Crain's New York Business, April 15, 2024

REAL ESTATE

MISSED CONNECTION

How a Penn Station dream slipped away for Vornado’s Steven Roth

By | Aaron Elstein

In the fall of 2007, Steven Roth was ready to make his mark on Manhattan’s skyline: an imposing, 2.8 million-square-foot tower on the site of the Hotel Pennsylvania, across the street from Madison Square Garden. e Cesar Pelli-designed tower would be Merrill Lynch’s new global headquarters.

“ e papers were done,” Roth reminisced in a 2021 shareholder letter.

But a tremor ahead of the 2008 crash sank the deal. On the day it was to vote on moving uptown, Merrill's board discovered it was sitting on a $7.9 billion loss thanks to a rotting pile of subprime mortgages. And just like that, Roth recalled, “the deal was swept away.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Today, Roth still dreams about building on the Hotel Pennsylvania site, which lls most of West 32nd Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues and is tantalizingly close to the hip neighborhoods along the High Line and, to the east, Koreatown. Last year, he demolished the hotel designed by legendary architects McKim Mead & White. In its place, he has proposed to install tennis courts, which o cials say are one of several short-term ideas for the site until the time is right to build again. Fashion shows are another possibility.

“ e best use Roth can come up with for some of the most valuable, potentially productive land in the city is a tennis court,” snarked Lynn Ellsworth, co-founder of advocacy group New Yorkers for a Human-Scale City. “ at’s an insult to all New Yorkers.”

“Give Roth credit, he’s trying to reimagine the Penn District,” said Alexander Goldfarb, an analyst at Piper Sandler. “It should work out. It just never has.”

“ ey’ve wanted to build a lot more new space in a very complex environment,” said Anthony Paolone, a real estate analyst with JPMorgan Chase. “ ey’ve been long in waiting.”

Roth, 82, has described his grand plans for the Penn

“The best use Roth can come up with for some of the most valuable, potentially productive land in the city is a tennis court.”

Lynn

Bloomberg housing policy faces harsh reassessment as shortage worsens

By Nick Garber

Mayor Eric Adams rarely speaks ill of Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor with whom he enjoys a warm relationship. But a top Adams o cial delivered a barely concealed rebuke recently to one of Bloomberg’s most consequential legacies: changing zoning laws to restrict housing growth across the city.

During his dozen years in o ce,

REAL ESTATE

This tenant’s lease deal might be the best bargain in Midtown.

Bloomberg was known for authorizing several high-pro le rezonings that boosted density in low-rise neighborhoods, helping to transform areas like Hudson Yards, Williamsburg and Long Island City into mazes of towers. But, more quietly, the Bloomberg years also saw dozens of neighborhood rezonings that did essentially the opposite, freezing existing streetscapes in place or even “downzoning” areas to restrict growth.

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Years later, however, the city’s a ordability crisis has reached untenable levels and a consensus has formed about the need for more housing construction to ease rents. at is prompting a reevaluation of the Bloomberg-era downzonings, which are now looked upon less favorably — even by some of the people who helped implement them.

Mayor Adams is

SOLAR ECLIPSE New Yorkers came out to see the moon cover the sun on April 8. See photos.

Station

Michael Bloomberg ushered in development that transformed some neighborhoods but also presided over a “downzoning” of others that some now say was a mistake. | ED REED/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE/FLICKR

Ellsworth, co-founder of advocacy group New Yorkers for a Human-Scale

What Steven Roth paid in 1997 for 4 million square feet of properties in Manhattan

Above, Vornado CEO Steven Roth has waited 25 years — and counting — to develop the Penn District. At left is the site of the former Hotel Pennsylvania. At right is a rendering of Vornado’s Penn Platform, an outdoor space at the site. | BLOOMBERG, BUCK ENNIS, VORNADO

City tourism chief to exit post for a national role

e longtime head of New York City’s tourism arm is headed to a national role promoting tourism across the U.S.

Fred Dixon will depart his role as president and CEO of NYC Tourism + Conventions in June, making way for CMO Nancy Mammana to take the role of interim CEO.

