Crain's New York Business, July 10, 2023

New York City’s next big immersive attractions

Innovative retail concepts, from the Friends Experience to the Malibu Barbie Café, are reshaping how storefronts are being used

BY MARIO MARROQUIN

New York City is one of the fashion capitals of the world, but shoppers these days have much more to buy than clothes.

On East 23rd Street, fans of the TV show “Friends” can pose as though they’re having co ee at Central Perk. On West 19th Street, at the David Zwirner gallery, art enthusiasts can meander through

larger-than-life sculptures and installations by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. And near Union Square, history bu s can explore Titanic: e Exhibition.

ere are also opportunities to dine like Barbie, immerse oneself in hip-hop history and maybe even play pickleball.

e city’s retail landlords know that storefronts have been a harder sell since e-commerce became the norm, and the post-pandemic de-

crease in foot tra c along certain corridors has not helped matters. So some have lled their spaces with so-called experiential retail concepts, or businesses that let visitors participate in an exhibit rather than sell goods. Naturally, the experiences also yield eye-catching social media posts.

e glut of open storefronts has pushed asking rents down in many

BY NICK GARBER

When Mayor Eric Adams strode into the City Hall rotunda in late June to announce a deal on the new city budget, he credited the “hard work and good faith of our partners in the City Council.”

But the steely expression on the face of Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, and the brusque handshake shared by the two leaders, hinted at the behind-the-scenes tensions that had marred months of budget talks.

council bills to expand rental aid.

e mayor vetoed the bills, the council threatened an override, and both sides issued bitter recriminations. e mayor’s approval rating fell from 49% in May to 46% in June, according to a Siena College poll.

BY THE NUMBERS

46%

Indeed, the mayor’s relationship with the council has never been shakier, and his dealings with the speaker have grown noticeably strained, according to interviews with 13 council members and public statements from both City Hall and the council.

ose tensions, which began well before the latest budget cycle, threaten the city’s e orts to address the linked crises of placing migrants, homelessness and una ordable housing. e dysfunction grew clear in recent weeks when negotiations broke down on

What’s more, compiling this year’s budget, despite all its mutual animosity, may be a cakewalk compared to next year, when a $5 billion de cit looms. e “handshake” announcement, typically a celebratory a air, was clouded by Speaker Adams’ prediction that tougher times are in store, requiring “better governance.”

Several council members lay blame for the fraying relationship on Mayor Adams, who they say views the council as an annoyance rather than a coequal branch of government. His open antipathy toward progressives and struggles to communicate the administration’s moves have alienated even previously friendly lawmakers, they said.

“It’s pretty clear that this mayor

GOTHAM GIG

The founder of St. Ann’s Corner needle exchange is ready to step back after a long career PAGE 27

Relationship between mayor, City Council reaches a low point

Insiders say budget, migrant crisis, clashing personalities have contributed to the rift

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS’ June approval rating, according to a Siena College poll

VISITORS WALK THROUGH the colorful Yayoi Kusama exhibit at Chelsea’s David Zwirner gallery.

See RETAIL on page 26

See TENSION on page 24

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS with council members (from left) Diana Ayala, Sandy Nurse, Bob Holden, Speaker Adrienne Adams, Shahana Hanif and Justin Brannan.

Adams, council reach $107B budget deal after tense talks

BY NICK GARBER

Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council have reached a $107 billion deal on the city’s next budget, they announced June 29, after weeks of tense negotiations marked by the two sides’ starkly different views of the city’s scal health.

e deal for the 2024 scal year will restore the full $36.2 million in funding for the city’s three library systems that the mayor had proposed cutting. e proposed cuts sparked a backlash among council members and library o cials who said they would harm key services.

Budget talks have been de ned by the Adams’ administration’s insistence that the city needs to cut back on spending, citing projected de cits in future years and the costs of the migrant crisis. But council leaders have argued against the cuts, pointing to strong tax revenues as evidence that the city has plenty of cash.

Speaker Adams looked somber during a June 29 announcement at the City Hall rotunda—a celebratory a air in past years. She said the deal was “bittersweet” due to the council’s inability to reverse all of the mayor’s proposed cuts, and called the negotiations “di cult.”

“In fact, they were uniquely challenging because of how much it focused on restoring cuts to so many important programs,” she said.

e budget deal also expands access to discounted MetroCards for

low-income riders, maintains funding for public schools, and raises capital funding for a ordable housing to $4 billion annually—a total that Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has long sought.

but the budget’s modest growth over the mayor’s last proposal suggests that the council may not have secured some of its costlier demands, like new investments in education and health programs.

City had limited success with connecting people to shelters, audit says

BY JACQUELINE NEBER

CITY COMPTROLLER Brad Lander released an audit late last month that shows that the Department of Homeless Services has had limited success in getting New Yorkers experiencing homelessness into shelters during “sweeps” of encampment sites.

Between March 21 and Nov. 30, 2022, a task force of four city agencies: DHS, the New York City Police Department, the Department of Sanitation and the Department of Parks and Recreation conducted 2,154 “cleanups” of encampment sites, where workers dismantle sites and try to help people access housing and social services such as mental health care.

and the agency. Mental health challenges and substance use can make it inherently di cult to get people into temporary shelter because people are more likely to resist accepting shelter, they said.

Furthermore, DHS can only o er people services—the agency must respect people who decline o ers, the agency said in a response letter for the audit.

Lander’s audit said the challenges that mental health and substance use pose only make it more vital for DHS to reassess its current approach to cleanups.

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e agreed-upon package is roughly the same amount the mayor had proposed this spring, and came together one day before the city’s deadline to nalize an accord for the 2024 scal year.

Out-year gaps grow

Few details about the spending plan were immediately available,

“ e agreement we reached [June 29] comes in the midst of a budget cycle dominated by great challenges and unexpected crises,” Mayor Adams said. “But I am proud to say that we have successfully navigated through these many crosscurrents to arrive at a strong and scally responsible budget that uplifts everyday New Yorkers and their families.”

e speaker said that the restored cuts “do not represent the completion” of the city’s work.

“ ere is more that must be done on every front of our budgets and policymaking,” she said. ■

According to the audit, just over 2,300 people were present during those cleanups and only 119, or 5%, accepted temporary shelter. In April 2023, auditors found, people had returned to 31% of 99 encampment sites.

Of those 119 people who accepted temporary shelter, 29 left the shelter the same day they entered and only about 90 stayed in the shelter for any length of time. Just under 50 remained in temporary shelters, 40 exited the system by Jan. 23 of this year and three were placed in permanent housing.

DHS o cials contextualized these numbers at a May exit conference between Lander’s o ce

Over the past year, the city has increased its focus on mental health care solutions; Lander’s ofce released the audit shortly after the city published new B-Heard response data.

“ e low success rate in moving people from the street to shelter and housing as a result of sweeps suggests it is not an e ective method to meet the stated goal,” the audit summary reads.

Lander also found that the Department of Homeless Services did not collect all the data to fully determine cleanup outcomes, or record the number of individuals outreach workers interact with or the results of those meetings—instead, the agency only tracks the New Yorkers who are present at sites and those who accept shelter. ■

SEC charges former P zer statistician with insider trading over Covid drug trial results

BY AMANDA D’AMBROSIO

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former P zer statistician with insider trading June 29, stating that the former employee and his friend used inside information about the success of the Covid drug Paxlovid to buy stocks before the company released trial results.

Investigators said that Amit Dagar, a former employee of the Hudson Yards-based pharmaceutical giant who lives in New Jersey, and Atul Bhiwapurkar, Dagar’s friend and business partner who lives in California, used knowledge about Paxlovid’s success to make trades prior to P zer’s public announcement.

When P zer CEO Albert Bourla announced the positive clinical trial ndings for Paxlovid in November 2021 as the country was on the brink of the omicron outbreak, he

referred to the news as a “game-changer” in global e orts to “halt the devastation” of the pandemic, the SEC said. e announcement caused P zer’s stock prices to soar.

Antiviral treatment

Paxlovid is an antiviral treatment for adults and children who have a high risk of developing severe Covid-19. e medication was found to reduce rates of Covid-related hospitalization and death among people who faced a higher chance of getting seriously sick from the virus.

Dagar was a senior statistical lead at P zer who compiled and organized data during the Paxlovid clinical trials. roughout the trial, Dagar was blinded to the results, meaning that he did not know whether the data he worked with were about Paxlovid or a placebo.

Dagar learned about the success

of the Paxlovid trial on Nov. 4, 2021—one day before the clinical trial results would be released to the public, according to the SEC complaint. Within hours of learning about these results, Dagar purchased P zer call options and told Bhiwapurkar about the results of the trial, who also informed another individual about the ndings.

After P zer’s public announcement about the success of Paxlovid, the company’s stock price increased by $4.76—a nearly 11% jump from the last close, SEC investigators said. e increase marked the largest single-day rise in the company’s stock since 2009.

Dagar and Bhiwapurkar earned single-day pro ts of approximately $214,000 and $60,000, respectively, amounting to one-day returns on investments of around 2,000% and

800%, according to the SEC. e third person that Bhiwapurkar told about the positive trial results made nearly $30,000, the complaint said.

e SEC is ordering that Dagar and Bhiwapurkar surrender their earnings from the trade, and seeks injunctive relief and civil penalties.

e U.S. Attorney’s O ce for the Southern District of New York also announced criminal charges against Dagar and Bhiwapurkar June 29. ■

NICK GARBER

“WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY NAVIGATED THROUGH THESE MANY CROSSCURRENTS”

THE CITY REACHED its budget agreement after weeks of tense talks.

BRAD LANDER TWITTER

A no-frills dental practice is quickly becoming one of New York’s hottest startups

The upstart: Wally Health

In 2018, serial startup entrepreneur Tyler Burnett’s new dentist told him he had eight cavities and wanted to drill on the spot. A second opinion revealed Burnett actually needed just one lling.

e experience is common, says Burnett. Dentists spend a lot of money on expensive surgical equipment and have to recoup that investment—sometimes by suggesting unnecessary procedures or pushing pricey cosmetic work.

His latest startup, Wally Health, o ers unlimited dental cleanings, diagnostics, exams and whitening for a at $199 a year. Deep-cleanings and drill-free llings for minor cavities are also available.

If patients need additional care—a major lling or a root canal, for instance—Wally refers them to a specialist just like a primary care doctor would refer someone to a knee surgeon. “We are only incentivized to keep your teeth healthy,” Burnett says.

e company does not accept insurance, which Burnett says saves time and money on processing paperwork.

e startup, which launched in 2020, has two treatment locations and is headquartered in a Tribeca WeWork. Its 25-odd employees serve nearly 10,000 members in New York City.

Eric eis, an investor with venture rm Bling Capital, which led Wally’s recent $3.2 million seed round, says its business model corrects what he sees as a longstanding incentive misalignment between dentists and patients. He was also impressed that the startup took just two weeks to open its second location: “ ey went from construction to seeing patents so quickly,” he says. “ ey have the formula down.”

Wally’s Tribeca studio, which opened in January, will serve as the model for all future locations. e airy, 1,000 squarefoot space is divided with paper partitions into six small treatment areas. It is typically sta ed by three hygienists, three assistants and a dentist. ere is no receptionist—pa-

tients use a digital kiosk to check in. e location can treat 50 to 60 patients a day, Burnett says. e startup o ers the latest technology, he says, including digital 3D scans, AI-assisted diagnostics and pain-free cleanings that employ an anti-bacterial powder spray rather than scraping.

Linnea Sage, who lives in the Financial District, is a typical Wally member. e voiceover actress, who has no dental insurance, says she used to get a cleaning once a year—typically taking advantage of a random city dentist o ering a Groupon deal.

Since joining Wally two years ago after seeing an Instagram ad, she’s gotten a cleaning every three months, as does her husband. “Honestly, it sounded too good to be true and I’m so glad it’s not,” she says.

The reigning Goliath: Tend

New York-based Tend, a “tech-enabled” dental practice launched in October 2019, operates 23 dental studios in New York, Atlanta, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Nashville, Tenn. With nearly $200 million in startup funding and more than 650 employees, it accepts insurance and o ers a full range of dental, preventative and cosmetic services.

How to slay the giant

To get Wally o the ground, Burnett turned to one of his most trusted sources—his wife, who is a dentist. She connected him with some of the area’s top practitioners, who became his advisers. He later added two co-founders, Chief Technical O cer Stipe Latkovic, the engineering lead, and Chief Product O cer Chelsea Patel, who previously led health care projects for several management consulting rms.

e startup’s rst location was an Upper East Side o ce shared with a traditional dentist who served as an adviser. An initial six-month pilot, launched in July 2021, o ered unlim-

ited cleanings for $99 a year. Burnett quickly realized the price was too low. “People were skeptical,” he says. “And from a business standpoint, the margins were razor-thin.”

Another challenge: fending o advisers and patients who pushed Wally to accept insurance or expand its treatment options. Early on, the startup caved to customers requesting custom night guards to prevent teeth grinding. “We sold, like, 10 guards, and it took up an exorbitant amount of time,” Burnett says.

In 2022, Wally moved into a larger shared o ce on the Upper East Side, where it experimented with scheduling, team con gurations and work ows to develop e cient processes that didn’t shortchange the customer experience.

Based on those ndings, it opened the second location in Tribeca. It plans to open a third location in Brooklyn soon and operate ve in the city by the end of the year.

e $199 unlimited-cleanings deal has obvious appeal, but it’s hard to cut through the noise, says Burnett, and the low cost can generate suspicion among those used to paying $200 for a single cleaning. To generate trust, Wally works with members to o er personal testimonials on TikTok and Instagram. Wally pays a kickback when these campaigns generate new memberships.

The next challenge

Wally plans to expand to new cities in 2024, with hopes of becoming a household name. “We’ll look at the major metro areas rst, because we have a model that works,” Burnett says.

But to really expand the potential patient pool, Wally may also want to start o ering memberships through employers. “ ey will have to experiment,” says eis, the VC. “ at’s one way to think about doing this. But there’s tons of opportunity.” ■

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

BUCK ENNIS

ANNE KADET

WALLY HEALTH co-founders (left to right): Stipe Latkovic, Chelsea Patel and Tyler Burnett

INTERVIEW BY MARIO MARROQUIN

Chris Balestra, president and chief investment officer of Midtown-based real estate developer Taconic Partners, likes to characterize his firm’s achievements in the life sciences market as a combination of good timing and good fortune. Amid a changing landscape for commercial landlords, Taconic has been able to leverage existing relationships and deploy substantial capital to position itself as a major player in one of the city’s up-and-coming sectors. Support from local and state authorities and an increase in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health to local research institutions is allowing the industry to expand in the city, Balestra said. But not all developers will be able to cash in on the opportunities, he said.

