote diverse talent. She is on the board of the Stonewall Community Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the LGBTQIA+ community through strategic investments in organizations and projects.

Dahlia Doumar

Co-chair and managing partner

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler

Dahlia Doumar was appointed co-chair and managing partner at Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler in 2022. She leads the firm’s tax practice, representing domestic and foreign for-profit companies, exempt organizations and high net worth individuals. Doumar is also a member of her firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee and the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. An active participant in the World Services Group, a global network of independent firms, Doumar has served as a member of its strategic planning committee and coronavirus task force group. She is an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School and supports various civic groups, including Legal Outreach and the TEAK Fellowship.

Melinda Dutton

Manatt health partner

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips

In her role as Manatt health partner at the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Melinda Dutton oversees the subscription offering “Manatt on Health.” She is also leading the team supporting North Carolina’s transformation of its Medicaid delivery system, including transitioning from fee-forservice to Medicaid Managed Care. She is involved in Manatt’s mentorship program to support professionals from historically underrepresented communities, as well as the firm’s women’s initiative and serves as a member of Manatt’s board-level diversity and inclusion committee. Dutton also serves on the advisory committee of the Children’s Defense Fund in New York and on the board of trustees of the Community Service Society, a nonprofit organization advocating on behalf of low-income New Yorkers.

Barbara Edwards Partner Akerman

As a corporate partner at Akerman, Barbara Edwards guides public and private companies, hedge and debt funds, fintechs and other enterprises in transactional matters. Edwards recently represented a Fortune 100 company’s investment management arm concerning a structured secondary private equity transaction. She is also involved in a program that helps female partners transition from income to equity partner. Edwards, who is a Leadership Council on Legal Diversity fellow, also works with women on economic empowerment initiatives. She is a board member of Roots and Friends of Rosehall Town USA, a nonprofit focused on the community development of a town in Guyana, South America.

Congratulations to Marilyn Chinitz for being selected to Crain’s “Notable Women in Law.”

Marilyn, you are a champion for women and we applaud your impressive achievements both in and out of the courtroom.

Marilyn Chinitz

Regina Faul

Partner

Phillips Nizer

Regina Faul, a partner and chair of the employment and labor practice at the law firm Phillips Nizer, is a labor and employment lawyer who advises companies on employee relations, collective bargaining and employment litigation. She is a New York City Metro Super Lawyer, a New York Metro Top Women in Law and was elected a fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. Faul led the development of Phillips Nizer’s mentoring program and has a track record of mentoring associates, especially women. She is influential in the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion program and has presented at women-oriented events. Faul was also an advisory board member for the Business of Women Entrepreneurs.

Dyan FinguerraDuCharme

Partner

Pryor Cashman

Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme, a partner and co-chair of the trademark group at the law firm Pryor Cashman, has managed trademark and copyright portfolios for clients such as Richemont, Honda, L’Oréal and Natura &Co. She handles contentious matters and last summer filed a lawsuit against Facebook concerning its name change. FinguerraDuCharme is co-chair of Pryor Cashman’s women’s leadership initiative and is a member of various boards, including the New York County Lawyers Association. She has received recognition for her dedication and service, including being selected for the women’s roll of honor for the town of North Hempstead and being honored by the Parent Resource Center at its 2020 gala.

Maggie Flores

Partner

Kirkland & Ellis

Maggie Flores has served as lead counsel in numerous transactions as a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, including representing Centerbridge Partners in its $1.6 billion acquisition of Computer Services. Having been involved in many transactions in which she was the only female or Latin person in the room, she works to mentor young female and diverse attorneys on her teams to ensure retention and equal representation. Flores is heavily involved in The Fourth Floor, a group focused on diversifying board rooms, as well as her firm’s mentoring and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. She regularly participates in on-campus discussions at colleges and universities speaking to underrepresented groups.

Catherine Foti

Partner Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello

Catherine Foti, a partner at the law firm Morvillo Abramowitz

Grand Iason & Anello, has recently represented clients involved in healthcare fraud, Covid-19 investigations and gender and race discrimination cases. In addition, she serves on the firm’s administrative, professional, pro bono and sexual harassment committees. Foti is the longest-serving female partner and currently manages the mentorship program. Since the 1990s, she has been liaison to Legal Outreach, working with inner-city youth to encourage them to continue their education and consider legal careers. Foti is also the former president and a current board member of The Foundation for the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns.

Wanda FrenchBrown Partner

Fox Rothschild

Wanda French-Brown is an intellectual property litigator and partner at the law firm Fox Rothschild. She is lead counsel in a patent infringement case involving alleged damages over $1 billion. French-Brown was recognized as one of the most influential Black lawyers in the country by Savoy magazine. She advocates for and mentors female attorneys and law students from diverse and LGBTQIA+ backgrounds. French-Brown is a member of the board of directors of Lambda Legal, an organization that advocates for the civil rights of LGBTQIA+ people and secretary of the board of directors for the Garden State Women’s Golf Association.

Samantha Gleit

Partner Feuerstein Kulick

Samantha Gleit, a partner at the law rm Feuerstein Kulick, helped build one of the rst debt nance groups exclusively focused on the cannabis industry. She specializes in growth capital and regulatorycompliant remedies in cashconstrained cannabis markets. Gleit has advised on several secured lending transactions, mainly in the cannabis industry, representing multistate and single state operators. Additionally, she started the law rm’s women’s group, which has tripled in size since its inception in 2019, and mentors a team of associates focusing on the cannabis industry. She is an adjunct professor of cannabis law at Cardozo School of Law and was selected by Law360 as a “Rising Star” in 2021.

Lyuba Goltser Partner

Weil, Gotshal & Manges

Lyuba Goltser is a partner and co-head of the public company advisory group at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. She frequently counsels boards and executives of global companies on governance issues including internal investigations, sustainability, shareholder activism, securities law compliance and regulatory matters. Goltser co-chairs Women@Weil in New York, a group dedicated to the professional development of women at the rm. She also serves on Weil’s diversity committee and on a task force devoted to the engagement and retention of women. Goltser mentors associates, is an active member of the Society for Corporate Governance and sits on the advisory board of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Elizabeth GonzalezSussman Partner

Olshan Frome Wolosky

At the law rm Olshan Frome Wolosky, Elizabeth GonzalezSussman serves as a partner and vice chair of the shareholder activism practice group, where she provides guidance to hedge funds and other investors. Recognized by Chambers and Partners and e Legal 500 as a “leading lawyer,” GonzalezSussman speaks regularly on the intersection of shareholder activism and environmental, social and governance priorities. She also promotes inclusive practices through her service on her rm’s hiring, women’s and diversity committees. GonzalezSussman has served as a Westchester County Democratic district leader since 2018 and as campaign treasurer for Friends for Kathy Hochul. She is on the board of directors of the Columbia Law School Association.