Mammana, who has been with NYC Tourism + Conventions since 2018 and led the company’s 2023 rebrand, will serve until a search committee selects a new CEO.

Dixon, a travel industry veteran who has worked with New York’s tourism arm for about 20 years including a decade at the helm, will become president and CEO of Brand USA, which boosts travel for communities across the country and helps inform international travelers about U.S. travel policies.

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JUNE 5

POWER BREAKFAST

Mark your calendar to hear from all ve borough presidents on one stage

Industrial sector sees busiest Q1 since 2019

Eddie Small

e city’s outer-borough industrial market has enjoyed its strongest rst quarter of the year since 2019, according to data from Cushman & Wake eld.

Firms leased 1 million square feet of space in the outer boroughs to kick o 2024, up a whopping 171.6% quarter over quarter, according to the brokerage. e overall vacancy rate stayed stable at 4.5% and dropped in Queens and the Bronx.

Dimitri Mastrogiannis, senior research analyst at Cushman, said the market “had a red-hot start to the year” and “continued to be a bright spot in New York’s commercial landscape as demand continues to outweigh supply.”

A slight fall in rents

e average asking rent did fall slightly to $28.14 per square foot, down by $0.32 quarter over quarter. But despite this dip, the stable vacancy rate and growing development pipeline “serve as a great indicator of continued growth and demand” going forward, Mastrogiannis said.

Developers added 414,000 square feet of industrial space to the market during the rst quarter, and an additional 1.5 million square feet are under construction, the report says. ese include a 680,000-square-foot development at 23-30 Borden Ave. in Long Island City from Innovo Property Group, a roughly 386,000-square-

foot project at 683 Court St. in Red Hook from LBA Logistics and a roughly 250,000-square-foot project on the Whitestone Expressway in College Point from Wild ower.

The market “had a red-hot start to the year” and “continued to be a bright spot in New York’s commercial landscape as demand continues to outweigh supply.”

33.9%, the Bronx at 9.6% and Staten Island at 1.1%, according to the Cushman report. Queens was also home to some of the quarter's particularly large leases, including 240,000 square feet in Glendale for Manhattan Beach Studios and Fly E-Bike taking about 52,000 square feet in Maspeth.

Dimitri Mastrogiannis, senior research analyst, Cushman

Queens saw the bulk of leasing activity during the rst quarter at 55.4%, followed by Brooklyn at

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New York’s industrial sector held up fairly well during the pandemic, especially in comparison to its retail and o ce sectors, but the e-commerce and logis-

tics rms helping to drive that growth slowed down during the second half of last year, Mastrogiannis said. e sector's strong start to 2024 “proves that demand from food and beverage, studio and wholesale companies can rival, if not exceed, peak demand” from such rms, “a great sign for the longevity of the industrial market,” he said.

e city’s retail sector also saw a return to pre-Covid numbers last quarter, with its average availability rate dropping to 15.4%, even lower than the 21% it was at during 2019, according to data from JLL. But the o ce sector is continuing to struggle, with a record-high availability rate of 18.1% last quarter, according to data from Colliers.

Manhattan apartment sales plunge 11% in rst quarter as interest rates remain high

C. J. Hughes

Buyers didn’t seem to be in a buying mood in the winter, despite predictions of an active start to the year. A recent culprit for the market’s swoon, stubbornly high interest rates, are likely to blame this go-around as well.

e number of sales of Manhattan co-ops and condos dropped to 1,988 in the rst quarter of 2024, an 11% dip from the year-ago quarter and a 17% plunge from the last three months of 2023, according to new market data from

in a year and 9% from the fourth quarter, when it was just below $1.2 million, according to the data, which was prepared for the rm by appraiser Jonathan Miller.

Inventory slightly lower

With inventory levels slightly lower than they were in early 2023, buyers still don’t seem to have a lot of homes to choose among, suggesting current owners remain unwilling to put their homes on the market and give up favorable interest rates. After hitting a recent peak of 8% in October, the average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage has come down to 7%.