Is Taconic targeting any particular type of life science tenant for its developments?

We are designing and building flexible, purpose-built space that can be adapted for a wide range of users. [Lab space tenants] all have different requirements. Some tenants are bio-heavy; some tenants are chemistry-heavy. We are designing these labs not only for the first tenant to come in and use it in a certain manner, but [so that] when that tenant leaves, we don’t need to rebuild the whole lab. New York does not have a lot of demand for Big Pharma to take space, but if you think

RESIDENTIAL SPOTLIGHT

DOSSIER

WHO HE IS President and chief investment officer, Taconic Partners

AGE 42

GREW UP Syracuse RESIDES Westchester County

EDUCATION Bachelor’s in economics, Colgate University

FAMILY GUY Balestra has two children, an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old OUTDOORSMAN When he’s not working, Balestra loves spending time outdoors cycling and fishing. “I don’t like sitting still,” he said, “so any time I can be outside doing something active, it is really what I prefer.”

about the academic medical institutions and campuses, they don’t really have extra land. New York is now the highest NIH-funded city in the country for research, so these institutions are running out of space in their own facilities.

What is the city doing, if anything, to lure life sciences firms?

The city is really trying to get developers to build more lab space because we believe, and they believe, that if you build it, the tenants are here, and then they will come and they will grow and the city will become a larger hub than it is today.

Why do you think historically New York has lagged other cities in life sciences?

It is very expensive to build life sciences [spaces]. You also have a lot of vertical buildings, and that doesn’t work well for lab space because, as you go up, more of the core of the building is taken up by exhaust, and you eventually get inefficient floor

Do you see office-to-life science conversions as the way forward for struggling office landlords?

I don’t see it as the savior to the office sector. Two of our projects so far have been conversions of traditional-type office space into lab space, so it’s possible, but the barriers to entry are a little high. You need the right zoning, the right floor plate and ceiling heights that probably exceed the capacity of most, say, Class C type of buildings. The opportunities do exist, but I think, by and large, most of the traditional office buildings will not be convertible.

Do you expect speculative development, or building without a tenant signed on, to work in the local life sciences environment?

We have 1.2 million square feet of speculative life science space in various stages of development. We believe there is definitely room to run, and we are willing to do it speculatively. That is what we have been doing, and that is what we plan to continue doing.

How much capital does Taconic intend to deploy in life sciences?

We currently have about $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion of capital committed and invested. With our next project, which will start in a few years, it will take that total to about $2 billion of total ■

Trump tower penthouse with Mideast ties sells

Sana Sabbagh had been trying to find a buyer for the 4,489-square-foot Central Park West unit since 2019

BY C. J. HUGHES

An heir to a powerful Middle Eastern construction firm has found a taker for her penthouse in the Trump tower at Columbus Circle.

Sana Sabbagh has sold No. PH50A at 1 Central Park West, the Trump International Hotel and Tower, for $23.5 million, public records show. The deal, which closed on June 14, comes four years after Sabbagh first tried to unload the unit at a price of $32 million, meaning the property had to undergo a 27% discount to trade.

The apartment, which sits two floors below the top of the 47-story tower, has five bedrooms, six and a half baths and 4,489 square feet, plus postcard-style views of Central Park. In 1996, Donald Trump co-developed the building, a conversion of the former Gulf and Western Tower, to create a 166-unit condos atop 167-room hotel as part of a $250 million project.

The buyer of No. PH50A was shielded by a shell company called Ajoy Realty Holdings II, LLC and represented at the closing by New York attorney M. Nader Ahari, who declined to comment on the deal.

Ahari previously repped a company with a nearly identical name, Ajoy Realty Holdings, in the purchase of a different apartment in

$23.5M

the same building, No. 26A, which sold for $9 million in 2016, according to a deed.

Middle East connection

In 1998, No. PH50A was purchased by Sana Sabbagh for $26 million, records show, so she appears to have taken a loss on the transaction.

Sana is the daughter of billionaire Hasib Sabbagh, the Lebanese founder of Consolidated Contractors Company, which started out in 1952 by helping build refugee camps for Palestinians uprooted by Arab-Israeli conflicts—a group to which Sabbagh could relate because he was a member of it himself.

As the region grew in the decades that followed due to the demand for oil, Consolidated Contractors became of the largest and most influential builders in the Middle East, churning out oil pipelines, roads, power plants, college classrooms, mosques and apartment houses.

Other creations were Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, a wing of Reagan National Airport and the Burj Khalifa, the half-mile-tall spire

in Dubai that is the world’s tallest skyscraper.

Employing 36,000 workers in offices from Botswana to China to the United Arab Emirates, the Athens-based Consolidated Contractors saw $2.5 billion in revenue in 2021, according to the company’s website Hasib Sabbagh died in 2010 at the age of 90. A few years after his death, Sana Sabbagh ended up in court

battling her two brothers, Suheil and Samir Sabbagh, and other relatives involved with the family company, over their father’s fortune. Their mother, Diana, died in 1978.

Flip for the ages

Based on public filings, the previous owner of No. PH50A was Purnendu Chatterjee, an Indian private equity investor with stakes in biotech and pharmaceutical com-

panies who was also once a confidante of billionaire George Soros.  In a flip for the ages, Chatterjee appears to have bought the apartment in 1997 for $6 million and sold it a year later to Sabbagh for $26 million, records show.

Deanna Kory and Federica Floris, the Corcoran agents with the listing, had no comment, and Sana Sabbagh could not be independently reached. ■

CHRIS BALESTRA, president and chief investment officer

1 CENTRAL PARK WEST

Empowering the local workforce

We’ve

ASTM’s Penn Station plan goes public: $6B price

BY NICK GARBER AND

The developer ASTM hasnally gone public with its plan to rebuild Penn Station, rolling out new designs of glassy train halls, details about its negotiations with Madison Square Garden and an eagerly awaited price tag for the entire project: $6 billion.

In a brie ng with reporters on June 27, ASTM also revealed the extent of its discord with the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, whose leaders are so far sticking with the state’s own $7 billion plan to rebuild Penn Station. Both plans anticipate using public funds, and MTA o cials have disparaged ASTM’s proposal as a waste of money.

But ASTM, a developer based in Italy that controls the American construction company Halmar, says its plan would not only cost less but also lead to a better outcome for Penn Station and its 600,000 daily riders. Most notably, the ASTM plan, unlike the state’s, calls for buying and demolishing the eater at Madison Square Garden to replace it with a new Eighth Avenue train hall.

e developers have an “understanding on price” with MSG to acquire the theater for less than $500 million, ASTM Senior Vice President Peter Cipriano said June 27. e team was hesitant to call the deal done, however, as the ultimate fate of its proposal remains uncertain.

For months, ASTM has generated behind-the-scenes buzz for its plan with the help of hired lobbyists, managing to win praise from some local o cials and civic groups. Its plan would wrap the Garden’s exterior with a square glass-and-stone podium, allowing daylight to enter the belowground concourse—one of the state’s main goals. New con-

courses would be built on Eighth Avenue and the mid-block gap between Madison Square Garden and the 2 Penn Plaza o ce building.

ASTM leaders also stressed that they are willing and eager to compete in an open bidding process for a new Penn Station developer, rebutting criticism that they have sought to manufacture a sense of inevitability around their proposal.

e state has not yet opened up such a request for proposals and has stuck with the team of architects it selected last year—though the MTA said in a statement June 27 that it anticipates “a competitive construction procurement process.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s declaration

ASTM has won plaudits for cultivating close ties to Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, and other key stakeholders like local elected ocials. Cipriano con rmed those “productive” talks and said that his company had also met “many times” with Hochul’s o ce, but claimed the MTA has so far refused to even look at his company’s plans.

“ ey’ve elected not to,” Foye added.

An MTA o cial atly rejected that claim, saying ASTM had met with the MTA in March but that the developers never responded to subsequent requests for technical details.

“We haven’t heard from them since we met,” said the o cial, who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the record.

Money talks

e $6 billion cost of the project is made up of $1 billion committed by ASTM to acquire the eater at MSG and kickstart construction, $2 billion in upfront funding from the state and federal governments, and $3 billion in loans from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

is is the cheapest available debt in the country for public infrastructure, according to the ASTM team.

quality. If the rm fails to maintain working elevators, clean bathrooms and the like, it would forfeit some of those payments.

e ASTM plan has won over several stakeholders, but the MTA has emerged as a vocal skeptic.

on June 26 that the state is open to other ideas for renovating the station was “encouraging,” said Pat Foye, CEO of ASTM North America and a former MTA chief. But the ASTM team, like other observers, seemed unsure exactly what to make of Hochul’s announcement.

“ ere was no announcement,” Cipriano said. “We appreciate this broad sentiment that we need more ideas, but no mechanism was announced on [June 26] to actually get new ideas.”

Construction would take about six years, and ASTM would be repaid by Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and the MTA once the work is complete. ese payments would total $250 million per year, split between $125 million from Amtrak and $62.5 million each from NJ Transit and the MTA.

Ultimately, ASTM said it expects a return of 8% to 11% on its $1 billion investment.

ASTM would run the station for 50 years, and the payments it receives would be contingent on

ough the two plans share the notion of a mid-block train hall, transit executives have dismissed ASTM’s grand Eighth Avenue entrance, since only a fraction of Penn riders presently use that side of the station.

ASTM’s team responded in kind during its presentation, pointing out what they saw as several aws in the state-led plan that put the entire e ort to renovate the station at risk.

e MTA appears to want upwards of $4 billion from the U.S. Transportation Department through the 2021 infrastructure law, for instance—a sum Cipriano

called unrealistic, given that other transportation projects like the Gateway tunnel are considered higher-priority by the federal government. He and other ASTM leaders also sharply criticized the agency’s demand that the Garden contribute billions of dollars toward the new Penn Station, accusing them of essentially trying to shake down the company in exchange for keeping the arena’s special permit—a strategy that Cipriano argued was guaranteed to invite lawsuits.

“We think that the level that the MTA has been describing is unrealistic and threatens this project being delivered in the next decade,” he said. “It’s so unrealistic that we’re probably talking about litigation, and you’re de nitely talking about introducing so much risk that you will have no chance of accessing federal infrastructure dollars.”

The developer touted its strong relationships with key of cials, with the notable exception of the area’s transit authority

EDDIE SMALL

COURTESY OF ASTM, PAU AND HOK

HOCHUL/FLICKR

THE ASTM TEAM, like other observers, seemed unsure what to make of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recent announcement that the state was moving forward with the design phase for the Penn Station renovation.

“WE’RE NOT ASKING FOR SOLE SOURCE. WE WANT AN OPEN, COMPETITIVE PROCESS.”

A RENDERING OF ASTM’S proposed Penn Station rebuild, shown looking east from West 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue

WHAT’S PLANNED

A diagram showing ASTM’s proposed Penn Station layout, including two new train halls on Eighth Avenue and the mid-block gap next to Madison Square Garden

COURTESY OF ASTM, PAU AND HOK

tag and no love from the MTA

collaborating with all key stakeholders on improving Penn Station,” an MSG Entertainment spokesperson said June 27.

‘The jelly in the doughnut’ ASTM has been working on the project for about two and a half years, according to the company— roughly the same amount of time that Foye and Cipriano, a former federal transportation official, have worked there.

The team said it hoped to model Penn Station after other projects funded through public-private partnerships, including Moynihan Train Hall, the new LaGuardia Airport and the renovation of Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. Grand Central Terminal is a model as well: Chakrabarti said he hopes to re-create that hub’s “theater of transit” in a new Penn Station and argued that ongoing efforts to improve the neighborhood around Penn would not make sense without a new station itself.

“We are the jelly in the doughnut,” Chakrabarti said. “Until you fix the main station, it’s hard for all of these things to make sense.”

Not everyone is thrilled by Extell’s proposed T imes Square thrill ride

BY EDDIE SMALL

The definition of an amusement park doesn’t come up often at the city’s infamously dry community board meetings, but at a recent gathering of the land-use committee for Manhattan Community Board 5, this proved to be a topic of lively debate.

“Amusement parks have many different definitions,” said Kramer Levin attorney Paul Selver. “But one thing they all target is multiple rides, multiple shows, multiple refreshment areas and games of chance and skill. They don’t talk about a single ride.”

and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City. However, he still supports the Extell project and says adding rides could help with the industry’s recovery.

Times Square Alliance President Tom Harris is a supporter of the project and said the drop ride would fit right in with the neighborhood.

The hotel would be massive even without the ride. Extell plans for the roughly 776,000-square-foot structure to include more than 1,000 rooms, multiple restaurants and bars, a gym, on-site shopping and an observation deck.

“The idea that you could leverage the special permit for billions is ludicrous,” echoed Vishaan Chakrabarti, an architect whose firm is part of ASTM’s design team.

The MTA official would not provide a dollar figure that the agency is seeking from MSG but argued that those payments would be in line with the benefits the arena would gain from an improved Penn Station, such as improved truck-loading areas and better HVAC systems.

“We don’t see the need for providing Madison Square Garden with $1 billion to build a train hall in the lesser-used side of Penn Station,” the MTA official said, referring to reported estimates of ASTM’s total payments to the Garden.

Paying MSG before being able to renovate Penn Station would be a bitter pill for some to swallow, as

many view the company as one of the main reasons why the transit hub is still in such dismal shape. But Cipriano framed this timeline as inevitable given the importance of the theater site to renovating Penn Station.

“It’s private property in New York City,” he said. “The only path forward for this project is to acquire control of some of that property.”

MSG, perhaps unsurprisingly, has hinted at support for ASTM’s plan. In documents submitted recently to the City Planning Commission, arena executives spoke warmly of an “alternative vision” for Penn Station that includes a train hall replacing the existing theater—a vision they said had been “developed with input from MSG’s engineers.”

“Recognizing that the decision on which plan goes forward is not ours to make, we look forward to

ASTM’s latest designs call for the new station facade to be clad with limestone or granite in addition to the glass. The Eighth Avenue frontage would mimic the design of the Farley Post Office Building across the street, which was itself designed to imitate the old Penn Station—making the new building “the mirror of the mirror of a ghost,” Chakrabarti said.

ASTM, which says the proposal is advanced enough to immediately undergo an environmental review, stressed that they want to compete for the right to carry out their plan through a fairly standard request for proposals—albeit one where they would essentially submit their plan as-is.

“Our ask is that there be an RFP for a developer for Penn Station. We’re happy to compete against third parties, and we’re happy to compete against the railroads,” Foye said. “We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re not asking for sole source. We want an open, competitive process.” ■

At issue was an indoor drop ride that real estate heavyweight Extell Development Co. wants to include in the massive hotel project it is planning at 740 Eighth Ave., between West 45th and West 46th streets in the heart of the Theater District. The ride would hoist visitors 260 feet in the air before sending them plummeting down in a free fall. Extell has compared it in application materials to the Zumanjaro, a ride at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey also known as the “Drop of Doom.”