Gabrielle Gould Partner Goodwin

With two decades of legal experience, Gabrielle Gould, a partner at Goodwin, has represented nancial institutions, major corporations and individuals in a variety of securities and complex commercial matters in federal and state courts, as well as in arbitrations, regulatory inquiries and internal investigations. She works to create diverse teams and provide equal resources, opportunities and support by mentoring ascending female lawyers. Gould has done a variety of pro bono work, including representing clients in citizenship and asylum applications with Legal Services NYC. She has served on Law360’s editorial advisory board for private equity since 2018.

Phara Guberman Partner Cadwalader,

Wickersham & Taft

Phara Guberman, a partner at the law rm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, is a white collar criminal defense specialist who recently secured back-to-back victories in the Second Circuit and ird Circuit in the United States Court of Appeals. At every rm she has worked she has been an active member of a nity groups and a leader on diversity and inclusion initiatives: Guberman has a track record of revamping family leave policy, creating intersectional mentor teams to aid junior attorneys and sponsoring students as interns for their professional development. In addition to her pro bono work with Kaiser’s Room, she provides law-related programming for New York City public high schoolers through the nonpro t PENCIL.

Ilana Haramati

Partner Meister Seelig & Fein

As a partner at the law rm

Meister Seelig & Fein, Ilana Haramati is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer. She represents clients in federal and state court in a wide range of criminal matters, including insider trading, healthcare fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, narcotics conspiracy and violent o enses. Dedicated to the mentoring program at her rm, Haramati regularly works with junior female associates on business development plans and helps them identify networking and pro bono opportunities in their respective practice areas. She maintains an active pro bono practice and, through her participation in the Criminal Justice Act mentorship program, represents indigent defendants facing criminal charges in federal court.

Amina Hassan Partner

Hughes Hubbard & Reed

Amina Hassan is a litigation partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed. Her practice focuses on complex domestic and crossborder nancial litigation and investigations, including crypto and securities litigation, employment litigation and arbitration, auditor defense and bankruptcy litigation. Hassan is co-chair of the HHR Women’s Roundtable, which provides professional and networking opportunities to female attorneys. She is also a member of the Law360 ntech executive board and a current invited a liate member of the New York City Bar Association (NYCBA) securities litigation committee. She has run an outreach program with Volunteers of Legal Services, providing legal services to students and families at a New York City school.

Sandra Hauser Partner

Dentons US

Sandy Hauser is a partner and head of U.S. commercial litigation at Dentons US, where she is also a member of the rm’s global litigation and dispute resolution leadership team. She regularly leads the defense of companies facing class actions and complex commercial cases in trial and appellate courts. Hauser helps lead Dentons’ “Preparing for Rain” program, which is designed to help young female lawyers re ne their business development skills. She also initiated Dentons’ pro bono involvement with Her Justice, an organization that serves women living in poverty in New York City, particularly victims of domestic violence.

Khue Hoang

Co-managing partner

Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg

Khue Hoang is a co-managing partner at the New York o ce of Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg (RJLF), a majority women-owned national trial rm. Hoang helped the software company Densify secure a $237 million patent infringement verdict, which was recognized in the National Law Journal’s “Verdicts Hall of Fame.” As an Asian and LGBTQIA+ lawyer, she has helped create a team in which more than half of RJLF’s lawyers and two-thirds of its partners are women, and 30% of lawyers are diverse. Hoang is an active member of ChIPs, a national nonpro t organization that advances and connects women in technology, law and policy.

Jenny Hochenburg Partner

Fresh elds Bruckhaus Deringer

Jenny Hochenberg is a partner at Fresh elds Bruckhaus Deringer, where she focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and disclosure matters, and shareholder activism defense. Hochenberg was named among the “500 Leading Dealmakers in America” by Lawdragon. She was also elected to sit on the board of DirectWomen, a national nonpro t that works to increase the representation of female lawyers on corporate boards. Hochenberg is currently vice chair of the American Bar Association’s Acquisitions of Public Companies Subcommittee. She has published extensively for Business Law Today and was appointed in 2021 to an editorial advisory board of Law360.

Annie Huang Deputy managing partner

Robins Kaplan

As a deputy managing partner at Robins Kaplan, Annie Huang helps clients achieve their business objectives by developing creative and effective solutions for complex problems. She works to resolve high-stake disputes involving holders of intellectual property rights as well as accused infringers. Huang has experience managing large case teams at every stage of litigation, including pre-suit, caseinitiation, discovery, dispositive motion practice, mediation and trial. She is a member of Robins Kaplan’s attorneys of color resource group committee. Huang has served as trial counsel for individuals seeking political asylum and worked as a volunteer attorney for New York Legal Assistance Group.

Betty Huber Partner

Latham & Watkins

As a partner and global co-chair of Latham & Watkins’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) practice, Betty Huber advises clients on ESG matters, disclosures and regulatory guidance. Huber also advises public and private companies, funds and their boards on ESG-related corporate governance matters. She has supervised a team of diverse associates as part of Latham and Watkins’s pro bono work with the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund and she is developing the first diversity and inclusion program at the nonprofit Pro Bono Net. Huber frequently speaks and writes for the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association, the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program and the Society for Corporate Governance.

Kate Kalmykov Shareholder

Greenberg Traurig

Kate Kalmykov is a shareholder and co-chair of the global immigration and compliance practice at Greenberg Traurig. She represents large corporate clients, startups, nonprofits, universities and hospitals on personnel transfers to the U.S. Kalmykov recently defended numerous companies in I-9 audits and won asylum for nine members of a Ukrainian family. She has also conducted clinics and webinars offering immigration and resettlement resources, and works to mentor, train and hire women and ethnically diverse attorneys. Kalmykov is president of the board of the Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations and serves on the Ukraine Habitat Fund’s board of directors.

Rayna Kessler Partner

Robins Kaplan

As a partner at the law firm Robins Kaplan, Rayna Kessler works in the mass tort department representing sexual abuse survivors in both New Jersey and New York state court with claims against Boy Scouts of America and the Catholic Church. She also defends those injured by defective medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs and has led multi-county mass tort litigation. For the nonprofit Public Justice, Kessler is chair of the case development/special projects committee and an executive committee board member. She is also a founding member of the nonprofit Collective Liberty and has hosted networking groups for New York and New Jersey personal injury and mass tort attorneys.