After hitting a recent peak of 8% in October, the average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage has come down to 7%.

Douglas Elliman. It’s the rst time the number of sales has slid below 2,000 in three years, the brokerage said.

Prices fell too three months after notching near-record highs. e median sale price was nearly $1.1 million, down more than 2%

But that loan cost is still well above the 4% rate attainable in early 2022, before the Federal Reserve began hiking interest rates in a bid to rein in in ation. e Fed has recently begun holding the line on hikes and even promised to lower rates this year. Still in the fourth quarter the number of allcash deals, perhaps unsurprisingly, was the third highest on record, Elliman said.

Deal activity declined across

the board for co-ops and condos; high-end luxury sales; resales; and new developments. But price-wise, the picture was a bit more mixed.

Co-ops showed improvement over their 2023 levels, posting a gain of 2% to reach a median sale price of $815,000, Douglas Elliman said. And the price of luxury homes, which represent the top 10% of the market, climbed nearly 3% over the 2023 median to $5.8

million, according to the brokerage.

e most notable bright spot, though, was with new developments, which are essentially freshly built condos. Even though their sales slowed, the units that did trade managed to command strong prices. In fact, they scored a median of $2.1 million last quarter, or $2,400 per square foot, a 31% surge over the rst quarter of 2023.

Antonio Reynoso Donovan Richards

Crain’s Staff

Fred Dixon will depart his current post in June. | JEN DAVIS/NYC TOURISM + CONVENTIONS

BLOOMBERG

BUCK ENNIS

This tenant’s $2-per-square-foot lease may be the best bargain in Midtown

The U.S. Postal Service’s ultra-low rent in the area should please Congress, which has ordered the agency to stabilize nances after 20 years of declines in rst-class mail volume.

Real estate brokers love to gab about who’s paying the most for Midtown o ce or retail space. But who’s paying the least? e U.S. Postal Service can lay a strong claim to that honor.

For 500,000 square feet of space at 909 ird Ave., the post o ce pays $2.23 per square foot in base rent, according to a report this month from bond-rating rm KBRA. at’s three times the price of a rstclass stamp and 96% below the market rate of $55 per square foot for the space, according to a 2021 appraisal.

Knowing a good deal when it has one, last October the nancially strapped Postal Service exercised a ve-year extension for its space at the corner of East 54th Street, KBRA said. It has two more extensions.

Vornado owns building

e postal branch, named for Franklin D. Roosevelt, is part of a larger processing center housed in the rst four oors of the 1.4

million-square-foot tower. A post o ce has occupied the space since the tower was developed in 1968, and spokesman Xavier Hernandez says it houses 500 employees who process and deliver packages to nine other post o ces on the east side of Manhattan.

“They work three different eight-hour shifts covering a 24hour workday,” Hernandez said.

e building is owned by Vornado Realty Trust, which declined to comment. It is 95% occupied, KBRA said, a high gure for an older Midtown building. Tenants include the marketing rm Weber Shandwick, pharmaceuticals maker AbbVie, wealth manager Geller & Co., and law rm Morrison Cohen, who collectively pay a weighted average rent of $67 per square foot, Vornado said in a ling. e building’s annual property tax bill is $14.5 billion and the city Department of Fi-

nance estimates its market value is $308 million. e ground underneath 909 ird was acquired in 2021 by Colonnade Management from Vornado for $192 million.

The Postal Service in October exercised a ve-year extension for the space, according to KBRA. It has two more extensions.

In 2021 a di erent bond-rating rm, DBRS Morningstar, said the post o ce paid $14 a square foot. It wasn’t clear whether the rent rate has changed over time.

Government agencies often use their clout as long-term tenants that absorb a lot of space to negotiate below-market rents.

e New York City Department of Education pays $40.73 a square foot for nearly 300,000 square feet at 26 Broadway, according to a 2022 KBRA report, and the state Court of Claims pays $44 a square foot in the same building, which is owned by the Chetrit family. e market rate is $47.50 a square foot, KBRA said. Some agencies negotiate even better

deals. e Board of Education Retirement System, a pension plan for school crossing guards and janitors, says it leases 51,000 square feet at 55 Water St. in the Financial District at just $3.25 a square foot. Altogether the city leases 22 million square feet of privately owned space, according to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, more than triple the 7 million square feet leased by New York’s largest commercial tenant, JPMorgan.