Extell, led by Gary Barnett, insists that attractions like this are key to the future of New York’s hospitality industry, which is still struggling to bounce back from the pandemic, and they are not a particularly new phenomenon for Manhattan, which has already been home to such rides as Ferris wheels and flight simulators. And given that the Department of Buildings has approved the ride, it seems likely that it will end up being part of the project.

But community resistance to the attraction is still brewing, even though stopping Extell from including it in the hotel remains a long shot. There is opposition to the ride itself and to the way the city approved it by ruling that it could be considered an accessory use for a hotel, similar to amenities like pools and spas. George Janes, a zoning expert who runs a specialty planning firm, has filed a challenge to this approval with the DOB. Though he is skeptical that the agency will agree with him given that it already approved the design, he is holding out some hope given how unusual this case is.

“The idea that amusement park rides are customarily found in connection with hotels is absurd on its face,” he said. “They’re not.”

Although city tourism has made significant progress from its pandemic nadir, the industry has yet to fully recover. The hotel occupancy rate hit 82.8% in April, still lower than the 84.4% of February 2019, according to the New York City Economic Development Corp.

Factors including the slow returns of business travel and Chinese tourism rather than a dearth of amusement park rides are the main culprits behind this, acknowledged Vijay Dandapani, president

The hotel and its indoor ride abide by zoning rules and were approved by the city, said Extell spokeswoman Anna LaPorte. They also are in the Theater District, she noted, which is supposed to encourage entertainment and amusement attractions.

Opposition

Not everyone is thrilled about a thrill ride coming to Midtown. Olive Freud, president of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, a group that previously fought against a residential tower at 200 Amsterdam Ave., said adding the ride was just a way for Extell to convince city officials to let them build a bigger project.

The hotel will be 52 stories and 1,067 feet tall, according to Freud’s group. Extell did not dispute these figures, and the developer did not provide an estimated total cost.

Freud’s group engaged Janes to prepare the zoning challenge against the ride. He slammed the lack of input elected and other city officials have so far had on what he characterized as a potentially major change to Midtown.

“New York City gets an enormous amount of tourists. They see shows, walk Times Square, see the city lights, have wonderful food, but they don’t go on amusement park rides unless they go to Coney Island, and this is bringing Coney Island to Midtown,” he said.

The D OB approved Extell’s application in March 2022 and will review Janes’ challenge, according to spokesman Ryan Degan.

Selver, the Kramer Levin attorney, strongly pushed back on the notion that the ride would turn Midtown into an amusement park and stressed it would have “absolutely no negative impact” on the area during his appearance before the Community Board 5 committee.

But his pitch failed to win over the committee. Although members do not get a binding vote on the ride, underscoring the difficulty of stopping it outright, they did decide to write a letter outlining their opposition to the way the city approved the ride. Land-use Chair Layla Law-Gisiko emphasized that this opposition had nothing to do with the ride itself but rather with the fact that it was improper for the city to consider a ride as an accessory to a hotel. ■

Mayor must remember city government is a collaboration, not a bully pulpit

The beauty of the political system is that it runs on dissension.

Disagreement is how you know everyone’s voice is being heard. And disagreement is what ultimately leads those designated to advance certain interests to nd a compromise that bene ts most, if not everyone.

So it should be no surprise that there is dissension between Mayor Eric Adams and members of the New York City Council, speci cally its speaker, Adrienne Adams. All are tasked with ghting diligently for the concerns of their constituents. What makes this case stand out, however, is just how little the mayor seems to get along with anyone, from the comptroller to the outgoing police commissioner. From the outside, it appears that he believes his voice should be the loudest in the room and carry the most weight.

As reporter Nick Garber lays out in this week’s cover story, a number of local lawmakers, many of whom spoke to Crain’s anonymously, have bristled at the mayor’s approach. And some have taken umbrage at working with a few of the advisers he surrounds himself with, including Jacques Jiha, his budget director, who

OP-ED

council members said was unpopular during this year’s budget negotiations.

Several council members told Crain’s that Adams views the

THE WAY TO GET STUFF DONE IS NOT TO HIRE A BUNCH OF ENFORCERS

council as an annoyance. His animosity toward progressives and lack of communication have alienated even previously friendly lawmakers, they said.

“It’s pretty clear that this mayor would prefer if the City Council didn’t exist,” said one member. Adams has deemed himself the “get stu done” mayor, and as the city’s residents and businesses continue to bounce back from the ill e ects of the pandemic, that can-do attitude is vital. Now is not the time to sit idly by as companies look to entice workers back to the o ce more days per week and others mull re-signing o ce leases altogether. at’s not to mention

New York City takes lead in hospital price transparency

BY CYNTHIA A. FISHER

Recently, Mayor Eric Adams signed the Healthcare Accountability & Consumer Protection Act into law. City Council members voted 50 to zero in unanimous support. e legislation creates an O ce of Healthcare Accountability that publishes actual hospital prices in a “simpli ed and publicly accessible format” and makes recommendations to lower healthcare costs through price competition and consumer choice.

Building trades union SEIU 32BJ estimates the city can save $2 billion a year through such price disclosures and steering participants to quality, less-expensive care.

“ ere is no other area where, as a consumer, you’re procuring a service and you have no idea what you’re going to be charged,” Democratic Councilwoman Julie Menin, the bill’s sponsor, told the Times “ is is a simple, straightforward consumer protection measure.”

Price transparency is simple yet revolutionary. Actual prices protect patients from overcharges and give them recourse if their nal bill doesn’t match. Hospital prices can vary by ten times or more, even in the same hospital. Knowing these di erences in prices allows consumers to choose more a ordable options. Price protection improves healthcare access and equity.

Brooklynite Michael D’Anvers was charged $430 for a 15-minute virtual visit with a doctor at the Mount Sinai Health System to discuss his neck pain. “If I knew it was going to be that much,” he told the New York Times, “I would have found another way to get a referral to a pain specialist.” Ensuing competition will put downward pressure on outrageous costs.

By comparing prices and shopping for care, SEIU 32BJ saved $30 million on its nearly 200,000-member health plan, generating funds to give its members $3,000 bonuses and their largest pay raise in his-

combating crime so that residents and tourists alike want to walk the city’s streets, eat in outdoor cafes and ride the subways.

But City Hall is not a bully pulpit. And the way to get stu done is not to hire a bunch of enforcers who railroad everyone in their path. e mayor has some great ideas. But he would do well to listen to his critics and make sure to incorporate multiple viewpoints in his decision-making. A single voice cannot speak for the entire city.

And a mayor who listens only to yes men is not in New York’s best interest. ■

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tory. e union excised NewYorkPresbyterian Hospital from its plan after analyzing its claims data and discovering the hospital was price-gouging its members.

For example, the hospital billed the plan an average of $10,368 for outpatient colonoscopies versus $2,185 at other city hospitals. New York’s legislation makes it easier for other consumers to follow SEIU 32BJ’s lead.

Noncompliance

New Yorkers and all Americans already have the right to actual hospital prices due to a federal hospital price transparency rule that took e ect on January 1, 2021. at rule requires hospitals to publish online their discounted cash and all health insurance plan rates. Unfortunately, it has been marred by widespread hospital noncompliance. According to a recent analysis by PatientRightsAdvocate.org, only 24.5% of hospitals nationwide are fully compliant.

is legislation will boost New York City hospital compliance. Federal lawmakers can increase hospital price transparency compliance nationwide by passing the Patient Act of 2023. is bipartisan legislation strengthens the hospital price transparency rule and a separate rule for health insurers.

It increases nes on noncompliant hospitals and requires the Department of Health and Human Services to issue clear data disclosure standards for hospitals to make it easier to shop for care.

Healthcare price transparency allows patients to choose a ordable care for the 90% of health expenditures that aren’t for emergencies and avoid unnecessary medical debt and bankruptcy. Employers and unions can redirect savings to workers’ wages and become more competitive. Local governments and school districts can realize substantial healthcare savings to support their budgets.

Both New York City’s healthcare accountability law and the federal Patient Act empower consumers to access high-quality care at far lower costs. ■

Cynthia A. Fisher is founder and chair of PatientRightsAdvocate.org.

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chairman Keith E. Crain vice chairman Mary Kay Crain president & ceo K.C. Crain senior executive vice president Chris Crain editor-in-chief emeritus Rance Crain chief nancial of cer Robert Recchia founder G.D. Crain Jr. [1885-1973] chairman Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. [1911-1996]

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS and Speaker Adrienne Adams shake hands on last year’s budget deal (left) and this year’s (right). Talks over this year’s budget were much more tense than they were last year, of cials said.

JOHN MCCARTEN/NYC COUNCIL MEDIA UNIT

How creative funding can help nonprofits start large, complex capital projects

BY SAM MARKS AND JOANNE PAGE

Even as homelessness in New York City has doubled over the past decade — in 2022, more than 70,000 people were living in city-run shelters — we have struggled to deploy at scale one of the most effective solutions to the problem: permanent supportive housing.

The problem is not uncertainty about the effectiveness of supportive housing or a reluctance to build on the part of nonprofits. Support-

ally do not have “walking around money” to pay for things like deposits to acquire a site or environmental reviews. Private developers can raise equity from investors or get a bank loan to pay for these costs. Nonprofits can’t do that, so cash for those costs often must come from the daily operating budget.

Revolving loans

THERE IS ENORMOuS UNTAPPED CAPACITy WITHIN DONOR-ADVISED FUNDS

ive housing has a proven track record of helping people living with disabilities or who were formerly incarcerated avoid or exit the shelter system.

One significant obstacle to building more supportive housing is a shortage of creative funding that allows nonprofits to start large, complex capital projects. Unlike private developers, nonprofits usu-

OP-ED

There are ways for philanthropists to fill the gap. The Fortune Society, a leading supportive housing provider, and FJC, A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, recently launched a revolving loan fund that will provide desperately needed working capital to kick-start supportive housing projects.

The fund’s low-interest loans, capitalized by contributions from FJC’s donor-advised fund holders and matched by additional resources from the Fortune Society, will allow the nonprofit Fortune to significantly expand its supportive housing portfolio over the next five years.

This model is different from most

philanthropic grants. Instead of providing general operating support or an endowment to grow the organization’s balance sheet, the revolving loans will have a tangible community impact by accelerating specific capital projects. With low-interest rate loans, donors are forgoing some potential growth in their fund accounts. However, at the end of the five-year term, the principal and modest interest gains can be redeployed as grants or for another round of loans.

Combining creative philanthropy with the principles of impact investing in this way has applications far beyond the supportive housing sector. Donors could use this approach to support any nonprofit that takes on similar entrepreneurial activity.

There is enormous untapped capacity within donor-advised funds, in which holdings increased by 23.6% between 2017 and 2021. Critics point out there are no minimum distribution requirements governing donor-advised funds. But that

lack of strict requirements is precisely what allows for creative applications like The Fortune Society’s revolving loan fund.

Imagine the possibilities

Most donors are not thinking about using their philanthropic dollars this way. But imagine the possibilities if philanthropic leaders who think and act in business terms were to partner closely with

nonprofits. They could help identify and fill common gaps that nonprofits face. Donors would see a bigger impact from their giving and entrepreneurial nonprofits could take on more ambitious projects to solve our most challenging problems. ■

Sam Marks is CEO of FJC, A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. JoAnne Page is president and CEO of The Fortune Society.

Time to upgrade the air filters in all buildings

BY SCOTT E. FRANK

The terrible air quality in the city from Canadian wildfires is just the latest example of how much air quality matters to New Yorkers. The health science is compelling: Bad air can literally be deadly.

For the past three years of Covid, we have been trying to stay healthy by wearing masks and by social distancing, especially while inside buildings. Covid was an indoor disease; few people contracted Covid while outdoors.

What do these two health risks, smoke and Covid, have in common? Very small, invisible particles suspended in the air are what does the harm in both cases.

We know clean air and clean water are essential to good health. Yet why is it that we place so much emphasis on ensuring that the water we drink is safe, but we’ll walk around virtually anywhere and into any building and breathe the air without a second thought?

On the worst bad-air day from the Canadian wildfires a few weeks ago, people in Manhattan were sitting outside having lunch, enjoying the strange orange glow in the sky! We need to care more about the air we breathe, specifically about how many small particles are in that air, and take steps to reduce the quantity of those particles.

It’s good business

The ventilation air quality standards in our building codes are not health-based. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are starting to lead on this issue, and national standard-making groups are also looking to change the situation.

It’s also just good business. Companies are trying to get workers back to the office, and office landlords are competing for tenants. What if it were easy to make the air inside workplaces and businesses safer than at home?

And what if employers could tout having superior air quality in the office to prospective talent? Wouldn’t that help New York’s commercial real estate sector?

It’s relatively easy to do this, but

we need to learn about air filtration and then we need to speak up. As with miles per gallon in a car or the air-quality index in a weather forecast, there’s a simple numerical scale that’s used to characterize air filters. It’s called a MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Values) rating, with a numerical scale from 1 to 16. Higher is better. We need air filters in buildings with a MERV rating of 13 or higher, with 15 or 16 being ideal. With that type of air filtration, we can breathe air with significantly fewer small, airborne particles. Also essential is good circulation of air to and from the occupied space, as well as to and from the filters (by the building HVAC system or by portable air purifiers).

During the recent days of bad air quality, my firm took small-air-particle measurements and found that in office spaces with high

MERV-rating filters, the concentrations of these air particles indoors was 100 times lower than the concentrations outside. That’s a huge difference. In response to Covid, many buildings have already upgraded their filters to MERV 13 and, now that we know even more about these very small particles from health science, we need to

take one more step. MERV 15 is the new MERV 13. We will all be better off. ■

Scott E. Frank is managing partner of New York City-based engineering firm Jaros, Baum & Bolles, where he specializes in heating, ventilation and air conditioning design.