Karen King

Partner Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello

Karen King is a partner at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello, where she specializes in complex commercial litigation and regulatory matters. In March 2022, King argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and won a unanimous victory on behalf of the petitioner in Golan v. Saada, a case involving treaty interpretation and risk to children. She was recently co-editor of two papers produced by the Asian American Bar Association of New York on the rise of violence against that demographic. King serves as a mentor to young attorneys through organizations such as the Federal Bar Council, the Asian American Bar Association and Asian Women in Business.

Dina Kolker Partner

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan

As partner at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, Dina Kolker focuses on public sector labor relations, working with New York City bene t funds and public employee unions. She has worked with the United Federation of Teachers, the Association of Legislative Employees, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators and the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Union, representing clients in negotiations, arbitrations, administrative proceedings and litigation in both state and federal court. Kolker is also a member of the rm’s diversity and inclusion council and provides pro bono counsel to the Associations of Supreme Court Justices of the City and State of New York.

Donna-Marie Korth Partner

Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman

Donna-Marie Korth is a partner in the condominium and cooperative and litigation practice groups, as well as manager of the mediation group, at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman. In these roles, she handles regulatory and compliance work for real estate developments and commercial litigation. Korth, an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law, mentors and shares her experiences with students during law school and post-graduation. She also serves on the advisory board for the Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law and the Nassau County Bar Association. Korth o ers pro bono mediation services through the Nassau Supreme Court’s Guardianship PILOT program.

Anita Laremont

Partner

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson

Anita Laremont is a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where she advises clients on various land use, zoning and development matters. A former director of the New York City Department of City Planning, she enacted Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, completed eight neighborhood rezonings and implemented various other transformative initiatives. Laremont regularly helps guide her colleagues and mentees and recently moderated a panel called “Creating Access rough Transparency” as part of Commercial Observer’s diversity, equity and inclusion forum. Laremont is a member of the New York Public Radio’s board of trustees and an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Lisa Laukitis

Partner

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and A liates

As a partner for the corporate restructuring group at the law rm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and A liates, Lisa Laukitis provides counsel for corporations, creditors and investors responding to out-of-court restructurings and Chapter 11 bankruptcies. Laukitis is co-head of her rm’s knowledge management committee and serves on its global women’s initiatives committee, which helps develop women lawyers. She also serves on the client engagement committee. Laukitis has served on the board of e Lower Eastside Girls Club for a decade and is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the International Insolvency Institute and the Turnaround Management Association.

Carmen Lawrence Partner King & Spalding

Carmen Lawrence, a partner at the law rm King & Spalding, leads securities enforcement investigations, conducts internal investigations and counsels on regulatory compliance and corporate governance. Lawrence represents public companies, audit committees, regulated entities, accounting rms and individuals and is involved in her rm’s mentoring programs. She has also participated in the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity law school mentorship program and serves as co-chair for the subcommittee on Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement and civil litigation for the business section of the American Bar Association. Lawrence is a fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America and the American Bar Foundation.

Jeeho Lee Partner

O’Melveny & Myers

Jeeho Lee, a partner at the law rm O’Melveny & Myers, chairs its capital markets practice and directs Momentum NYC, a partnership with emerging companies and investors. She also oversees recruiting and e orts to grow the rm’s New York-based technology clients. Lee has advised companies such as AT&T, Toyota Motor Credit Corp. and American Honda Finance Corp. As a rmwide hiring partner, Lee advocates for underrepresented groups and advances female lawyers and lawyers of color. Outside her rm, she serves as a member of the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s student outreach committee and is a member of Barnard College’s annual giving committee.

Stephanie Lehman Partner

Phillips Nizer

Stephanie Lehman is a partner at the law rm Phillips Nizer and head of its New York/New Jersey metro family law practice. She represents clients in family law related matters— divorces, prenuptials and postnuptials— and fertility law, working on cases involving egg donation, intended parenthood and frozen embryos. Lehman also develops her young associates as attorneys, coaching them in business development and other areas. She has contributed to publications such as e New York Times and New York Law Journal and has lectured before the New York State Bar Association. Lehman was also listed among lawyers of distinction through the American Bar Association.

Danielle Lesser Partner

Morrison Cohen

As a partner and business litigation chair at Morrison Cohen, Danielle Lesser leads a team of 40 lawyers while maintaining an active practice, litigating business, real estate and employmentrelated disputes. In addition to steering national retailers such as Kenneth Cole through negotiations and court cases, Lesser guides real estate clients in crisis and dispute resolution involving leases and joint ventures. She mentors young female lawyers regarding business generation and client development and works to promote diversity through lateral hiring. Lesser was recently appointed chair of the New York City Bar Association Judiciary Committee.

Heidi Levine

Partner

Sidley Austin

A partner and global co-leader of Sidley Austin’s product liability and mass torts practice, Heidi Levine is a member of the rm’s executive committee, co-chairs the women’s initiative and co-chairs the women of color subcommittee.

In addition to serving as lead national counsel in ve mass tort actions, Levine mentors more than 25 attorneys to support their career advancement and created Sidley’s “Pathway to Partnership and Beyond,” where panels of female partners speak with associates about making partner at major law rms. She is a longtime mentor with Legal Outreach, a New York City organization serving underprivileged students interested in law school.

Haimavathi Marlier Partner

Morrison Foerster

As a partner and global co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s securities litigation, enforcement and white-collar defense group, Haimavathi Marlier represents companies and individuals in Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority investigations and securitiesrelated litigation. Marlier, who has experience in cybersecurity, crypto, insider trading, disclosure and market manipulation issues, helped develop a training program for associates. She is also founder and sponsor of the New York Women Attorneys of Color Group, which fosters networking and business development opportunities for female lawyers of color. Outside the rm, Marlier sits on the board of trustees of the SEC Historical Society, a nonpro t dedicated to preserving the history of nancial regulation.

S. Starling Marshall

Partner

Crowell & Moring

As a partner at the law rm

Crowell & Moring, S. Starling Marshall guides clients through tax issues, investigations and litigation, leveraging her experience working in private practice and the U.S. Department of Justice’s tax division. At her rm, she is the talent and inclusion partner for the tax group, a member of the lawyer development committee, and liaison to the Institute for Well-Being in Law. In addition to her pro bono practice, she mentors law students in New York City, is president of the Dave Nee Foundation and is the immediate past chair of the Federal Bar Association’s section on taxation.

Linda Martin Partner

Fresh elds Bruckhaus Deringer US

As a partner at Fresh elds Bruckhaus Deringer US, Linda Martin co-heads the commercial litigation group and global class actions group. She is also co-leader of diversity initiatives and mentors attorneys from such demographics.