USPS operating revenue dipped

e Postal Service’s ultra-low rent in Midtown should please Congress, which has ordered the agency to stabilize nances after 20 years of declines in rst-class mail volume. e post o ce posted operating revenue of $78 billion last year, a 0.4% decrease resulting in a $2.3 billion “controllable loss” that excluded pension expenses. When raising the cost of stamps in January for the third time in 12 months, the post o ce cited in ationary pressures and “the e ects of a previously defective pricing model.”

The post of ce at 909 Third Ave. | BUCK ENNIS

Aaron Elstein

WHO OWNS THE BLOCK

East Village rental project suggests how developers leverage ‘taxpayer buildings’

An under-built real estate property can serve as a type of placeholder until a block appreciates in value

C. J. Hughes

To passers-by, a building that’s considerably shorter than the ones around it may be little more than a curious feature of a streetscape.

But the odd- tting structure could also be a shrewd real estate strategy. Indeed, landlords often depend upon under-built real estate to serve as a type of placeholder until a block appreciates in value. Making the wait easier is the fact that rents collected from the spaces, usually retail berths, are often just enough to cover basic costs — hence the industry term for such sites: “taxpayer buildings.”

A low-slung site giving way to an apartment complex in the East Village at East Second Street and First Avenue may show the taxpayer approach at work.

Romah Management Corp., an investment arm of the Ashourzadeh family, acquired the three buildings that make up the corner, Nos. 33, 35 and 37 First Ave., in 1984 for $282,000, according to the city register. Although the neighborhood was considered rougher-edged back then, the price can still seem rock-bottom cheap even when adjusting for in ation. It is equivalent to about $850,000 today.

Slightly di erent pizza-makers and masseuses have leased the addresses’ spaces. But true to taxpayer form, the sites haven’t changed much at all in the four decades since.

at’s not to say that the surrounding area hasn’t sharply transformed, however. Decades of gentri cation, assimilation and investment have turned a neighborhood that was a rst-stop for immigrants in the early 20th century and later a low-cost bohemian enclave into one of Lower Manhattan’s trendiest neighborhoods today.

And the reinvention has unsurprisingly powered a rise in real estate values, even in recent years. e East Village’s current median sale price is $1.2 million, a 75% bump from 2010, the oldest year available, according to StreetEasy data. Rents, too, have shot up over the same time period, to $3,800 a month from $2,500 a month, a gain of 50%, the site said.

Recognizing how much the East Village has evolved since the Reagan years, Romah might have decided that its holdings at Nos. 33-37 should be taxpayers no more. (Not every structure on the site is a taxpayer, however. No. 37, which Romah will also raze, is a ve-story former rental building.)

In the last few weeks, the rm began prepping the site for a 22-unit development that will be a market-rate rental, said Romah principal Manouchechr Ashourzadeh, who goes by Manny, in a brief interview. But he otherwise declined to comment on the history of the site, which will now have the address 88 E. Second St. and also feature a storefront.

60 E. SECOND ST.

Discovering nearly an acre of tranquil green space in the middle of a city block may seem like the stuff of urban fantasies. But the grass and trees that beckon through the wrought-iron fence posts at this address are no dream. They are part of the New York City Marble Cemetery, which was incorporated in 1831 and became an early bene ciary of local landmark protections in 1969. Though the walled-off oasis has a bit of a trapped-in-amber feel, the organization is still active. Its most recent internment happened on July 7, 2020, when Helen D. Roosevelt, a Covid victim, joined several previous members of her well-known clan. (Born Helen Sparrow, Roosevelt married John Roosevelt, a relative of former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt, in 1959.) Other Roosevelts have bounced around a bit, like James Roosevelt, who was buried at Marble Cemetery from 1863 to 1876 before being relocated to Midtown’s Roosevelt Hospital (now Mount Sinai West), only to be re-interred in the Village again in 1995, according to the nonpro t organization’s own meticulous history. Others with White House ties, though, left never to return, like James Monroe, the fth U.S. president, who was at Marble Cemetery from 1831 to 1858 before being packed up for Virginia. Monroe lay in vault 147, which is near the center aisle, about four rows back.