WE NEED TO CARE MORE ABOUT THE AIR WE BREATHE

THE LIST

LARGEST COMMERCIAL PROPERTY MANAGERS

Ranked by square footage under management in New York City

President

EricRudin

Rudin Management Company

NFL, Hughes, Hubbard & Reed,

9.53 8.68 1.15 1.15 202Sharman & Sterling LLP, Weil Gotshal & Manges, Kirkland & Ellis, Aramis-Estée Lauder 15 Paramount Group Inc. 1633 Broadway New York,NY10019 212-237-3100 paramount-group.com AlbertBehler President, chief executive 8.84 4 8.58 6 0.64 6 n/dn/d 16 Hines 345 Hudson St. New York,NY10014 212-230-2300 hines.com JasonAlderman Senior managing director, city head, New York office SarahHawkins Chief executive, East region 8.64 7.50 14.65 15.24 350Bank of China, Havas, Harry's, Shake Shack 17 Empire State Realty Trust 111 W. 33rd St. New York,NY10120 212-687-8700 empirestaterealtytrust.com AnthonyMalkin Chairman, president, chief executive 8.29 8.29 0.00 0.00 618LinkedIn, Signature Bank, PVH Corp., Centric Brands Inc. 18 Cohen Brothers RealtyCorp. 750 Lexington Ave. New York,NY10022 212-838-1800 cohenbrothersrealty.com CharlesCohen President, chief executive StevenCherniak Chief operating officer 7.65 7.65 0.00 0.00 460Interpublic Group of Companies, Houghton Mifflin, Shinhan Bank, Saks 19 Colliers International 1114 Sixth Ave. New York,NY10036 212-716-3500 colliers.com DavidAmsterdam President, investments and Eastern region StephenShapiro Executive managing director, tristate operations 7.60 7.45 7.60 7.45 90New York City Foundling Charitable Corporation, City University of New York, Yeshiva University, Art Dealers Association of America 20 George Comfort & Sons 200 Madison Ave. New York,NY10016 212-481-1122 georgecomfort.com PeterDuncan President, chief executive 7.32 6.71 1.81 1.68 45GNY Insurance, Havas Health, New York Life Insurance, 1199 SEIU

Crain'sNew YorkBusiness uses staffresearch,extensive surveys andthe most currentreferencesavailabletoproduceitslists, but there is noguaranteethattheselistingsare complete. To qualifyfor this list, companies mustmanage commercial propertyin atleastone of the fiveboroughsofNewYorkCity. Commercial squarefootageandthird-partysquarefootage havebeen rounded, but rankingsarebased on unrounded numbers. Executives may have additionaltitles. All figures areas ofSept.30of the given year.n/d-Not disclosed. 1 Figures includeoffice properties only. 2 Third-partysquarefootagerefersto property managed bya company other thanthe owner. 3 Full-time and full-time-equivalent only, including union members and administrative employees. 4 Crain's estimate. 5 Formerly known as Boston Properties Inc. 6 2021 figure.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

ACCOUNTING

EisnerAmper

John Clausen specializes in state and local taxation, helping clients asses their tax obligations resulting from crossborder sales, maintaining employees in states, and engaging contractors or vendors in states. John applies state apportionment rules to determine state income taxes for multi-state businesses and helps individuals with state residency transitions.

Pamela Dennett is a Private Client Services partner, helping ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices and business owners navigate the estate tax, gift tax, charitable planning, income tax and generationskipping transfer-tax landscapes. She provides M&A consultations and cash flow analyses for family offices and assists executors and trustees with estates and trusts.

ADVERTISING / MARKETING

CBX

Mark Christou has joined the brand strategy & design agency CBX as a Principal. Christou brings to CBX decades of experience in the creative industry, in London and New York. Prior to CBX, Mark was the Founder and Creative Partner of ROOK/NYC, and the Founder & Partner of R/Co Ventures. Christou’s CV includes internal work for Sundial Brands (makers of SheaMoisture), serving as Creative Director at Pearlfisher New York, and as Design Director at The Brand Union in London.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

AlTi Tiedemann Global Murray Stoltz has joined wealth manager AlTi Tiedemann Global as Managing Director and Senior Relationship Manager. Previously, he was Principal and Senior Wealth Advisor at Bessemer Trust, where he led the team responsible for presenting client solutions across Investment Management, Wealth Planning and Family Office Services. He has also held roles at Manchester Capital, Wilmington Trust, Fiduciary Trust International, Morgan Stanley and First Boston and is a Stanford University alumnus.

RETAIL & APPAREL

American Dream

NONPROFIT

The New York Community Trust

LAW

Vinson & Elkins

Heather Behrend has joined Vinson & Elkins’ Tax practice as Counsel in the firm’s New York office. She brings extensive experience in federal income tax matters relating to clean energy financing, tax credits, project development and finance, domestic and cross-border M&A, private equity, and securities offerings.

The New York Community Trust— the community foundation for New York City, Long Island, and Westchester—announces Dominick Impemba is its new COO/CFO. A lifelong New Yorker, Impemba brings a wealth of nonprofit, philanthropic, and financial expertise as well as a deep commitment to improving our region. Recently, he served as the chief financial officer and treasurer for the Rockefeller Foundation and previously as an auditor at KPMG LLP.

American Dream announces the executive appointment of Sandi Danick to senior vice president, head of leasing. Danick will lead the strategic vision and expansion of leasing opportunities for the property’s retail, dining, and entertainment portfolio. In her new role at American Dream, Danick will oversee the day-to-day leasing operations with the goal of achieving maximum occupancy and merchandising at the property, as well as growing and managing brand and partner relationships.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Weaver

Ilya Lyakerman, CPA, has been promoted to Partner in Tax Service at Weaver. He has 10 years of public accounting experience performing tax and advisory services for high-networth individuals, real estate professionals and investment partnerships, such as private equity funds, debt funds and hedge funds. He helps clients manage and preserve their personal wealth through tax planning and preparation, entity structuring, wealth preservation and family succession consulting/family office services.

LAW

Foley Hoag

Jeffrey Schultz has joined Foley Hoag as a partner in its Business Department and Cannabis Industry practice, where he will focus on corporate and securities law matters, early company financings, and statelaw cannabis regulatory matters. He is resident in the firm’s New York office. Schultz was previously general counsel, CCO and partner at Navy Capital - one of the largest and longest-tenured private funds dedicated to investing in the cannabis industry.

Clausen Dennett

THE GLOWING BILLBOARDS OF TIMES

SQUARE reach as many as 500,000 people a day—a testament to the strength of New York City’s advertising, marketing and public relations industries. Crain’s is delighted to honor the professionals shaping the messaging that our city both creates and imbibes, driving our economy forward.

The 75 individuals who comprise our 2023 list of Notable Leaders in Advertising, Marketing and PR are remarkable for their ability to spot trends, gauge demographics, harness language, craft narratives, shape visuals and conduct impactful campaigns. Their efforts fuel nascent and established businesses alike. Among other accomplishments, these honorees are raising awareness of important nonprofits, spearheading efforts to bring diversity to the arts, helping brands reach their target audiences and working on projects such as the Affirmation Tower, slated to be the first skyscraper built by a majority Black- and woman-led development team.

To qualify for this list, candidates needed to be serving in senior leadership roles, have had at least five years of experience and be employed in the New York metro area. We sought individuals who have made an impact through their roles and who have been involved in civic, philanthropic, mentoring or related initiatives. Read on to discover the extent of their influence.

Jason Abrams

Senior public relations manager

Amtrak

Jason Abrams, a senior public relations manager for Amtrak, leads public relations campaigns, manages all media relations initiatives, handles the company’s creative assets, and serves as a company spokesperson. Through his efforts, Abrams has helped increase ridership and revenue for Amtrak. Some of his notable work includes campaigns and events for Amtrak Airo, new Acela trains, and the Amtrak Connects Us campaign. Abrams prioritizes the expansion of Amtrak services to diverse communities lacking sustainable and affordable train service. He also heads the mental health and wellness subcommittee for the New York chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

Roberto Alcazar

Executive vice president, managing partner, and executive creative director

305

Worldwide

As executive vice president, managing partner, and executive creative director at 305 Worldwide, Roberto Alcazar helped the creative agency more than double its year-over-year billings in 2022. He led the “Your Way is the Fine Way” campaign for Corona Extra, which was recognized at the Campaign US BIG Awards. Alcazar also spearheaded the “Squeez Out Their Best” campaign for GoGo Squeez, which won a Gold Telly award in 2022. Alcazar also serves as a board member for Corazón Latino, a national nonprofit that encourages collaboration and connection among people, animals, and the environment.

Defne Aydintasbas

Co-founder and chief strategist

DADA Goldberg

As co-founder and chief strategist of DADA Goldberg, a public relations and digital communications agency, Defne Aydintasbas’ responsibilities include handling creative partnerships and campaigns, along with the overall growth and strategy for the agency. Aydintasbas led the firm in forming its residential design, real estate, and destination portfolio, and handled programs for The Brooklyn Tower, Olympia Dumbo, and The Brooklyn Home Company. Her campaigns have received attention from The New York Times, Bloomberg, Architectural Digest, and Vogue. Aydintasbas also supports nonprofit groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and Open House New York.

Lindsay Barad

Vice president of marketing

Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing

Lindsay Barad is vice president of marketing for Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing. She oversees delivery of marketing campaigns, advertising, social, and public relations strategy for luxury residential properties in New York City. Her projects include handling development marketing for 200 Amsterdam, with budgets ranging from $250,000 to over $20 million. One of Barad’s marketing initiatives for 200 Amsterdam was an open house based on the show Succession, filmed in the building’s penthouse model residence. She also works to spread awareness about rare cancers through her support for PMP Pals, a support community for those affected.

Kaitlyn Barclay is co-founder and chief executive officer of Scout Lab, a creative communications agency that works with brands like Venmo, Casetify, Ritual, Adidas, and Wix. Under her leadership, Scout Lab was named PR Net’s 2023 Purpose Driven Agency of the Year. Barclay and her team facilitated a large-scale mural project for Wix Playground, tapping New York City-based BIPOC creators for the effort. Scout lab was also recongized with The Drum’s 2021 Social Purpose Award. Barclay is an organizer and executive director at Many as One, a nonprofit focused on rapid response campaigns that serve local communities.

Michael Belfer is a partner at the accounting advisory firm Anchin. He serves as the firm’s Practice Leader on public relations, advertising, and media group. Belfar is also a member of Anchin’s fashion and art groups. He works with businesses to provide solutions for long-term growth while also providing consulting services to emerging companies. Belfer uses his expertise to educate businesses on tax structures, accounting systems, and business and financial plans. He prioritizes building strong relationships with each client and ensures that the strategies he develops align with their individual business needs. By serving as a member of the PR Council and hosting presentations on various financial matters, Belfer also shares his knowledge more broadly.

Rida Bint Fozi President

The TASC Group

Rida Bint Fozi is president of The TASC Group, a public relations and communications firm, where she oversees client acquisition and supervises the agency’s team. With more than 15 years of experience working with businesses, nonprofits, and socially-responsible companies, her expertise as a communications specialist and publicist has led to award-winning campaigns for clients including the Trayvon Martin Family Foundation, the David Lynch Foundation, and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Bint Fozi is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, where she regularly serves as a judge for the Big Apple Awards competition. She also contributes to various national American Muslim nonprofit organizations.

Raphaël Bouquillon

U.S.

managing director

MG Empower

As U.S. managing director for the marketing agency MG Empower, Raphaël Bouquillon is responsible for the agency’s global growth. In the past year, he has established six new brand partners and worked on brand positioning for creators such as Tia Mowry. In his first months at MG Empower, Bouquillon co-led the creative process behind the launch of Naomi Watts’ menopause brand Stripes—a campaign that went viral on TikTok in its first 24 hours. Bouquillon lends his marketing expertise to the Bellport branch of the Boys and Girls’ Club as part of its social media committee. He has also spearheaded a campaign for Autism Speaks.

Kaitlyn Barclay

Co-founder and chief executive officer Scout Lab

Michael Belfer Partner Anchin

Alexandra Bowie

Executive director of corporate and digital communications

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Alexandra Bowie is executive director of corporate and digital communications at the biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. In this role, she leads the company’s corporate reputation efforts, including its digital and social media ecosystem, media relations, executive visibility, and issues management. Bowie and her team led the communications strategies for Regeneron’s COVID-19 efforts and recently led a reputation campaign called “Spectacular Science,” a series of digital videos to educate, inspire, and elevate Regeneron’s corporate reputation. Bowie is part of W.O.M.E.N. in America, a professional group that helps female executives fulfill their potential and aims to increase representation of women in C-suites.

Melissa Duren Conner

Partner and managing director

Jennifer Bett Communications

As a partner and managing director of Jennifer Bett Communications, a media relations agency, Melissa Duren Conner curates campaigns for brands such as Parachute, Magic Spoon, and The Honey Pot Company while also helping those companies raise venture capital. Conner supports her local community of Weston, Connecticut, by serving as co-chair of the town’s diversity, equity, and inclusion advisory committee. She also formed a philanthropy committee within Jennifer Bett Communications, which leads efforts such as park cleanups and volunteering with the Food Bank for New York City. In 2022, Conner joined the advisory board of Wellfare, a nonprofit that addresses food insecurity in low-income communities.

Matt Buder Shapiro Chief marketing officer Vytalize Health

Matt Buder Shapiro serves as chief marketing officer at Vytalize Health, a value-based care platform. He oversees the company’s marketing strategy and has played a pivotal role in its expansion. Under his leadership, Vytalize Health has achieved significant milestones, including expanding into 36 states, growing its patient base by 100% annually, and successfully closing a $100 million dollar funding round.

Buder Shapiro actively advises and invests in small businesses, supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs to help promote economic growth and create jobs. He also contributes to the advisory board of Blue Star Families, the largest chapterbased military family organization in the nation.

Thomas Butler President Butler Associates

Thomas Butler, founder and president of the strategic communications and public relations agency Butler Associates, is involved in strategy and message development for legal, business, and crisis media communications. He has worked on behalf of clients on matters including litigation, mergers, public affairs, and the introduction of new products and concepts. The agency’s recent public awareness efforts have helped lead to the ratification of new state energy and environmental legislation, including the Utility Thermal Network and Jobs Act. Butler is particularly interested in raising awareness for small businesses and nonprofits. He sits on the board of directors for the New York City Knights of St. Patrick.

Sarah Cirelli Chief marketing officer

Grassi Advisors & Accountants

Sarah Cirelli serves as chief marketing officer at Grassi Advisors & Accountants, where she oversees a team of seven and leads all marketing, advertising, communications, and public relations initiatives. Cirelli has implemented digital strategies including an enhanced webinar platform, an enterprise-level search engine optimization program, and customer intelligence software to support Grassi’s growth goals. She dedicates time to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, where she was honored as the organization’s “Woman of the Year.” Cirelli has been involved with the organization since 2016, and currently serves on the New Jersey region’s board of trustees as an ambassador.