Martin hosts monthly“Zoomside chats” with other women partners, serves on the board of directors of the Children’s Tumor Foundation, and supervises pro bono cases from the City Bar Justice Center and from the International Refugee Assistance Project based in New York City. In 2022, Martin contributed to a revision of the leading treatise on complex litigation in New York.

Lourdes Martinez Partner

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton

As a partner at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, Lourdes Martinez defends healthcare clients in quality of care cases, physician licensing matters and federal, state and other third-party audits. She recently completed an internal investigation of potential drug diversion for a healthcare client and represented nursing home clients in connection with various governmental investigations. Martinez, who is active in Sheppard Mullin’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, also lends her time to the board of trustees of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York and the advisory board of the Center for Law and Religion at St. John’s University School of Law.

Tatiana Martins Partner

Davis Polk & Wardwell

Tatiana Martins, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, is an experienced trial lawyer who represents companies and individuals in complex and high-stakes matters. She formerly served as chief of public corruption at the U.S. Attorney’s O ce for the Southern District of New York. Recently, Martins secured a rare full dismissal of a criminal antitrust indictment two weeks before trial in U.S. v. Jason McGuire, et al. Committed to pro bono work, she has represented asylum applicants in federal immigration court. Martins, who serves on the steering committee of a Hispanic a nity group at Davis Polk, is also on the board of the O ce of the Appellate Defender.

Amory McAndrew Partner

Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney

Amory McAndrew is a partner at Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney, one of the oldest women-owned law rms in New York. McAndrew advises employers and executives on all aspects of the employment relationship and on best practices around handbook development, hiring and termination procedures and compliance with wage-related laws, among other matters. She represents businesses of all sizes spanning the retail, fashion and technology industries. In addition to spearheading her rm’s women’s initiative, McAndrew is also vice chair of the associates committee of the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering, a volunteer-led organization dedicated to supporting cancer research and enhancing the patient care experience.

Elizabeth L. McGinley

Partner Bracewell

As a partner at the law firm Bracewell, Elizabeth L. McGinley chairs the tax department and advises energy industry clients on acquisitions, dispositions, restructurings, joint ventures and debt and equity investments. She helps clients utilize federal income tax credits with a focus on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects. A leader in energy transition projects, McGinley represents some of the largest CCUS developers in the U.S., such as Navigator CO2 Ventures, a project that will provide carbon dioxide transport and storage services to biofuel producers and other industrial customers across the Midwest. McGinley serves as a mentor for Minute Mentoring, a program that fosters connections between female leaders and young women in law.

Brit Mohler Dufilho

Partner

Hunton Andrews Kurth

Brit Mohler Dufilho is a partner at the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth. She has been at the forefront of some of the most novel securitizations in the market since 2012, including developing new structures in the mortgage servicing rights securitization space while spearheading large residential mortgage-backed securities programs. Also serving as co-chair for the women’s subcommittee of her firm’s diversity and inclusion program, Mohler Dufilho leads discussions on professional development, leadership and networking opportunities for female lawyers. She was chosen to establish a women’s mentoring circle for her firm and was selected to participate in the Structured Finance Association’s diversity, equity and inclusion mentorship program.

Tatiana Monastyrskaya

Partner

Kirkland & Ellis

As a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, Tatiana Monastyrskaya represents private equity sponsors, their portfolio companies and investors in a variety of energy and infrastructure transactions. She recently advised Blackstone Energy Partners and its portfolio company TDI on the construction financing of an underground transmission line. Monastyrskaya is a member of her firm’s hiring committee and a steering member of the Women in Infrastructure Network, which helps women in the infrastructure industry connect to meet, exchange ideas and experiences and help shape the infrastructure agenda in the U.S. She also represents domestic violence survivors pro bono in immigration proceedings.

Saee Muzumdar

Partner

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

As a partner and co-chair of the mergers and acquisitions practice group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Saee Muzumdar has guided clients in the past year to complete dozens of announced transactions. In addition to working on corporate and business matters, including board and general corporate counseling, Muzumdar also strives to provide meaningful opportunities to diverse talent. She has been recognized as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon. Muzumdar mentors high school students year-round and actively supports Legal Outreach in its mission to serve urban youth from underserved neighborhoods in New York City.

Jaimee Nardiello

Partner Zetlin & De Chiara

As a partner at the law firm Zetlin & De Chiara, Jaimee Nardiello is responsible for attorney professional development, diversity, marketing and attorney recruitment. As a member of the governing committee of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Construction Law, Nardiello serves as liaison to the forum’s diversity and membership committees. There, she works to increase diversity and promote inclusion in construction law by providing scholarships and fellowships. Nardiello is a long-time member and past president of Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) New York. She was awarded the CREW New York Founder’s Award for her outstanding contributions to the field.

Lynn Neuner

Global co-chair of the litigation department

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Lynn Neuner is the rst female litigation co-chair at the law rm Simpson acher & Bartlett. A 2021 inductee to the American College of Trial Lawyers, Neuner is the lead lawyer for TD Bank in a $5 billion Ponzi scheme jury trial. She has driven the rm towards improved gender and racial diversity as former co-chair of the diversity committee and has been a longtime member of the executive committee. Neuner is on the board of trustees for the Practising Law Institute as well as the board of directors for e Legal Aid Society. She is also on the board of directors and former chair for the Yale Law School Fund.

Amanda H. Nussbaum

Partner

Proskauer Rose

Amanda H. Nussbaum, a partner and chair of the tax department at Proskauer Rose, is experienced with mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions and investment fund structure. She has been instrumental in the recruitment, retention and promotion of women attorneys at Proskauer. Nussbaum has also championed diverse associates through two of Proskauer’s mentorship programs: the Pipeline Initiative, which creates opportunities for advancement for diverse, mid-career lawyers and formerly through the Mentoring Circle Program, which matches diverse associates with mentors. She is vice president of the nonpro t Bottomless Closet, which guides disadvantaged New York City women in entering the workforce.

Maria-Leticia Ossa Daza

Partner

Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Maria-Leticia Ossa Daza is the founding partner and chair of the Latin America practice group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, as well as the rst Latina member of the rm’s executive committee. Ossa Daza has recently guided clients including Odinsa, América Móvil and Avenue Capital Group in sales and investment partnerships. In addition, she championed a rm collaboration with G.C. Magazine on women in law in Latin America. Ossa Daza is active in philanthropic organizations like AID FOR AIDS and is an active member of Young Presidents’ Organization, a global leadership community of executives who have achieved leadership success at young ages.