35 FIRST AVE.

Landlord Romah does not know why the northwestern corner of East Second Street and First Avenue is under-built compared to its surroundings. But a major event in April 1863 appears to have altered the face of the block. The Allan Hay & Co., a block-sized factory that said it made “family soaps of superior quality and uniform nish,” suffered from a re that caused $200,000 in damages and destroyed its block-long, multi-story site, according to news reports from the time. Tenement-style apartment buildings seem to have quickly lled in most of the holes on the block left by the burned buildings. But for unknown reasons, the corner was not similarly developed back then. In the 1940s, No. 35 housed an A&P grocery store, photos show. Decades later, a series of pizza shops leased the narrow single-story structure. In March, city of cials gave Romah the green light to raze the building.

29 FIRST AVE.

Designed by William Jose, a locally proli c German-born architect who was also behind Avenue A’s Pyramid Club, this ve-story brick-andterracotta building opened in 1871, according to historian Francis Morrone. In 1918, when its neighborhood was awash in waves of European immigration, the ground- oor retail space welcomed a hardware store that’s currently the appliance emporium Gringer & Sons; later expanding, it today also vends fridges, ranges and air conditioners in next-door 27 First as well. The store’s striking ruby-and-cobalt neon sign was the work of Charles Karsch, a Russian immigrant who also lent his touch to the shimmering shingle hanging at the West Village’s White Horse Tavern. The Forman family owned the site for years, according to the city register, but sold the property in 1982 for $150,000 (about $500,000 in 2024 dollars) to developer Mobile Realty Co., which converted the upstairs rentals into co-ops, records show. But the 22-unit elevator building, which uses the address 87 E. Second St., has sold slowly, as some units change hands only after longtime renters depart. In fact, a renovated two-bedroom unit long owned by the sponsor traded this winter for $1.2 million, according to StreetEasy.

33 FIRST AVE.

In the mid-19th century, a re devoured a soap factory that once stood here. A few years later, in 1878, an elevated subway line went up along First, casting shadows and possibly discouraging development. The short building on this corner, more diminutive than nearby structures, seems to date to sometime after the subway’s arrival. (The elevated tracks, part of a Second Avenue line, which confusingly ran its trains along First downtown, was demolished in 1942.) In recent years, a laundry leased No. 33’s ground oor while a massage parlor called Waterfront Spa rented its upstairs level. In early April, wrecking crews had reduced the building to brick walls, as landlord Romah Management Corp. prepares to raze the structure and two others on the block to develop a 7-story, 22-unit apartment building. Romah, a real estate entity associated with the Ashourzadeh family, appears to have pursued a classic “taxpayer” strategy with the site: collect rents for a bare-bones space to cover property costs while holding out until a neighborhood improves, then take advantage of allowable zoning for a new development.

84 E. SECOND ST.

This 5-story, 8-unit Italianate-style rental building is owned by the same developer now busy at the corner, Romah Management Corp., which bought it from the rm Divot Co. in 1984 as part of its bulk purchase that also included Nos. 33, 35 and 37 First Ave. Stretching a deep 60 feet into its lot, No. 84 appears to offer peeks of the nearby New York City Marble Cemetery from its upper oors. A two-bedroom, one-bath unit in the walkup building was asking $4,300 a month last summer. In 1940, the building’s two retail spaces offered a men’s clothing store and grocery, according to a photo of No. 84 taken as part of a Great Depression-era program to document every single New York building. In recent decades, the westernmost berth appears to have been colonized as an apartment, a not uncommon occurrence during the neighborhood’s hardscrabble past. But a vintage clothing store opened about a decade ago, and a sushi restaurant is there today. The right berth, meanwhile, appears to be used by Romah as an of ce. This year, city tax of cials put No. 84’s market value at $4.6 million, meaning it would likely sell for $9 million if put up for sale. That is down from No. 84’s $5.4 million valuation in 2022, records show, though on par with its pre-Covid price.