AS OF 2022, NEW YORK ADVERTISING AGENCIES EMPLOYED SOME 60,000 PEOPLE

Christina Costa Rae

President Buzz Creators

Christina Costa Rae has been president of the public relations and marketing firm Buzz Creators for more than a dozen years. She and her team work to build marketing and communications programs for businesses and lead campaigns that support client growth in a range of industries. She has helped develop strategic communications programs for Barnes & Noble, MasterCard Worldwide, Drybar, and the American Heart Association. Her company’s pro bono efforts consist of helping nonprofits drive fundraising efforts, board development, and volunteer recruitment. Costa Rae has also been a part of Pace University’s alumni mentoring program and is an advocate for Support Connection, a nonprofit offering breast and ovarian cancer support.

Sean Cunningham President and chief executive officer Video Advertising Bureau

As president and chief executive officer of the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB), Sean Cunningham has spearheaded progress in measurement transparency for the multiscreen industry and served as a strategic advisor for crossplatform measurement initiatives. Recently, his efforts resulted in the discovery of nearly 54 billion uncounted ad impressions, including many from diverse audiences. Cunningham leads VAB’s measurement innovation task force, a coalition of senior research, analytics, and insights executives working to solve measurement issues. He is also a member and former president of the Global TV Group, and serves as a contributor to the thought leadership forum Forbes Agency Council.

Roxanne Donovan President Great

Ink

Roxanne Donovan is president of Great Ink, a public relations firm for real estate, interior design, and architecture clients. In this role, Donovan crafts and manages media relations campaigns for more than 40 clients while building Great Ink’s client base. She spearheads initiatives to increase sustainability, as well as tech solutions that boost innovation in commercial real estate, engineering, construction, and architecture. Donovan is an executive trustee of PEN America, which promotes freedom of expression in literature. She is also the immediate past international president of the Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority.

Louis Cohen

Director of digital marketing and demand generation leader for the Americas

EY

As director of digital marketing and demand generation leader for the Americas at EY, Louis Cohen leads a team that works on marketing initiatives including EY’s brand, EY.com, digital strategy, paid media, signature programs, and marketing technology. In addition, he works on overall strategy development and campaigns across all service lines and sits on EY’s global martech board. Cohen has created demand through brand awareness, targeted content, and media efforts through programs with CNBC and the Wall Street Journal. Outside of his work for EY, Cohen has taught classes on digital marketing to students at New York University and Baruch College.

Brian Ellner Head of U.S. public affairs

WPP

Brian Ellner is head of U.S. public affairs at WPP and executive vice president of corporate affairs at BCW, WPP’s global corporate communications and public affairs advisory firm. He is an advisor to corporate clients and business leaders, and has orchestrated multi-agency pro bono campaigns. Recently, he worked with New York City Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch to help launch an anti-littering campaign. Ellner serves as an executive sponsor for WPP Unite, an LGBTQIA+ employee resource group, and serves on WPP’s global inclusion council. Outside of his professional role, Ellner serves as a founding board member for the nonprofit Athlete Ally.

Nneka Etoniru Senior director Bevel

Nneka Etoniru serves as senior director at Bevel, a strategic communications company. Her role involves working with high-profile clients on strategic campaigns and providing counsel on risk and litigation matters. Etoniru has led a strategic campaign for Better, through which she raised brand awareness and drove customer acquisition. This resulted in 22 earned articles, Wall Street Journal print inclusion, and more than 850 media mentions in three days. A breast cancer survivor, Etoniru is a passionate advocate on the subject and was a keynote speaker at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute’s 18th annual Young Adults Cancer Conference.

Kate Fannin Executive director of global consumer technology

The Estée Lauder Companies

As executive director of global consumer technology at The Estée Lauder Companies, Kate Fannin provides innovative approaches for engaging customers across media channels, shopper experiences, and technologies. Fannin was an early champion and pioneer of “phygital” experiences, blending physical and digital elements to drive sales, and created The Estée Lauder Companies’ first retail experience library to identify shopper opportunities and insight-to-action strategies. She is a member of the National Retail Federation and Cosmetic Executive Women, as well as The Estée Lauder Companies’ women’s leadership network.

Sarah Flynn

Chief marketing officer

Boardroom/35V

As chief marketing officer, Sarah Flynn oversees marketing, growth strategy, and partnerships at 35V, a sports, media, and entertainment company; and at Boardroom, 35V’s media network for sports, entertainment, business, and culture. Her work is primarily dedicated to the creative strategy and direction for Boardroom. In this role, Flynn works to expand the site’s audience and engagement through partnerships, cross-marketing opportunities, community engagement, and content amplification. She has utilized her experience with Nike, Kevin Durant, and Boardroom to make connections between these brands through editorial, video, and social content. Additionally, Flynn serves on the board of advocates for the Women’s National Basketball Players Association and on the advisory board for Athletes Unlimited Basketball.

Marissa Freeman

Chief marketing officer

Union Square Hospitality Group

Marissa Freeman is chief marketing officer of Union Square Hospitality Group, where she oversees marketing for 12 restaurants, Union Square Events, and the organizational consulting business Hospitality Quotient. Under her guidance, Union Square Hospitality Group restaurants garnered hundreds of press mentions and multiple industry accolades, including Brand Identity Design of the Year AIGA award for Manhattan. Freeman’s strategic approach of combining consumer, businessto-consumer, and business-tobusiness marketing tactics has led to record-breaking gift card sales, revenue growth for private dining, and successful partnerships with renowned companies. Outside of her professional role, she serves on the board of the Dream Foundation and is a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School.

Dawn French Senior vice president for marketing, communication, and community relations White Plains Hospital

As senior vice president for marketing, communication, and community relations, Dawn French directs brand messaging and oversees marketing and reputation management for White Plains Hospital.

Leveraging her experience as an Emmy Award-winning producer, French utilizes content creation and outreach strategies to amplify hospital messaging across multiple channels. She has led several successful marketing campaigns during her tenure at White Plains Hospital, winning multiple Healthcare Advertising Awards. French serves on the board of ArtsWestchester and the American Heart Association of Westchester, and has been recognized by Visiting Nurse Services of Westchester.

Nathan Friedman Co-president and chief marketing officer

Understood.org

Nathan Friedman is copresident and chief marketing officer at Understood.org, a national nonprofit supporting adults and children with learning and thinking differences.

With more than 20 years of experience, he leads partnerships, development, and all facets of marketing and communications. Friedman led the launch of Wunder, a free app designed to help parents of neurodivergent children, and oversaw the co-launch of an accessible Chrome extension in partnership with Google to make reading more accessible. He has also led commissioned studies providing research to the neurodiversity space, driving neurodiversity awareness campaigns through strategic partnerships and media relations programming.

Zoé Ganch Creative director Factory360

Zoé Ganch, creative director of the marketing agency Factory360, leads a team of predominantly young women in securing clients such as David Bowie, GrubHub, and Instagram, and has secured more than two dozen awards for the agency in just two years. In her free time, Ganch teaches experiential design with Factory360’s Florida International University incubator program to help a culturally diverse student body attain industry experience. In 2022, she was selected to speak at the Experiential Marketing Summit. Ganch previously served on Planned Parenthood of New York City’s fundraising and events committee.

Kelly Geng

Vice president of marketing and sales

DMG Investments

As vice president of marketing and sales at DMG Investments, Kelly Geng oversees marketing efforts and works closely with all of the company’s teams. DMG Investments endeavors to pay closer attention to the needs of international students, a marginalized group when it comes to student housing. Geng tries to provide these students with a straightforward leasing experience by building partnerships with nonprofit and on-campus organizations. Through Geng’s initiative, DMG Investments became a sponsor of UB’s athletics department, UB Chinese Students and Scholars Association, and UB Indian Students Association.

Josh Golden Chief marketing officer Quad

As chief marketing officer of the marketing agency Quad, Josh Golden has been the guiding force behind the company’s transformation from a commercial printer and manufacturer to a marketing experience company. He spearheaded a brand refresh that weaves together a cohesive narrative and reflects the full breadth of Quad’s expanded offerings. Through his leadership, Golden has fostered a culture of innovation at Quad. He has served on the board of Kids In Need; pioneered Purdue University’s annual fundraising event, “Giving Day”; and is an active board member of the Epilepsy Foundation of America, where he focuses on advocacy.

Michael Gordon Chief executive Group Gordon

As chief executive of the public relations firm Group Gordon, Michael Gordon oversees client work spanning the corporate, social impact, and crisis practices. He also participates in media engagements and webinars regarding industry trends, such as the influence of artificial intelligence on public relations. Gordon has led key social impact launches, such as the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s restroom finder app. He serves on councils to support undergraduate financial aid and first-generation college students at the University of Pennsylvania, and has been honored by Connecticut’s Anti-Defamation League for his leadership. Gordon has served on the board of the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition.

OF THE 246,386 MARKETING PROFESSIONALS EMPLOYED IN THE U.S., 59% ARE WOMEN ZIPPIA

Stephanie Grober Content and public relations manager

Horowitz Agency

Stephanie Grober is a content and public relations manager for Horowitz Agency, a marketing organization specializing in law and financial firms, as well as production companies. She manages a public relations team that secures media placements for clients in more than 30 practice areas, with more than 200 placements in the last twelve months in outlets such as Forbes, The New York Times, and CNN. Grober is committed to training and mentoring younger professionals at Horowitz Agency and serves as an executive committee member for ProVisors in New York City. She speaks on marketing topics in the legal field, and was a recent guest on the “Lawyer’s Edge” podcast.

THE

Matthew Hiltzik President and chief executive officer

Hiltzik Strategies

Matthew Hiltzik serves as president and chief executive officer of Hiltzik Strategies—a communications and consulting firm—engaging with clients in the finance, technology, education, and media industries. His communications work has included efforts related to the 2022 Johnny Depp trial; the coordination of publicity for the Golden Globes in 2023; and working with Darnella Frazier following her historic recording of George Floyd’s murder. In 2015, Hiltzik was appointed to the board of New York City’s Economic Development Corporation. He is also a board member of organizations such as the Ghetto Film School and One Clip at a Time.

Steve Hirsch

Chief executive officer and co-founder

Hirsch Leatherwood

As chief executive officer and cofounder of Hirsch Leatherwood, Steve Hirsch manages the strategic communications firm’s day-to-day operations while focusing on long-term growth. He helps companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 firms develop communications strategies, also leading major initiatives and brand activations. Hirsch has worked on numerous pro bono projects for the Yogi Berra Museum, dedicating time to publicize new exhibits and anniversaries. Hirsch has organized a golf outing to fundraise for Literacy Partners—a nonprofit dedicated to providing free language and literacy classes to low-income parents and caregivers—and has led the launch of a fundraising and recruitment campaign for Hogfish, a nonprofit performing arts center in Maine.

Divendra Jaffar

Assistant vice president of public relations and engagement

Vibrant Emotional Health

Divendra Jaffar serves as assistant vice president of public relations and engagement at Vibrant Emotional Health (VEH), a nonprofit providing mental health services and support. He is committed to informing, educating, and raising awareness. At VEH, Jaffar leads the development of strategic relationships, brand partnerships, creative sponsorships, and impactful experiences that attract national press. He is an active member and mentor with the New York chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and was appointed to the board of directors for the Child Care Council of Nassau in November 2022. In addition, Jaffar served as a juror for the 2023 PRWeek U.S. Healthcare Awards.

Leah C. Johnson

Executive vice president and chief communications, marketing, and advocacy officer

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Leah C. Johnson is executive vice president and chief communications, marketing, and advocacy officer at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She oversees efforts to improve Lincoln Center’s inclusivity, such as the “choose what you pay” ticketing model and “Summer for the City,” which aims to increase the number of people of color in audiences. Johnson spearheads collaborations that bring diversity to the arts, such as the launch of Legacies of San Juan Hill, a digital hub highlighting the history of the diverse neighborhood predating Lincoln Center. At New York Public Radio, she serves as vice chair of the board; as a member of the diversity, equity and inclusion working group; and as an executive of the audit and governance committees.

AVERAGE ENTRY-LEVEL SALARY FOR A PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIALIST IN NEW YORK CITY IS $69,000

Gabrielle Kelly

Senior vice president and head of private wealth marketing

Neuberger Berman

Gabrielle Kelly is senior vice president and head of private wealth marketing at the investment management firm Neuberger Berman (NB), where she oversees all aspects of marketing, branding, and client engagement. Her duties include managing and delivering the NB brand to the marketplace while ensuring consistent messaging and visual identity across mediums. Kelly recently led the rebranding of NB Private Wealth, which included reframing the value proposition and brand narrative; working with an external agency on a new visual identity; and bringing the brand to market with a new website and social media campaign. She mentors young female professionals and is a member of the NB Women’s Forum and the NextGen Network.

Katie Klencheski

Founder and chief executive officer SMAKK

Katie Klencheski is founder and chief executive officer of the creative marketing agency SMAKK.

Lacey

Vice president of business-tobusiness marketing

SXM Media

As vice president of business-tobusiness marketing at SXM Media—the advertising company behind SiriusXM, Pandora, and the SiriusXM podcast network—Liz Lacey shapes how each brand’s message stands out in the market and helps the company unify its ad marketing organizations across brands. This year, she and her team launched the campaign “Podcasts. Made Better.” to share how SXM Media makes podcasting better for advertisers, creators, and listeners. In addition, Lacey volunteers with the nonprofit organization Monmouth Conservation Foundation and uses her marketing expertise to share its mission, build promotional materials, and organize community events.

Maxinne Leighton

Director of marketing, communications, and business development

Jaros, Baum, and Bolles

Maxinne Leighton is director of marketing, communications, and business development for Jaros, Baum, and Bolles, a mechanical, electrical, and plumbing consulting firm.

Leighton, who restructured the firm’s marketing and business development capabilities, is committed to enhancing firm culture through marketing campaigns, new social media efforts, and expanded diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. She serves as president of Women in International Security New York, contributing to ongoing conversations regarding climate change and environmental justice. Leighton also co-leads an international symposium on climate change, gender, security, and migration. Leighton is a member of boards such as the Association of Medical Facility Professionals and Save Ellis Island.

Vanesa Levine Co-founder and chief marketing officer

Ellātu USA

Vanesa Levine is co-founder and chief marketing officer of Ellãtu USA, a hair care company launched in January 2023. In these roles, she handles the marketing, branding, and creative direction for both Ellãtu and its sister company, Hygea Natural. Levine leverages her marketing skills to build a brand that resonates with clients and advances their aims; her products are used at prestigious salons across New York. She is also involved in various charitable efforts, including the sponsorship of three Ukrainian refugee families and fundraising for their relocation. Levine has also helped children with cerebral palsy through her involvement with the Nicole Levine Foundation.

Liz

Linsey Loy

Chief growth officer

Formerly Known As

As chief growth officer of the creative agency Formerly Known

As, Linsey Loy executes modern brand strategy and provides strategic direction to business development and agency leadership teams. She has engaged with brands such as Audible, Audi, and Sirius XM to improve their social media strategy. Loy is the only female advisory board member for Adomni, a digital out-of-home company, and serves as a mentor with She Runs It, a global female leadership organization. Additionally, she prioritizes the well-being of high-achieving women leaders through Corporate Women

Unleashed. Loy was recognized as a Business Insider Madison Ave. Rising Star in 2021.