Carmen I. Pagan

Partner Romer Debbas

Carmen I. Pagan is a partner at the law rm Romer Debbas and head of its agency lending practice. She specializes in real estate and represents construction lenders, sellers and servicers. Pagan also handles aspects of commercial lending, including conventional loans, senior housing, student housing and credit enhancement for municipal mortgage bond nancings. Committed to diversity, inclusion and pro bono representation, Pagan has represented immigrants from Mexico, Ukraine, Haiti and other countries in petitions to obtain legal permanent status in the U.S. She is a member of the diversity committee of Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University’s alumni association.

Constantina Papageorgiou Partner

Vishnick McGovern Milizio

Constantina Papageorgiou heads Vishnick McGovern Milizio’s elder law practice, overseeing various aspects of the practice including marketing and business development, associate and paralegal training and pro bono work. As an active member of the New York State Bar Association’s trust and estates and elder law sections, as well as the Queens County Women’s Bar Association, Papageorgiou mentors young female lawyers in their careers. She is also involved in numerous nonpro ts, including as a board member of the Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Committee. Papageorgiou regularly conducts free educational seminars and consultations on estate planning and elder law for community organizations in both English and Greek.

E. Danya Perry Founding partner

Perry Guha

As a founding partner of the litigation boutique Perry Guha, E. Danya Perry has conducted independent investigations on behalf of a professional sports league, a major public company and several law firms. Perry has also represented employees in criminal and regulatory investigations surrounding billions of dollars in losses and worked with survivors of sexual abuse, discrimination and harassment. A founding member of the When There Are Nine Scholarship Project, which promotes equity in the legal profession, Perry is also a trustee at the Vera Institute of Justice and a founding board member of NYC Kids RISE.

Crystal Persaud Shareholder

Polsinelli

Crystal Persaud, a shareholder at the law firm Polsinelli, is a commercial real estate attorney who specializes in the transactional side of real estate, including acquisitions and dispositions, financings and refinancings and leasing and development.

As co-chair of the firm’s New York office recruiting and social committees, Persaud is responsible for forming and leading the summer associate program. She also participates in the firm’s women’s empowerment committee and many of the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion resource groups. For the past 13 years, Persaud has been volunteering for Open Hands Legal Services, a nonprofit that brings free legal services to New York City residents.

Kimberly PetilloDécossard

Partner White & Case

A partner at White & Case, Kimberly Petillo-Décossard advises public and private companies, boards, founders and family offices on business law matters, focusing on mergers and acquisitions as well as governance, disclosure and compliance matters. She has experience in a variety of industries including biotechnology, energy, financial services, healthcare, media, retail and technology. PetilloDécossard is an active mentor to female lawyers, helping them navigate life inside and outside big law firms and offering guidance on both legal and life management skills. She also founded and provided the seed endowment for the Women’s Leadership Initiative at her alma mater, Albany Law School.

Ralia Polechronis Partner

Wilkinson Stekloff

A partner at Wilkinson Stekloff, Ralia Polechronis is a litigator focused on complex commercial matters in all phases of litigation in state and federal court and arbitration.

Polechronis runs the firm’s training program for junior attorneys and is one of two Wilkinson Stekloff partners leading the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee. She was appointed by Governor Kathy Hochul to serve on the College Council of the State University of New York Farmingdale in 2022.

Polechronis also works pro bono with the nonprofit Advocates for Children and served as a New York City Urban Fellow in the Administration for Children’s Services.

THE FIRST BAR EXAMINATION GIVEN IN THE PRESENT-DAY U.S. WAS IN COLONIAL DELAWARE IN 1783. FROM THE LATE 18TH UNTIL THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, THE EXAMINATION WAS TYPICALLY ORAL AND FOLLOWED AN APPRENTICESHIP WITH A JUDGE OR ATTORNEY.

UWORLD LEGAL

Kara Rakowski Partner

Belkin Burden Goldman

As a partner at Belkin Burden Goldman and co-chair of its administrative department, Kara Rakowski is responsible for hiring, mentoring and supervising attorneys and legal assistants. In the last 18 months, Rakowski headed the due diligence team on the largest-todate purchase of a multifamily housing portfolio in Brooklyn, creating hundreds of a ordable housing units. She negotiated settlements with the city regarding discrimination claims on behalf of owners without penalties, resulting in the placement of dozens of voucher applicants in permanent housing. Rakowski also provides legal advice to New York City real estate industry organizations, such as Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Real Estate Board of New York.

Morghan Richardson Partner

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin

As a partner and co-chair of the matrimonial and family law practice at Tarter Krinsky & Drogin, Morghan Richardson acts as litigator, consultant and mediator to her clients in all aspects of divorce and family issues, including custody matters, alimony, collaborative divorce, orders of protection, access and visitation, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and separation agreements. She is also a professor at Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, where she teaches and mentors the next generation of lawyers about divorce law and modern family law issues. Richardson served on the executive board for New York State Bar Association’s women in law section for ten years.

Nina Roket Co-managing partner

Olshan Frome Wolosky

Nina Roket is a co-managing partner, real estate law practice co-chair and leasing practice chair for the law rm Olshan Frome Wolosky. Roket is also a member of the rm’s executive committee and chair of the hiring committee. As the rm’s rst female equity partner, she founded and currently chairs Olshan’s women’s committee, which was established to create growth and networking opportunities with female leaders in other industries. Recognizing the importance of engaging and retaining female lawyers, Roket has worked with a number of female attorneys to develop exible work schedules, allowing them career growth and room to address personal commitments and obligations.

Karen Rosenthal

Partner

Bikel Rosenthal & Schan eld

Karen Rosenthal is a partner at Bikel Rosenthal & Schan eld and a matrimonial litigator respected for her advocacy in high-con ict divorce and custody cases, including on behalf of children. Rosenthal’s recent successes include resolving a complex custody battle involving a celebrity and securing a decision that resolved the rst statewide dispute over Covid vaccines and visitation. She also mentors female associates and law students during their summer internships. Co-founder and former president of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Young Business & Professional Division, Rosenthal was twice elected president of the New York chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, which aims to improve the family court system for children.

Sasha RosenthalLarrea

Partner Cravath, Swaine & Moore

Elected partner in 2018 at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, corporate lawyer Sasha RosenthalLarrea has represented and advised clients including Johnson & Johnson, Valvoline and Biogen.

Rosenthal-Larrea serves as a partner liaison to both the Hispanic and LGBTQIA+ a nity groups, where she mentors associates and serves as a resource on inclusion-related matters. She is also her rm’s liaison for Her Justice, a nonpro t that recruits volunteer lawyers to provide free legal help to women living in poverty in New York City. Rosenthal-Larrea is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and advises the Center for Global Enterprise’s Data and Trust Alliance.