37 FIRST AVE.

24 FIRST AVE.

This building, which is also part of Romah’s development site, will perhaps represent the biggest loss when it goes. A ve-story former tenement, No. 37 once had eight apartments, even though none appear to have been rent-stabilized, according to state housing records. The last to rent, in 2021, was a studio that asked $1,700 a month. Back in 1984, when the neighborhood was far less gentried, Romah bought the building and three others near it for $282,000, according to the city register. For many years, a Chinese restaurant, New Double Dragon, occupied its sidewalk level berth. But in the mid-1970s, the narrow space housed an Indian restaurant, one of many to emerge from a hub of Indian cuisine centered on East Sixth Street (though most were owned by immigrants from Sylhet, Bangladesh). In 1968 the Ahmed family opened the rst such spot, Shah Bagh at 320 E. Sixth St., which today features Japanese eatery AOI Kitchen. Similarly, most of the two-dozen curry-centric restaurants that packed the area in its 1990s heyday are gone. Meanwhile, the Department of Buildings approved No. 37 for demolition on March 18.

Some sites seem to embrace the status quo for generations. Others cram a whirlwind of existences into a short span. The modest mid-block prewar building that formerly stood at this site was a Russian bath house in the mid-20th century, and a few decades later, it had become Gordon’s, a sort of pool-themed single-room occupancy hotel. Cots, which could be rented for $10 a week, were popular with “truck drivers, dock workers and drifters,” according to a 1964 article in The New York Times. The Club Baths, which served a gay male clientele, ourished afterward in the 1970s and 1980s, before Hayne Suthon bought the property, which angles through to East Second Street, for $3 million in 1986. Suthon, a tax lawyer turned restaurateur, opened the Ancient Rome-themed restaurant Cave Canem (Latin for “beware of dog”) a year later. But Suthon’s follow-up act, as of 1993, was probably the site’s highest-pro le occupant: Lucky Cheng’s, an Asian eatery staffed by drag queens and trans women. Downstairs was a bar, Stella’s, where one of the old baths was reinvented as an oversized gold sh bowl. In 2018, Brooklyn-based Rybak Development purchased the entire property for $11.5 million, according to the city register, and razed it for The 101 Condo, a 7-story, 22-unit offering completed in 2022 that earned Rybak $43 million, according to its offering plan. A high-end Indian restaurant, Bungalow, opened on its ground oor in March. Lucky Cheng’s, meanwhile, has rotated through different homes in Times Square since Suthon died in 2014 and currently lends its name to a dinner-anddrag show at Laurie Beechman Theater on West 42nd Street.

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An AI chatbot isn’t going to save Eric Adams

The new technologies amount to brief distractions. The mayor’s administration is failing to adequately govern the city.

Mayor Eric Adams, like many powerful politicians who have come before him, is enchanted with new, shiny objects.

Governing is a bore. Why not let a quick-fix from the future solve all the ugly problems of today? Policing can be smoothed over with something called BolaWrap. The Ekomille can drown all the rats for us.

Adams hasn’t met a dubious gadget he won’t champion — for a little while, at least.

should be likened to MapQuest. “Bad things were happening,” she said. “But now MapQuest is almost perfected. Same thing.”

ese days, Adams is excited about the city’s AI chatbot and scanners that can test for weapons on the subway system. Do they work? For Adams and his aides, that’s almost beside the point. e chatbot has claimed city businesses are allowed to steal workers’ tips. e chatbot has told tenants they cannot withhold rent if a landlord fails to make needed repairs. ( ey can.) e chatbot still thinks the city minimum wage is $15 an hour. (It rose to $16 in January.)