Ana Marengo

Senior vice president of communications and marketing NYC Health + Hospitals

Ana Marengo is senior vice president of communications and marketing at NYC Health + Hospitals, an integrated health care system. In 2022, Marengo spearheaded the team responsible for launching NYC Health + Hospitals’ redesigned website. She also led the campaign behind the new South Brooklyn Health and its Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital, as well as the team that created paid campaigns to boost membership for NYC Care, the system’s health care access program for undocumented immigrants. Marengo is an officer of the board at NYC Health + Hospitals and a member of LIPS, a sisterhood of Latina women working in journalism, communications, and law in New York City.

John F. Marino President Marino

John F. Marino is president of Marino, a strategic communications firm. In this role, he leads Marino’s day-today operations and directs the company’s 60 employees in both New York and Los Angeles offices. Marino oversees the expansion of partnerships and the diversification of the firm’s client roster and service lines to develop new collaborations. He also engages in volunteer agency initiatives and nonprofit events, and is a member of the Forbes Business Council, regularly imparting expertise regarding the public relations and marketing industries. Marino also contributes to public relations roundtables and podcasts, and is frequently sourced by media for expert commentary on the industry.

Kim Marshall Founder and director

Wilson Marshall PR + Special Events

Kim Marshall is founder and owner of Wilson Marshall PR + Special Events, a boutique communications company specializing in public relations, social media, and special events. An active member of industry organizations such as Luminary, Women in PR, and Women in Hospitality United, she has also hosted fundraising events for various nonprofits. Marshall, who provides consulting services to organizations such as Harlem Commonwealth Council and New York Urban League, also supports organizations like the Food Bank for NYC, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, and New York Public Library. She serves on the board of directors for New York City Children’s Theater.

Natasha Mazeau Marketing director Gotham Organization

As marketing director of Gotham Organization, a New York real estate developer, Natasha Mazeau is responsible for the positioning, branding, and marketing of The Suffolk, a luxury rental development within the broader Broome Street Development project. She prioritizes community building and development in her projects for Gotham Point, a mixedincome community, and is working with partners such as the Brooklyn Grange to create an urban rooftop farm for residents. Mazeau also volunteers with HeyMama, a professional networking group that connects working mothers, and is involved with Gotham Gives Back, an organization dedicated to meeting the needs of essential workers.

WITH NEARLY 53,000 DEGREES AWARDED IN 2020-2021, MARKETING WAS THE 17TH MOST POPULAR MAJOR IN THE U.S. THAT YEAR COLLEGE FACTUAL

Patrick McCarthy Senior vice president and head of marketing and martech City National Bank

As senior vice president and head of marketing and martech, Patrick McCarthy leads a team responsible for City National Bank’s brand marketing and content development. McCarthy led a successful campaign targeted at diverse visitors to the company’s website, and has helped City National Bank improve its reputation as a digitally-enabled relationship bank. He also advocated for a product to help clients handle rising interest rates and home valuations, which led to a 150% increase in media-qualified leads. McCarthy is a member of the Broadway Cares Leadership Council and sits on the NextGen board of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

Dee Dee Mozeleski

As managing partner at the brand design studio ThoughtMatter, Jessie McGuire leads a team reshaping global brands and communities for positive change. McGuire has worked to support progressive causes such as Girls Write Now and the Joyful Heart Foundation, as well as community-minded efforts for the New-York Historical Society and The Center for Arts Education. Her expertise also extends to building brands for the sustainable food brand Misfits Market and companies such as Viacom and Procter & Gamble. McGuire formerly served as advocacy chair on the board of directors of the New York chapter of the American Institute for Graphic Arts, and is a regular speaker at industry conferences across New York City.

Vice president and executive director of the office of institutional advancement, communications, and external relations

The City College of New York

Dee Dee Mozeleski is vice president and executive director of the City College of New York’s (CCNY) office of institutional advancement, communications, and external relations. She manages a portfolio that links communications, public relations, and community relations with CCNY’s development planning. Mozeleski forged a partnership with the New York Giants, which associates the team with CCNY across radio, stadium, and online platforms. Her work helped boost CCNY’s rankings profile, contributing to its being named the best-value college in the nation by the Wall Street Journal. Mozeleski is a member and mentor at the Public Relations Society of America and serves on the board of advisors for the Appalachian Mountain Club.

Tiffany Joy Murchison

Chief executive officer and multicultural media maven

TJM & Co Media Boutique

As chief executive officer and multicultural media maven of TJM & Co Media Boutique, Tiffany Joy Murchison leads a team that empowers mission-driven brands through integrated public relations and digital marketing strategies. She was elected president of the Cohort 38 Alumni Leadership Committee, and developed an annual grant program, launching June 2023, awarding a nonprofit or certified B-corp small business with public relations services. Murchison is an accomplished author, mentor, and leader, contributing to organizations such as Women in PR, NYC Small Business Services, and Digital Girl, Inc. She serves on the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors.

Gizem Ozcelik

Founder and chief executive officer GO PR

Gizem Ozcelik is founder and chief executive officer of GO PR, a boutique communi-cations agency specializing in hospitality. To date, the company has secured more than 11 billion impressions in earned media across 200 stories that span media segments such as travel, lifestyle, design, general interest, business, and trade. It has aided the launch of notable organizations such as Hotel Marcel, a net-zero emissions hotel. Ozcelik serves on the board of an Islamic community center in her neighborhood, supporting the revitalization of mosques in the community and volunteering with the organization’s youth program.

Jessie McGuire Managing partner ThoughtMatter

Cecilia Peña-Colon

Director of business development and marketing

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin

Cecilia Peña-Colon is director of business development and marketing at the law firm Tarter Krinsky & Drogin. In this role, she has built a marketing team to meet the firm’s needs, led the launch of a new firm website and brand roll-out, reinvented the client pitch process, and created an associate business development program. Peña-Colon serves as a trusted advisor to the firm’s executive committee and as a mentor to young professionals. She is a member of the Moxxie Mentoring Foundation, the Legal Marketing Association, the Long Island Real Estate Group, and the Long Island Center for Business & Professional Women.

Jennifer Prosek

Founder and managing partner

Prosek Partners

Founder and managing partner of Prosek Partners, an integrated marketing and communications firm, Jennifer Prosek oversees business strategy and the management team and advises the firm’s top clients. She launched a crypto and Web3 communi-cations and marketing offering to service companies in that space, led the charge in building out Prosek’s conference concierge and network development offering, and has overseen the firm’s philanthropic efforts. Under her leadership, the firm was recently recognized among Observer’s Best Public Relations Firms in America and PRovoke Media’s Financial and Specialist Agency of the Year. Prosek was named co-president of the Columbia Business School Women’s Circle.

Tiffany Rafii Chief executive officer UpSpring

Tiffany Rafii is chief executive officer of UpSpring, a communications agency serving the architecture, design, real estate, and proptech industries. In this role, Rafii is responsible for overseeing operations, shaping strategic direction, and driving business growth. Under her guidance, UpSpring has experienced significant expansion in the past 18 months, including the acquisition of the digital marketing company Epiphany and the establishment of a new digital marketing division. Rafii contributes to professional organizations such as the New York chapter of the Society for Marketing Professional Services and participates in BizDevel think tank events. She serves on the board of the Brick Church School.

Stephany E. Ramirez

Assistant director of pipeline marketing for global enrollment management and student success

New York University

As assistant director of pipeline marketing for global enrollment management and student success at New York University (NYU), Stephany E. Ramirez develops integrated marketing campaigns, engages with students from middle school to post-traditional age, and promotes pathways to NYU through strategic marketing for more than 160 programs. In her previous role at the nonprofit Latino U College Access, Ramirez led a college success program for first-generation students and received a Latin Impact Award for her efforts and community impact. She is also an active member of the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society and the University of Southern California Latino Alumni Society.

and Trade Solutions

Margaret Richards

Global head of marketing

C16 Biosciences

Margaret Richards is global head of marketing for C16 Biosciences, a biotechnology company. Since joining the firm in 2022, Richards has advanced its commercial goals by helping to introduce the company’s first consumer product, a sustainable palm oil alternative platform. Richards’ campaign strategy helped win the company a Fast Company 2023 World Changing Ideas Award for the product. Before joining C16 Biosciences, Richards helped drive global brand strategies for brands including Dove, American Express, and CocaCola. She is also involved with Let’s Get Ready, a nonprofit that gives low-income high school students access to services they need to prepare for and graduate from college.

Jennifer Risi Founder and president The Sway Effect

Jennifer Risi is founder and president of The Sway Effect, an integrated marketing and communic-ations agency driving global reputation, media relations, and executive visibility. Under her leadership, the agency has become a $4.2 million enterprise with 50 global offices since its founding in 2019. Outside of her professional role, Risi serves on the board of directors for Unsilenced.org, advocating against institutional child abuse, and contributes to the board of the 4A’s Foundation to help promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the advertising industry. Additionally, she has spearheaded initiatives such as the U.N. Women’s HeForShe campaign, and managed Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Climate Summit for Local Leaders.

Eric Rosenbaum Vice president of brand, advertisement, and creative services Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Eric Rosenbaum is vice president of brand, advertisement, and creative services at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), working to strengthen the global reputation of the brand. He directed and launched MSK’s newest advertising campaign, and led the development and internal rollout of its new vision, mission, and core values as a contribution to center-wide strategic planning. In addition, Rosenbaum dedicates time to the Brain Injury Association of New York, which supports individuals with brain injuries, and is active with his son’s Boy Scouts troop. Alongside his team, Rosenbaum leads MSK’s relationship with the Association of National Advertisers.

Rachel Rosenblatt Senior managing director FTI Consulting

As a senior managing director and head of the retail and consumer products sector for the Americas at FTI Consulting, Rachel Rosenblatt employs corporate positioning, media relations, and communications training to highlight her clients’ successes. She is a founding member of FTI Consulting’s communications training team and counsels C-suite executives in preparation for television appearances and speaking engagements. Rosenblatt is a member of the TARA cohort of Belizean Grove, an international group of women leaders. In June 2023, she began serving as a member of the Auxiliary of Lenox Hill Hospital, which promotes nurse education, media research projects, and enhanced technology and equipment for patient care.

Suzanne Rosnowski Chief executive officer and founder Relevance International

As chief executive officer and founder of Relevance International, a global public relations and digital media agency, Suzanne Rosnowski has spearheaded the company’s portfolio growth, which increased by 86% in 2022. Notably, she worked on Affirmation Tower, slated to be the first skyscraper built by a majority Black- and woman-led development team, garnering 2.9 billion global impressions on the project. Rosnowski also curated Relevance International’s global affiliate network, fueling the launch of Nielsen’s first global strategy and report. She is a Forbes contributor and serves on the board of the International Real Estate Federation.

THE GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS FIRM EDELMAN RANKED FIRST FOR NET FEES IN 2022, AT MORE THAN $1 BILLION

ODWYERPR.COM

Stacey Ross Cohen Chief executive officer Co-Communications

Stacy Ross Cohen is chief executive officer at CoCommunications, a public relations, marketing, and design agency. She leads operations, supervises multiple offices, and is a contributor at HuffPost. Ross Cohen has also written a book—Brand Up: The Ultimate Playbook for College & Career Success in the Digital World—and was recognized by the Westchester Association of Women Business Owners. In addition, she has been named a PRSA Practitioner of the Year. Outside of her work for CoCommunications, Ross Cohen serves as a board member for the Business Council of Westchester and leads educational forums on personal branding.

Zac Roy Vice president

Anat Gerstein

A vice president at Anat Gerstein, Zac Roy oversees the communications firm’s community development practice. In this role, he helps business groups and community organizations reach their goals, working with clients to help them develop and disseminate content, collateral, and press. His work includes helping the Flatiron NoMad partnership build brand awareness and further branding goals, and working to position the chief executive officer of Project Renewal as the leading voice in hotel-to-housing conversion. Outside of his work at Anat Gerstein, Roy supports the city’s nonprofit community by providing organizations with pro bono messaging and media guidance.

Erica Sachse Chief executive officer

Snaplistings

As chief executive officer of Snaplistings, a real estate marketing agency, Erica Sachse leads a team of more than 15 marketing professionals across locations including New York City, Miami, and international offices. She is responsible for developing and executing campaign strategies for 20 clients, and oversees an ad spend of approximately $1 million. Sachse has played a pivotal role in brand development and implementation for luxury properties worldwide while offering her clients expertise in data personalization and advanced marketing automation. She also helped organize the Climate Global Leadership Summit in Copenhagen, producing a documentary to amplify the summit’s message.

Jennifer

Sariano

Director and global head of marketing for cash products and digital marketing channels

Citi

As director and global head of marketing for cash products and digital marketing channels at Citi, Jennifer Sariano leads the global marketing team for the treasury and trade solution business within the company’s institutional clients group. In this role, Sariano assists Citi with sharing how the organization helps clients address treasury needs. She identifies the unique and evolving needs of each client and the ways Citi provides support at a global scale. Sariano advocates for the empowerment of women in the workplace and partners with Women in Payments, an organization that works to secure gender parity across the payments and fintech industries.

Roy Schwartz

Chief marketing officer

Vishnick McGovern Milizio

Roy Schwartz is chief marketing officer at the law firm Vishnick McGovern Milizio, driving marketing and business development operations. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, he led the firm to exceptional growth by establishing new practice areas, rebranding the firm, spearheading an early transition to remote work, and launching a new website and client portal. Additionally, Schwartz ideated and developed a new surrogacy, adoption, and assisted reproduction practice, offering LGBTQIA+ representation, estate planning, and litigation services. Outside of his professional role, Schwartz leads the firm’s pro bono work, including collaborations with health care institutions and volunteer work with bar associations.

Marissa Shorenstein

Principal SKDK

As principal at SKDK’s New York public affairs practice, Marissa Shorenstein leads the strategic direction of the public relations and communications services provider. Over the past year, she spearheaded communications efforts for the Richard Ravitch public finance initiative under the Volcker Alliance, driving federal action for better state and local budgets and supporting the Volcker Alliance’s ongoing national strategic communi-cations. Shorenstein also leads her firm’s work for Cypress Creek Renewables in advancing its public affairs agenda. She is currently a commissioner of the New York state Gaming Commission as well as chair of the Citizens Budget Commission, where she is the first female chair in the commission’s 90-year history.