Catherine M. Fot

Congratulations to our partners Catherine Foti and Karen King for being recognized by Crain’s New York Business as Notable Women in Law, and we applaud all the exemplary lawyers acknowledged.

Karen R. King

Hannah Ross

Senior

partner

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann

Hannah Ross is a member of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann’s executive committee and one of the law rm’s senior partners, responsible for client development and client relations. A signi cant portion of Ross’s practice is dedicated to initial case evaluation and counseling the rm’s institutional investor clients on potential claims. She also oversees the rm’s global securities and litigation monitoring team, which monitors global equities traded in non-U.S. jurisdictions. Ross is chair of the rm’s diversity committee and co-chair of the rm’s Forum for Institutional Investors. She serves on the corporate leadership committee of e New York Women’s Foundation.

Laura Sack Partner

Davis Wright Tremaine

Laura Sack is a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine, where she also co-leads the East Coast labor and employment law practice. Recently, Sack has successfully represented clients including Paramount Global, T-Mobile and Warner Brothers Discovery and worked with employers to resolve disputes through mediation or direct negotiation. As one of two professional development partners for the rm’s labor and employment team, she is deeply involved in the performance management and professional development of approximately 25 early-career lawyers. Sack has led a pro bono research project on reproductive health issues in Tennessee, represented nonpro ts such as Center for Justice Innovation and is a longtime volunteer team leader for NY Cares.

Julie Schechter Partner

Armstrong Teasdale

A partner at the law rm Armstrong Teasdale, Julie Schechter serves as general counsel to cooperative and condominium buildings and assists their boards in drafting, reviewing and enforcing proprietary leases, bylaws and rules. She negotiates with contractors and vendors providing goods and services to these buildings and recently worked on a case which will impact construction in New York City. An author, lecturer and trusted source for publications such as e New York Times, Schechter has been published by Habitat magazine and the CREW Network. She has been a camp counselor at Camp Erin NYC, a national bereavement program for youth, for the past decade and volunteers her legal services to CitySquash, a not-for-pro t after school enrichment program.

Margaret Segall Partner

Cravath, Swaine & Moore

Margaret Segall, a partner at the law rm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, has been dubbed an “antitrust superstar” by Benchmark Litigation. Her antitrust practice includes more than $600 billion in proposed or completed transactions, including leading AerCap Holdings on antitrust issues for its $30 billion acquisition of GE Capital Aviation Services from General Electric. Segall is active in Cravath’s recruiting program and is a member of the rm’s partner/associate mentorship program. In addition to authoring and editing chapters for antitrust publications, Segall also speaks on antitrust issues at events such as the American Bar Association’s Antitrust In-House Institute and its Antitrust in Healthcare Conference.

BEIJING BRUSSELS HONGKONG HOUSTON LONDON LOSANGELES PALOALTO SÃOPAULO TOKYO WASHINGTON,D.C.

We Congratulate Our Colleagues and Partners

Elizabeth Cooper and Lynn Neuner on Their Recognition as Notable Women in Law

CADWALADER, WICKERSHAM & TAFT, THE OLDEST CONTINUOUS WALL STREET LEGAL PRACTICE, WAS FOUNDED IN 1792 BY JOHN WELLS, AN ORPHAN FROM OTSEGO COUNTY IN NEW YORK STATE.

CADWALADER

Dawn Smalls Partner

Jenner & Block

A partner at Jenner & Block, Dawn Smalls is responsible for the day-to-day running of the rm consistent with its strategic plan. She is also co-chair of the environmental, social and governance practice and part of the member management committee. Wielding her experience in law, politics, government and philanthropy, Smalls also advises clients on complex legal, policy and regulatory matters. In 2021, she led a pro bono team that worked to halt a mayoral order to move homeless New Yorkers without adequate notice and needassessments. Smalls is involved in her rm’s diversity, equity and inclusion task force and also co-chairs the new New York City Bar Association Task Force for Civic Education. She was recently appointed to the New York City Campaign Finance Board by Mayor Eric Adams.

Ti any Smith Partner

WilmerHale

A partner in the securities and nancial services practices, as well as co-chair of the blockchain and cryptocurrency working group at WilmerHale, Ti any Smith is a securities regulatory attorney with expertise in crypto regulatory matters. Smith, who is also a member of the rm’s pro bono and community service committee, has advised many large players in the crypto space and has spoken on related topics at more than twenty events in the past year. She is active on the board of the Legal Aid Society and a member of the National Bar Association, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association and the LGBT Bar Association of New York.

Natasha Tsiouris Partner

Davis Polk & Wardwell

Natasha Tsiouris is a partner at the law rm Davis Polk & Wardwell, where she is a leader in the restructuring practice. She represents creditors, debtors, lenders, hedge funds, banks and other strategic parties in a wide range of corporate restructurings.

Tsiouris was recently named “Restructuring and Insolvency Lawyer of the Year” as part of the 2022 Euromoney Women in Business Law Americas Awards and an “Outstanding Young Restructuring Lawyer” by Turnarounds & Workouts in 2021. She spearheaded her rm’s pro bono, ground-level partnership with Braven, a nonpro t that is dedicated to addressing the education-toemployment gap faced by minority students.

Danielle Tully Partner Cadwalader, Wickersham

Laura Turano Partner

& Taft

Danielle Tully, a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft and a core member of its intellectual property (IP) group, helps lead nearly all the rm’s IP litigation matters. Tully has successfully represented clients in complex patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark litigation in a wide range of areas, including medical devices, computer hardware and software and pharmaceuticals. A former protégé in Cadwalader’s sponsorship program, she is now a sponsor for the rm’s next generation of attorneys, working to advance their careers by participating in the program’s year-round curriculum. Tully also maintains a pro bono practice that supports the rm’s involvement with Start Small ink Big, a nonpro t that helps small and diverse businesses.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

As a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Laura Turano is a mergers and acquisitions advisor to global companies and is currently leading Estée Lauder in its $2.8 billion acquisition of Tom Ford. Turano is chair of the Women in Law Empowerment Forum’s East Young Lawyers Committee and co-head of her rm’s corporate department’s recruiting e orts. She serves as a member of the advisory counsel for the New York University School of Law’s Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance. Additionally, Turano also contributed to pro bono e orts to provide legal guidance to members of the Robin Hood Foundation’s Power Fund, a program that invests in nonpro t leaders of color.

Carol Villegas Partner Labaton

Sucharow

A partner and the youngest litigation team leader in Labaton Sucharow’s history, Carol Villegas serves as chief of compliance, a member of the executive committee and chair of the women’s initiative. In addition to driving the rm’s largest securities cases, Villegas is also leading the headline-grabbing privacy actions against Flo Health and Amazon. A rst generation Columbian-American, Villegas aims to help diverse students and lawyers receive opportunities to succeed by working with advocacy groups and mentoring. She was elected to serve as chair of the board of directors of the City Bar Fund, the nonpro t arm of the New York City Bar Association.

Danielle Vrabie Partner

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton

In her role as a partner at the law rm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, Danielle Vrabie provides advice that mitigates business risks and represents healthcare clients in commercial disputes, enforcement actions and government investigations. She recently secured a $40 million arbitral award for Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical, a global pharmaceutical and healthcare industry group. In 2019, Vrabie and another Sheppard, Mullin partner launched the Women in Healthcare Leadership Collaborative, an initiative committed to advancing women into and supporting them in the C-suite and other leadership positions within the healthcare and life sciences industries. Vrabie also maintains a pro bono practice, and her work has been recognized by e Legal Aid Society.

Jamie Wine

Partner Latham & Watkins

A partner at Latham & Watkins, Jamie Wine is a nationallyrecognized trial lawyer whose recent wins include leading the Latham team representing U.S. Soccer in the equal pay litigation brought by the U.S. women’s senior national team. e summary judgment that resulted was an important milestone preceding the collective bargaining agreements announced by U.S. Soccer and the women’s and men’s national teams. Wine is committed to pro bono work, has mentored diverse junior lawyers to encourage them to pursue their career goals and recently led a team of all-female attorneys in achieving clemency for a domestic abuse survivor. Wine is a longstanding board member of the Legal Aid Society.

Carolyn Wolf Executive partner

Abrams Fensterman

Carolyn Wolf is an executive partner and director of the mental health law practice at Abrams Fensterman. Wolf specializes in guiding families through complex legal issues that impact those with serious mental illness and/or substance use issues. She frequently consults major mental health nonpro t organizations including the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and she implements programs at the rm to empower female attorneys to generate business and promote cross-referrals. Wolf is a founding member of the Association for Healthcare Risk Management of New York, where she has served on the board of directors for 40 years.

BETWEEN 2012 AND 2022, THE NUMBER OF LAWYERS NATIONWIDE INCREASED BY MORE THAN 6%. AMERICAN

Nancy Wolff Partner

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard

As a partner and member of the executive committee at the law firm Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard, Nancy Wolff co-chairs the firm’s litigation practice and art law group. She created ethical and legal AI policies for the image licensing and creative industries and defended a women-owned publisher in a theft of ideas case brought against its New York Times best-selling young adult series author. In addition to being a member of the Copyright Alliance Initiative to Promote Diversity in Copyright volunteer program, Wolff mentors young and diverse lawyers through her membership in The Copyright Society mentorship program. Wolff is a legal advisor to the nonprofit Copyright Alliance.

Lily Wound Partner

Goodwin

Lily Wound is a partner in the technology and life sciences groups at Goodwin and a key member of the firm’s intellectual property transactions practice. Wound has experience representing pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other life sciences companies in a wide range of complex commercial, corporate, collaboration and licensing transactions, including those involving artificial intelligence platforms and precision medicine. She serves on the board of managers of Life Science Cares New York as well the board of Asian Women for Health. Wound has served for eight years as national chair and metro New York chair of Young Women In Bio, an organization that creates STEM opportunities for girls.

Joanna Wright Partner

Jenner & Block

Joanna Wright is a partner in the business litigation practice at Jenner & Block, representing plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of litigation matters. In a prior position, Wright won the first ruling in the nation preserving women’s access to healthcare and blocking implementation of a state abortion ban in Louisiana after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Named Young Lawyer of the Year by The American Lawyer in 2021, Wright serves on the board of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and devotes at least a quarter of her time to pro bono matters.

Heather Wyckoff Partner

Schulte Roth & Zabel

An investment management partner at the law firm Schulte Roth & Zabel, Heather Wyckoff advises private investment funds, providing legal services to asset managers, proprietary trading firms and financial institutions. She advised Bardin Hill Investment Partners and affiliates in forming Bardin Hill Opportunistic Credit Fund II. Wyckoff is also a member of her firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion and recruiting committees and co-chair of its caregivers affinity group. A member of the 100 Women in Finance global association board, Wyckoff also leads a pro bono team representing The GO Project, which benefits under-resourced New York City public school children.

Lisa Zeiderman Managing partner

Miller Zeiderman

Lisa Zeiderman is a managing partner at the family law practice Miller Zeiderman. In this role, she manages client relationships and collaborates with therapists and financial advisors to help clients facing complex custodial and financial issues in the midst of family law cases. In addition to her work advocating for children’s rights during their parents’ divorces, Zeiderman has co-authored several articles in the New York Law Journal with junior members of her team, enabling young attorneys to publish. Zeiderman is a founding member of the American Academy for Certified Financial Litigators and vice president of the Savvy Ladies board, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women become financially literate.

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Presentation Designer I positions (Turner Services, Inc.; NY, NY).

Develop effective communication tools to support ad sales initiatives & revenue goals. Salary range is $73,600/yr - $110,400/yr, depending on qualifications. Email resume to GMRI@warnerbros.com. Ref: 6794317PD2

Real Estate or Senior Real Estate Officer (Focus: RE Funds, Co-Investments) STRS Ohio

The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS Ohio) is seeking a Real Estate Officer or Senior Real Estate Officer for our International Real Estate Funds team. The successful candidate will analyze investments, write recommendations, monitor and report on the fund and co-investment portfolio, and provide relevant data analysis with the Managing Director, contributing to maximizing the value of this STRS Ohio portfolio.

STRS Ohio’s real estate fund portfolio has an international focus and is comprised of a diverse array of vetted value-add and opportunistic managers. STRS Ohio’s investment returns for the one-, three-, five- and 10-year time periods ending June 30, 2022, ranked in the top 10% of Callan’s public fund sponsor database of more than 200 public funds. STRS Ohio also outperformed its benchmark for each of these time periods. For more information on this position and others, visit jobs.crainsnewyork.com

PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES

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

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.

PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Formation of Cosmetic Eye Surgery, PLLC. Arts. Of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/8/2023. Office location: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 1 Central Park West, #41C, NY, NY 10023. Street address of principal place of business: 1 Central Park West, #41C, NY, NY 10023.