Taboola

As chief executive officer and founder of Taboola, a discovery and advertising platform, Adam Singolda oversees more than 1,800 employees across offices in 22 countries as well as the organization’s partnerships with more than 9,000 publishers and more than 15,000 advertisers. Singolda recently spearheaded Taboola’s ChatGPT integration, allowing advertisers to use artificial intelligence to generate optimized ads. Under his leadership, Taboola has signed multiyear partnerships with Yahoo, Condé Nast, Univision, and The Blaze. Singolda is also co-founder and a board member of K Health, an artificial intelligence-powered primary care company working to provide affordable health care.

Jaclyn Tacoronte President and chief executive officer

JMT Media

Jaclyn Tacoronte is president and chief executive officer of JMT Media, a boutique public relations agency that specializes in smallbusiness marketing and the nonprofit sector. She manages marketing, public relations, and designs for clients, aiming to maximize brand visibility and online traffic to empower brands and increase public awareness of client programs, helping to link them with prospective donors.

Tacoronte is a founding board member of the Minority Women in Business Association of Staten Island. She also serves on the executive women’s council for the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation and as executive director for the New York City Digital Media Center.

Sophia Teixeira Managing director LOOP

Sophia Teixeira is a managing director at the digital agency LOOP, where she gives guidance regarding strategic direction and company operations.

Teixeira formulates business plans, curates performance goals, and increases revenue growth while leading and managing teams, fostering collaboration, and working to ensure client satisfaction.

Teixeira executes agency campaigns and oversees the performance of employees, making data-driven tweaks as projects progress. She serves as a board member for the 1,000 Dreams Fund, which supplies funding to women in STEM. As a board member, she offers fundraising support and network connections and engages with stakeholders to build partnerships and collaborations.

THE FIRST AMERICAN UNIVERSITY TO OFFER COLLEGE DEGREES IN PUBLIC RELATIONS WAS BOSTON UNIVERSITY IN 1947

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Adam Singolda Chief executive officer and founder

Eric Thum

Vice president and head of marketing VTS

Eric Thum is vice president and head of marketing at VTS, a commercial real estate technology platform, where he oversees a diverse marketing organization of 26 professionals and leads marketing across the product, growth, brand, creative, public relations, events, and digital marketing teams. Thum recently led the successful launch of VTS’ new tenant experience solution through an integrated, multichannel campaign. Prior to VTS, he spent six years at Salesforce in leadership roles. Outside his professional role, Thum is a volunteer and mentor for Year Up, a workforce development organization, and volunteers his time with A New Chance Animal Rescue.

Brenda Tsai Chief marketing officer State Street Corporation

As chief marketing officer at the financial services firm State Street Corporation, Brenda Tsai oversees all marketing and external communications across the firm and serves on the global leadership team. Tsai launched a new website and social media content strategy; has increased events marketing client engagement by 49%; and has increased qualified marketing leads by 60%. She is an active member of business and industry associations, including the Association of National Advertisers, Ascend Executive Network, the Wall Street Journal’s chief marketing officer council, and the Women’s Forum of New York. Tsai, who developed a “Stop AAPI Hate” campaign in 2022, was appointed to the board of directors of the brand consulting agency Kantar.

Tomas Uribe

Co-founder and chief executive officer

Mavity

As co-founder and chief executive officer of Mavity, a collaboration tool for executing marketing and communications campaigns, Tomas Uribe’s responsibilities include strategizing, fundraising, teambuilding, and growing a global community of creatives. He aims to increase efficiency for businesses and creative agencies through artificial intelligence tools, and has worked with investors including L’Attitude Ventures, Google, and Techstars. Uribe serves as a mentor for many startups and media-based businesses in the U.S. and Colombia. He also participates with the Art Bound Initiative as a mentor, guiding young professionals in securing employment in creative industries.

Raghu Vasu

Senior vice president of digital marketing

U.S. Bank

Raghu Vasu is senior vice president of digital marketing at U.S. Bank, which serves approximately 21 million customers. He leads initiatives for a wide range of banking and investment businesses, and his team has delivered digital omnichannel marketing and customer experiences. Recently, Vasu spearheaded efforts to drive change in digital engagement and transform business-tobusiness lead management processes. With more than 20 years of experience, he has held key roles in product, marketing, and digital functions at organizations such as JPMorgan Chase, Barclays, and United Airlines. Vasu serves on the board of JobsFirstNYC.

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Kaye Verville Senior managing director

The Levinson Group

Kaye Verville is a senior managing director at The Levinson Group, a public relations and communications services firm, with a decade of experience in corporate, financial, and litigation communications across multiple sectors.

She has successfully advised companies, C-suites, and boards through various business challenges, including reputational crises, merger and acquisition transactions, initial public offerings, and executive transitions. In her role, Verville manages multistakeholder communications programs for multinational companies facing mass tort litigation and Chapter 11. She also has significant experience managing litigation communications for high-profile matters with top litigation firms as well as public interest matters related to #MeToo, equal pay, and misinformation.

Thiago Viana Senior director of corporate communications

Savills

Thiago Viana is senior director of corporate communications at the real estate service provider Savills. He is responsible for developing, overseeing, and executing the company’s internal and external communications initiatives.

Viana has developed multichannel strategies to drive engagement and showcase Savills’ culture, business objectives, and accomplishments. He also worked closely with Savills’ clients in the textile sector to secure a Sunday New York Times cover story highlighting efforts to relocate more than 30 textile companies displaced from one building to nearby properties in their preferred neighborhood.

Viana was one of 24 employees selected for Savills’ emerging leaders program.

Barbara Wagner President

Barbara Wagner Communications

Barbara Wagner, president of Barbara Wagner Communications, is responsible for generating business for her strategic public relations and communications company. The firm’s clients include M&T Bank and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. Working with Ukrainian artists and curators in 2022, Wagner organized an internationally attended press conference and helped bring attention to their stories of escaping Ukraine and bringing their artwork to the Venice Biennale. Beyond her work as president of her firm, Wagner’s pro bono efforts include serving as an advocate for mental health at Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Diane Walsh Chief marketing officer

Prager Metis CPAs

As chief marketing officer of the advisory and accounting firm Prager Metis CPAs, Diane Walsh is responsible for all facets of marketing for the firm, including communications strategies, regional and global marketing strategies, project management, client relationship management, and media relations. She manages the firm’s digital presence and has successfully led social media campaigns to expand reach by 45% and engagement by more than 100%. Walsh is a former president and board member of the New York chapter of the Association for Accounting Marketing, and has helped organize fundraising activities for the Alzheimer’s Association and the Prager Metis Charitable Foundation.

Doug Zarkin Chief marketing officer for Pearle Vision EssilorLuxottica

Doug Zarkin is the chief marketing officer for Pearle Vision at EssilorLuxottica, a leader in ophthalmic lenses, frames, and sunglasses. His responsibilities in this role include ownership of integrated marketing, visual merchandising, product promotion, and retail experience functions. Zarkin is committed to providing eye care to consumers of all ages and backgrounds. He led the Small Moments campaign, which highlighted the humanity behind medicine and the importance of meaningful relationships. Zarkin is also credited with launching a two-pronged digital patient acquisition approach. Due to his marketing and brand leadership, he received the 2023 Foundation Fighting Blindness Visionary Award.

would prefer if the City Council didn’t exist,” said one member who, along with several colleagues, spoke anonymously in order to be frank about the relationship.

Conflict is built into city government, and Mayor Adams has shown frustration with the council, seeming to view lawmakers as armchair critics able to avoid the hard work of governing. Thanks to a spate of progressive electoral victories, he is also contending with a more emboldened, left-wing council than has been elected in years past—and has presided over issues that would challenge any administration, including an influx of asylum seekers and a potential fiscal crisis driven by shrinking federal aid and uncertain commercial real estate values.

In response to the criticisms that council members shared with Crain’s, the mayor contends that he has collaborated with the council on everything from rat mitigation to e-bike regulation to housing production.

“New Yorkers are tired of bickering politicians and want their elected leaders to work collaboratively to get stuff done for them every day, and that is exactly what we’ve been doing since day one of this administration,” said mayoral spokesman Fabien Levy.

But council members say the mayor and his team have committed unforced errors and adopted a hostile approach.

“He’s got OK relationships with some council members, but he has very few strong allies,” one member said. “I think he has a much larger number of outspoken critics.”

A rocky start

Adams’ dealings with the council got off to a difficult start shortly after he was elected, during the behindthe-scenes race for speaker.

After initially promising to stay out of the contest, Adams’ allies began an aggressive push shortly after his election in late 2021 for Francisco Moya, a Queens councilman who backed Adams’ mayoral campaign but who had little support from fellow members.

“The mayor could’ve picked just about anybody [else] and might’ve been successful,” one member said. The effort backfired as several speaker candidates dropped their own bids to unite behind an unexpected candidate, Adrienne Adams, whose victory over Moya served as an early rebuke to the new mayor.

Several council members said the outcome of the speaker’s race does not have much effect on lawmakers’ day-to-day dealings with City Hall. But others said the administration’s interference left a bad taste, and showed that the council was able to defy the mayor.

Still, Mayor Adams hardly needed to despair at the outcome. Speaker Adams, like the mayor, is a moderate Democrat hailing from a middle-class Black neighborhood in the outer boroughs, and the mayor spoke warmly last year about his “sister” in government.

“Speaker Adams is just so open to working with anyone, the mayor’s team included,” said one council member, who, like many colleagues,

took on a protective tone when talking about the mild-mannered speaker. (Speaker Adams’ office declined to comment for this story.)

Things looked rosy on June 10 of last year, when the mayor and the speaker shook hands on a budget deal weeks ahead of the deadline. But things quickly unraveled when council members accused City Hall of concealing cuts to public schools—a charge the mayor’s office denied.

Mayor Adams seemed exasperated by the saga, pointing out that council members were protesting a budget they had just voted for. Several members pointed to the education battle as the beginning of a downhill slide in the mayor-council relationship.

A year later, Speaker Adams talks openly of her strained connection with the mayor, saying in May that their relationship was “interesting” and accusing him of running a “reactive administration.”

Some council members say the tensions stem from the mayor misunderstanding the role of the speaker.

“I think the mayor thinks he can pick up the phone, and the speaker can get all 51 members to fall in line with whatever the mayor wants,” one member said. “That’s not the job, and that’s not how it works.”

‘The guy listens’

Lawmakers said City Hall has worked well with the council on several policy issues, including local development projects, a mandatory composting bill, a pay raise for delivery workers and the permanent Open Restaurants program. Adams’ deputy mayors, including experienced civil servants Maria Torres-Springer and Meera Joshi, tend to be especially effective collaborators, council members said.

Councilwoman Marjorie Velazquez from the Bronx said the mayor reached out during the 2021 election season and struck up a partnership—offering his personal cell phone number, which he has also given to other members, Velazquez said.

“The guy listens. You can text, call at any time; he responds,” she said. Their relationship has held steady, she said, despite disagreements over the mayor’s ill-fated migrant camp on Orchard Beach in her district and pressure from City Hall for her to approve a rezoning.

However, clashes over policy have inflamed tensions with other lawmakers.

Most prominent in recent weeks has been the budget, where the mayor and council found themselves far apart on basic questions about the city’s fiscal health. The mayor pointed to long-term deficit projections as he sought to cut millions of dollars in spending on agencies and services such as libraries, while the council said its more optimistic revenue forecasts showed the cuts were unnecessary.

Speaker Adams and council finance chair Justin Brannan derided the mayor’s cost-cutting as harmful, while Mayor Adams accused the council of not understanding a “basic level of accounting.” Although the two sides reached a deal well before the midnight July 1 deadline,

the disappointed speaker said the administration’s approach was “counterproductive.” (The mayor, for his part, seemed determined to smooth over any rifts during the announcement, praising council members for taking time to negotiate during the same week many were running for re-election.)

Personal animosity also fueled the budget standoff. Several members said Jacques Jiha, the mayor’s budget director, is an especially unpopular figure within the council.

In multiple budget hearings, Jiha took lawmakers to task over their accounting work. During a May talk at the Citizens Budget Commission, Jiha said he was “counting on us educating” council members on the city’s finances—a remark that infuriated the council’s leadership.

City Hall defended Jiha, a city government veteran first appointed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, point-

her knowledge, only to backtrack after touring it in person—a conclusion she could have helped them reach days earlier, Nurse said told Crain’s

Mayor Adams has suggested council members could do more to find housing for migrants within their own districts. In a private briefing reported by the Daily News, the mayor accused lawmakers of “total disrespect” in their criticism.

The mayor’s office defended its migrant response, saying it has given regular briefings to elected officials, shared data, offered shelter tours and notified lawmakers about emergency sites in their districts as quickly as possible.

Negotiation woes

The latest policy dispute has centered on the rental voucher bills. The council passed the bills in May, and Adams vetoed them in June after criticizing the legislation for weeks. The council has vowed to override Adams’ veto.

said—embodied by the formidable presence of Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the mayor’s top adviser, who deals regularly with the council and openly disdains progressives.

“There’s not many people there who are polite,” one member said of the mayor’s top advisers.

Small slights still rankle some members. During four private briefings Mayor Adams held to review his budget plans, he called only on members perceived as friendly— depriving more oppositional lawmakers of the chance to ask a question—according to several members who took part.

Even some allies of the mayor say his outreach to the council could improve. Bob Holden, a conservative Democrat from Queens who aligns with Mayor Adams on public safety, compared the Adams administration unfavorably to that of de Blasio—who, unlike Adams, had once served in the council.

ing out that he has helped the city weather multiple fiscal challenges without resorting to layoffs or tax increases.

The administration’s dismissive attitude managed to unify the council’s many members—but also soured the mood in the negotiating room, said Brannan, a onetime ally of Mayor Adams who played a key role in budget talks.

“When I feel we aren’t being taken seriously or when we’re being completely discounted or that our opinion doesn’t matter, we’re going to react to that,” Brannan told Crain’s. “When you’re about to enter into a negotiation, those things matter. That posture matters.”

Migrant crisis

The most pressing issue has been the arrival of more than 80,000 migrants to the city. The strain on the city’s finances and its shelter system prompted the mayor to ask a court to suspend New York’s longstanding right-to-shelter mandate —another point of contention with the council.

Council leadership was also caught off-guard by the $4 billion estimate for asylum-seeker care that Adams began citing in February, one source said. The new figure, more than double the mayor’s previous estimate, had not been communicated to lawmakers in advance, the source said—fueling speculation in the council that the estimate could be inaccurate or even deliberately exaggerated in hopes of winning more federal aid.