Purpose/character of LLC: Any lawful purpose.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

o cer, who stepped down last month. Katz, like many other ocials heading for the exit, did not publicly hint at any internal discord—but e New York Times reported she was frustrated by Adams’ opposition to bills aimed at increasing access to housing as well as confusion about which o cials were in charge of tackling the city’s a ordability crisis.

Outside factors

Some of the resignations stem from factors outside the mayor’s direct control. Ulrich, for example, stepped down after he was questioned by authorities as part of an investigation into illegal gambling and organized crime.

But Sewell’s exit appears directly linked to the management structure created by Adams, which subordi-

ed co-conspirator in a federal corruption probe.

Adams has taken a more direct role over some city operations than have previous mayors, reportedly requiring all communications by city agencies to be reviewed by City Hall. According to the New York Post, the mayor also assumed powers typically reserved for the police commissioner after Sewell approved disciplinary charges against Je rey Maddrey, a high-ranking police o cial whom Adams has publicly defended despite ndings that he improperly intervened in a former colleague’s arrest.

Adams, for his part, has dismissed suggestions that his administration is seeing unusual turnover—though he conceded June 13 that he has a “very unique” management style.

“In administrations on every level, people come and go,” Adams said during a press conference, responding to questions about Sewell’s resignation. Spokespeople for Adams have pointed out that high-level administration jobs are di cult and time-consuming.

ministration, pointed out that Bloomberg kept Ray Kelly as police commissioner for his entire 12-year tenure in City Hall.

was handpicked by Adams to lead the New York City Police Department and its 34,000 o cers at the start of his term in 2022.

nated the police commissioner below the post of deputy mayor for public safety, which is occupied by Philip Banks—a friend of the mayor.

Sta ng an administration with personal acquaintances is hardly a mayoral rst. But Adams has shown a willingness to appoint people with closer personal ties—including his brother and sister-in-law— as well as people who have faced misconduct claims. Banks, for example, was named as an unindict-

e mayor pointed to advice he received from his mother: “Inspect what you expect or it’s all suspect.”

“Some people may call that [being] a micromanager,” Adams said.

“I call it being the mayor of a city that you love.”

‘I appointed you, now run your agency’

Bill Cunningham, a strategist who served as communications director in Michael Bloomberg’s ad-

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

“Mike’s model was, ‘I appointed you, now run your agency. If we’re having a real problem, come to me,’” Cunningham recalled.

Internal shake-ups are not without precedent. Arzt pointed to a 1979 incident when Koch essentially red three deputy mayors and reassigned two others, in what he described as an e ort to “streamline” city government.

Sewell, though, was greeted with excitement when she rst took the job. A 14-year veteran of the Nassau County Police Department, Sewell

Once in charge, she seemed to enjoy the support of the NYPD’s rank-and- le—including unusual plaudits from a police union typically on rocky terms with mayors and their commissioners.

“ ere’s always people who are close to the mayor,” Arzt said. “But mayors usually support their commissioners unless their commissioners are way out of line.”

Sewell’s surprise resignation came two days after the Post reported that she had been forced to cede much of her power to Adams’ ad-

ministration after disciplining Maddrey against the mayor’s wishes. at punishment—which reportedly could entail losing up to 10 vacation days—stemmed from a 2021 Brooklyn incident in which Maddrey overturned the arrest of a former police o cer accused of threatening children with a gun. e Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated the claims against Maddrey, but he is ghting the charge and pursuing an internal trial, the news site e City has reported.

Adams, reportedly a friend of Maddrey, has argued that he acted “appropriately.”■

Proposed cannabis lounge in former Nat Sherman cigar shop in Midtown Manhattan hits a roadblock

BY DEBRA BORCHARDT

According to the old saying, there are three things that matter in real estate: location, location, location. New York City is the densest of all fully-legal cannabis municipalities, and trying to nd an acceptable store that is not within 1,000 feet of another can be challenging.

ORGANIZED

ree Dominican-born, Queensraised brothers want to open a dispensary and consumption lounge in the old Nat Sherman cigar lounge located in a prime spot in the city—on 42nd Street near Grand Central Terminal in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.

Unfortunately, the city believes that’s within 1,000 feet of the nan-

cially-troubled medical-only MedMen store on Fifth Ave. e Nat Sherman address is approximately 990 feet from MedMen, if you draw a straight line, but the walking path between the two is easily over 1,000 feet.

e brothers feel that the situation is even more unfair when considering they are social justice applicants that have been impacted by a multi-state operator that is currently trying to sell its New York assets.

e Polanco brothers (all named Jose) were awarded a license as CAURD applicants. One of the brothers was arrested for possession in his youth, which allowed them to apply as a social justice applicant. While the brothers have been o ered another space, they prefer the beautiful, wood-paneled two-story townhouse they’re leasing.

“Media, local, and state elected o cials—ranging from the New York City mayor to governor—in

addition to civic and community leaders, have expressed a desire to revive the Midtown East commercial district to become a 24/7 ‘workplay’ destination,’” Polanco said. “My brothers and I want to shift the storefront from a cigar spot to a world-class destination for cannabis consumers that will destigmatize the use of the plant and inform the world of its vast bene ts.”

e Polancos asked the New York O ce of Cannabis Management for a waiver to allow them to open in this location and are waiting on an answer. A spokesperson said the approval is being held up right now on an uno cial technicality.

Cigar lounge history

e connection to the famed cigar family could also be a draw. According to Wikipedia, Nat Sherman made his fortune running a prominent speakeasy in New York City during the 1920s Prohibition era.

“Perhaps as the result of settlement of a gambling debt, his son later speculated, Sherman wound up as half owner of Traub Brothers and Bear, makers of the Epoca cigar

brand, which introduced the nightclub proprietor into the world of tobacco manufacturing,” the Wikipedia entry noted.

Organized crime members patronized the original store, which was located on Fifth Avenue. e family moved to its latest location

in the 1990s, spending $1.5 million developing the store.

Nat Sherman was bought by the tobacco company Altria in 2017, which closed the brand in 2020. ■ is story originally appeared in Green Market Report.

“MAYORS USUALLY SUPPORT THEIR COMMISSIONERS UNLESS THEIR COMMISSIONERS ARE WAY OUT OF LINE”

BUCK ENNIS

POLICE COMMISSIONER Keechant Sewell (center) was reportedly stymied by the leadership structure set up by Mayor Eric Adams.

CRIME MEMBERS PATRONIZED THE ORIGINAL STORE, WHICH WAS LOCATED ON FIFTH AVENUE

THE NAT SHERMAN cigar lounge closed in 2020.