The mayor’s office pushed back, saying it had given lawmakers receipts on its spending and that the city is well on its way to paying $1.4 billion for migrant care this year, which Adams forecast months ago. Meanwhile, several council members, including the speaker, have faulted City Hall for not communicating its moves, especially when choosing shelter sites. Sandy Nurse, a progressive from Brooklyn, said the administration picked an unsuitable community center in her district to house migrants without

Although rooted in a disagreement over cost, the dispute also showcased how the mayor and council have struggled to negotiate. Speaker Adams’ office accused the mayor of failing to engage when the council was shaping legislation, while City Hall blasted the council for a “false and sad rewrite of history”—insisting that the mayor’s team had tried to find a compromise.

The public showdown has embittered one former mayoral ally: Deputy Council Speaker Diana Ayala, an East Harlem Democrat who endorsed Adams’ campaign two years ago and played a key role in crafting the rental voucher bills. Not known as a firebrand, Ayala has accused the administration of “poverty-shaming.”

“Diana is an easy person to get along with,” another council member said. “So these are not good enemies to make.”

Several lawmakers added that the mayor’s dealings with the council have suffered from a more fundamental flaw: Adams’ lack of a unifying “big idea” to guide his administration’s work, akin to de Blasio’s universal pre-K program.

“They’re going from crisis to crisis,” one member said, citing the lack of “a big-ticket item that they could rally the council around early on.”

City Hall, for its part, said the mayor’s “big idea” was making the city safer—a goal he has achieved so far this year with drops in most major crime categories.

Open distaste

Although the mayor remains publicly cordial toward Speaker Adams, he is more open in his distaste for the council’s rank-and-file members—especially its progressive caucus, whose criticism of the Police Department led the mayor to accuse them of “hijack[ing] the term ‘progressive.’”

Still, Adams’ administration may have misstepped by entering office with “essentially a war against the progressives on their mind,” said one member who does not count themselves among that group. City Hall’s hostility toward the left wing has seeped into its overall posture toward the council, the lawmaker

“The de Blasio administration was very savvy in trying to pressure you, win you over to his side,” said Holden, who is otherwise a critic of the former mayor. “Where the mayor could do better is in talking to council members and trying to win them over on certain things he feels are important to the city. He hasn’t worked on that as much as he can.”

De Blasio, another member said, could be deferential to the council— to a fault. Mayor Adams, whose “get stuff done” slogan captures his hardcharging style, does not shy away from confrontation.

“De Blasio went way far out of his way to try to get buy-in from as many people as he could to avoid even the perception of a schism,” the lawmaker said. “Whereas this administration is the opposite.”

The mayor’s office touted what it sees as a robust partnership with the council on policy, including proactive outreach on legislation, participating in council hearings and hosting open-ended dinners with elected officials.

“In the weeks ahead, we are looking forward to continuing to work with our friends across the hall by finalizing a permanent outdoor dining bill that will build on a program that already helped save 100,000 jobs at the height of the pandemic,” said Levy, the City Hall spokesman.

Support base solid

As the city navigates its sea of challenges, a potential wild card will be the mayor’s temperament. Adams, who has described his mayoralty as God-given and refers to New York as “my city,” has shown a propensity to lash out at criticism.

Hours after the Siena poll showed a dip in his approval rating, he grew defensive at a public forum in Washington Heights after an older woman criticized recent rent increases in stabilized apartments.

“Don’t stand in front like you treated someone that’s on the plantation that you own,” he told the questioner, who was white.

As he looks toward a 2025 re-election bid, the mayor’s base of support remains solid, according to recent polling. But Adams’ personality-driven approach could further alienate the City Council.

“He thinks that this is his city, and that he doesn’t need anybody,” one member said. “That has left a really bad taste in a lot of our mouths.” ■

THE MAYOR’S OFFICE TOUTED WHAT IT SEES AS A ROBUST PARTNERSHIP WITH THE COUNCIL ON POLICY

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neighborhoods, according to real estate service rm CBRE. In turn, the availability of locations and the better prices have enabled many nontraditional businesses to ourish, said Adam Henick, a co-founder of brokerage rm Current Realty Advisors.

Consumers’ recent focus on social media has also bolstered the reach and hunger for such experiences, according to Henick.

Current Realty Advisors was one of the rst companies to cash in on experiential retail back in 2019, when it brokered a lease at 558 Broadway in SoHo for the Museum of Ice Cream, a place where visitors could “swim” in a pool of sprinkles, eat unlimited ice cream and learn about the history of the frozen treat.

“In an environment where there is some element of remote work, people crave human interaction,” Henick said, noting that one of the reasons New Yorkers have been rushing to spaces where they can share an experience with their friends is that they can post it on social media.

Such exposure allows so-called experiential retailers to amplify their marketing strategies exponentially, he said.

Online platform comes to life

One such business moving to experiential retail is SoHo-based online luxury collectibles platform Rally, which opened a new kind of

able for purchase, Rally said.

ere are no admission fees to the venue, which by this month was expected to be open noon to 6 p.m. six days a week. e company also plans to host private events in the space for the duration of its 10-year retail lease.

Movie tie-in

In the Financial District, the recently opened Malibu Barbie Café at 19 Fulton St. is trying to o er what it deems an authentic Barbie experience and California vibes to children and adults.

Hughes Corp., the owner of the property, but Lederman said the Barbie experience prompted a lease extension of less than six months.

“New York City accounts for about 25% of our overall business as a whole, and we are operating in about 15 cities,” Lederman said. “It is an extremely important city for our business. It is de nitely a city we like to bring our experiences to rst to nd the ones that are working the best, and then roll those out to other cities.”

look to place them in other areas soon.

Gregory Kraut, CEO of Midtown-based real estate investor KPG Funds, the landlord at 446 Broadway, where the Rally exhibition is, told Crain’s that foot tra c in SoHo this past spring has exceeded foot tra c even before the pandemic. at change in the area’s popularity is bringing back to the neighborhood high-end retailers, who may sign longer-term leases for more traditional stores.

Landlords in high-end, newer properties have now started to raise rents, he said, but leasing in older or no-frills properties remains challenged. Asking rents have begun to climb, he added, but they remain a long way from their prepandemic highs.

exhibition June 17 at 446 Broadway.

Rally opted to bring its online platform to life in a 3,000-squarefoot space on the ground oor of its own headquarters. e company rst leased 7,500 square feet of ofce space at the building in December 2021 and signed a lease for retail space in the building in May 2022.

Rally has garnered over 500,000 online customers so far, according to the rm. And its brick-and-mortar exhibition space will make every item, including $3 million baseball cards, Hermes Birkin bags, NFTs and a full Triceratops skull, avail-

e café serves food, and visitors are encouraged to take photos among the numerous Barbie-inspired settings, including a full-size Barbie doll box and a store featuring Barbie memorabilia. e two-story café opened in mid-May, two months before the release of the new Barbie movie, and is produced by SoHo-based entertainment rm Bucket Listers.

Andy Lederman, founder and CEO of Bucket Listers, told Crain’s the 6,000-square-foot Malibu Barbie Café opened shortly after the company wrapped up production of the Golden Girls Kitchen, an experiential retail concept based on the popular 1980s sitcom, at 19 Fulton earlier this year.

Bucket Listers rst signed a vemonth lease with the Howard

Bucket Listers licenses popular works from Disney and Mattel to produce experiences, Lederman said, but the majority of the approximately 250 experiences marketed on its website are produced by third parties.

e Malibu Barbie Café will run until Sept. 15 and has sold 40,000 tickets since opening May 17. Adult tickets start at $39 per visitor.

Arts and culture offerings

Experiences in the arts and entertainment are also hoping to lure visitors downtown this summer.

Less than half a mile from the Malibu Barbie Café, at the former Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank building at 49 Chambers St., French museum management company Culturespaces is slated to debut an immersive experience that teaches visitors about the history and tradition of hip-hop.

Visitors can catch the “Hip Hop Til In nity” exhibit from July 26 until Sept. 17. Tickets start at $39 per visitor.

Culturespaces, which manages monuments, museums and arts centers in the U.S. and Europe, has managed the 28,000-square-foot Hall Des Lumieres since its opening last year, according to e New York Times. e venue manager declined to share visitor and ticket sale gures with Crain’s, but a May Times article said Culturespaces projected it would receive half a million visitors at Hall Des Lumieres in the rst year and up to 800,000 visitors in subsequent years.

Culturespaces is also hosting a number of other immersive exhibits, in which visitors can walk through large projections, at Hall des Lumieres, including the Gustav Klimt Gold in Motion exhibit and an immersive experience titled Desti-

nation Cosmos.

Nearby, at the former First National City Bank of New York building, at the intersection of Broadway and Canal Street, experiential business Inter is also aiming to provide visitors with an immersive experience that mixes art and interactive technology.

Inter sublet 10,000 square feet at 415 Broadway from SoHo-based real estate investor United American Land in the summer of 2021, according to company co-founder Ryan Nelson, signing a 10-year lease. e company held a soft opening in November for its exhibit, which it calls a “futuristic, interactive art journey for self-exploration” that makes use of arti cial intelligence, and opened in earnest in May.

“SoHo is an area that is developing; obviously, it was a powerful area before, but I think it is de nitely developing in the right direction,” Nelson said. “We are seeing more experiential concepts opening space in the local area, and we view that as value-accretive, not necessarily competitive.”

Nelson said the company is looking to become a permanent xture in SoHo and host between 15,000 and 20,000 visitors per month. Admission starts at $36 for adults and $27 for kids.

Opportunities elsewhere

Many of the immersive experiences are situated downtown, but prospective operators might have to

Kraut contends that the rapid rise in asking rents in SoHo and other retail corridors will limit the availability of large spaces for nontraditional tenants, such as experiential retailers, to set up shop in areas with high visibility.

Kraut’s comments are consistent with rst-quarter research from CBRE.

CBRE said in April that asking rents in the rst three months of the year increased in Manhattan by an average of 8% and that two of three retail corridors in SoHo have seen double-digit growth in the average asking rent on a year-over-year basis.

But operators could nd opportunities in other areas. e brokerage rm found asking rents decreased on a year-over-year basis in the rst quarter of 2023 in parts of the Meatpacking District. Rent growth has also been somewhat more subdued in Midtown neighborhoods such as Herald Square and Grand Central, where asking rent growth is below Manhattan’s average rent growth.

Bucket Listers’ Lederman said that as rents rise in high-tra c areas in Lower Manhattan, more popular experiential tenants o ering a high-quality exhibit will be able to secure a long-term lease, but ones based on passing fads, which often look for short-term or cheaper leases, will be priced out. And when offering short-term spaces, landlords will consider what they think will resonate with consumers.

“It’s all about quality,” Lederman said. “Landlords have more demand on the long-term-lease side of things, so for them to be willing to work on a short-term basis, the lessee has to have special qualities.” ■

“NEW YORK CITY ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT 25% OF OUR OVERALL BUSINESS AS A WHOLE”

LARGER-THAN-LIFE works by Yayoi Kusama are on display at the David Zwirner gallery on West 19th Street.

THE 28,000-SQUAREFOOT Hall Des Lumieres near City Hall features an immersive exhibition of artist Gustav Klimt’s work.

PHOTOS BY BUCK ENNIS

THE TWO-STORY MALIBU BARBIE CAFÉ in the Financial District is jam-packed with memorabilia, hoping to draw tourists nostalgic from the new "Barbie" movie.

JOYCE RIVERA

GREW UP South Bronx

RESIDES Arden Heights, Staten Island

EDUCATION Bachelor’s in health administration, Lehman College; master’s in political science, the CUNY Graduate Center

PUBLIC SERVICE Rivera serves on New York’s Opioid Settlement Board, helping decide how to spend billions of dollars in settlement money from pharmaceutical companies on public health initiatives.

FAMILY LIFE Rivera’s husband of 27 years, Bart, is a psychologist who has worked alongside her in the harmreduction movement. Two of their ve children now live in the Netherlands, where he is from.

KITTY CARETAKER Rivera cares for “several generations” of feral cats that found their way to her backyard. “When they don’t show up, I worry,” she said.

A life’s work: ‘Countless’ lives saved

Founder of St. Ann’s Corner needle exchange eyes one more milestone

BY NICK GARBER

Tragedy struck Joyce Rivera in 1987, when her brother died of AIDS after contracting HIV from a contaminated needle. Rivera, then a graduate student focused on the underground drug economy, was already working on a research study that sought to meet the city’s drug users at their own level, providing them with disinfectants, condoms and HIV tests before “sending them on their way,” she recalled.

Before long, Rivera befriended a drug dealer in the South Bronx, her native borough, and taught him the basics of HIV prevention through clean syringes. Her fellow researchers wanted nothing to do with the strange alliance, and Rivera is careful not to glamorize their relationship. Still, she managed to persuade the man to introduce safe syringes in the territory he controlled: a decrepit park on the corner of East 139th Street and St. Ann’s Avenue.

Within a few months, Rivera founded St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction, the pioneering syringe exchange now in its 33rd year of operation. In that span, rates of injection-related AIDS have plummeted in the U.S., and the concept of reducing deaths by providing safe paraphernalia has become widely accepted in the medical community. When Rivera considers her life’s work, she said the poet Seamus Heaney’s words that “hope and history rhyme” come to mind. “I was caught in that vortex, something had to be done, and I stepped into it,” Rivera said. “Our organization has not only saved countless lives but has had such a wide impact in the creation of a movement that centers life.”

Closing the circle

Rivera’s organization does much more than give out clean needles. anks to its commercial kitchen, St. Ann’s Corner provides 30,000 meals a year to people in need—

staying open throughout the pandemic—as well as diapers and baby formula, HIV and hepatitis tests, showers and clean clothing, and activities ranging from art classes to acupuncture. e group can document 35,000 people it has served in its history, including 2,200 in the last scal year, Rivera said.

Now, at 68, Rivera plans to hand the baton to a new generation. But one more milestone is in sight: St. Ann’s Corner is in talks with the city to become its newest overdose prevention center, otherwise known as a safe injection site. at full-circle moment will once again put Rivera at the vanguard of the harm-reduction movement.

Rivera is also a student again, having decided recently to dust o the dissertation she put on pause when she founded St. Ann’s Corner. e subject, appropriately, is the history of harm reduction in New York City—a “radical approach” to a doctorate, she admits, since she is herself a central gure

in that movement.

After a lengthy career, she looks forward to spending more time with her four grandchildren and reading books. “I have no desire to work as hard as I have,” she said. “I want to listen to good music and move forward in my personal life.”

But rst comes the overdose prevention center, which Rivera hopes to have up and running later this summer. It can’t come soon enough for the South Bronx, which leads the city in overdose deaths. “For us, that basically closes the circle on the whole continuum of services that centers life and second chances,” she said. ■

JOYCE RIVERA founded the pioneering syringe exchange St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction in 1990.

“I WAS CAUGHT IN THAT VORTEX, SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE, AND I STEPPED INTO IT”