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, chief advisor to Adams and perhaps the most powerful bureaucrat in local government, told reporters that the chatbot

Same thing, indeed. A private company working out the kinks on GPS software is no di erent than the largest municipal government in America routinely spewing false information. LewisMartin simply wants more time. Maybe sometime in 2026, the chatbot can gure out tenant law. e scanners, provided by Evolv Technology, claim to mix physical detection software with AI to indicate whether someone is carrying a gun or a knife. Adams recently boasted they’ve been deployed at city hospitals and they work.

But Hell Gate found that the scanners installed at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx triggered an enormous number of false positives. Over a seven-month period in 2022, 194,000 people passed through Jacobi’s scanners, and in just over 50,000 of those instances, the scanners produced an alarm — an incidence rate of about 26%.

Of those 50,000 alarms, about 85% were false positives.

With time, the scanners did not

improve. e alarm ratio, according to Hell Gate, never fell below 25%.

Failure, as seen with the chatbot, will not dim the Adams administration’s enthusiasm for the product. ese sorts of scanners, placed randomly in the subway, could lead to numerous civil liberties violations, as police stop and frisk straphangers over false positives. ere’s little evidence the scanners will ever work; the logistics of such an operation, with 472 subway stations to cover, would seem to make it all the more impossible. Imagine, for a moment, Evolv scanners ringing out with false positives in the middle of Penn Station.

Political inertia

e chatbot, weapons scanners and other technologies all t a certain pattern for Adams. With his administration failing to adequately govern the city — few new policy initiatives of note have emanated from City Hall in more than two years — and patronage hires mucking up key agencies, they amount to brief distractions, failed charm o ensives aimed at voters who have probably moved on. Adams is already the most unpopular mayor in modern times. A chatbot

won’t save him.

What might, ultimately, is political inertia. Incumbents usually win re-election. Adams, barring an indictment or conviction in an ongoing corruption investigation, will run for mayor again next year, and he could very well triumph. His lone challenger so far, former city comptroller Scott Stringer, is a Democrat he already beat. Others might run, including Andrew Cuomo, but there’s a scenario where

indictments never come and Adams manages a second term.

Or Adams can become the rst one-term mayor since David Dinkins, who at least had the excuse of governing in an era of higher crime and racial strife, and trying to fend o a charismatic reactionary in Rudy Giuliani. Most of Adams’ political wounds are self-in icted. e chatbot won’t win any converts.

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

Landlord poised to hand over retail site in Herald Square

By C. J. Hughes

Wharton Properties seems ready to hand over the keys in Herald Square.

e major retail landlord and its partners have agreed to an “optional default” at 11 W. 34th St., which clears the way for lender Wells Fargo to foreclose on the property, according to a new court ling.

Wharton, which owns the site with SL Green Realty Corp. and the Cohen family, based on property records, missed a January 2023 deadline to fully pay o a $23 million mortgage on the property, a 25-foot-wide prewar building that has had Foot Locker as a tenant for years.

Wharton and SL Green took control of No. 11 in 2010 after purchasing a $12 million distressed mortgage note on the site, which once had a branch of the Cohenowned Conway Stores chain. e narrow, single-tenant structure, which faces the Empire State Building, is on a Wharton-dominant strip. e company, headed by founder Je Sutton, also controls retail real estate at 15, 21, 27, 29 and 40 W. 34th St., according to Wharton’s website.

2016 re nancing

In 2016 Wells Fargo re nanced an existing loan for the 17,200square-foot building in a $23 million deal, according to the April 1 ling in Manhattan Supreme Court. Wells Fargo is seeking to sell No. 11 to recoup its loan and also cover interest and attorney fees.

Wharton Properties and its partners have agreed to an “optional default” at 11 W. 34th St., which clears the way for lender Wells Fargo to foreclose on the property.

e sneaker chain announced last year it would shutter 400 stores in North America by 2026 in an e ort to shrink its real estate footprint, though the No. 11 outpost was open April 2.

e loan’s principal had originally been due in January 2021, but the landlord group exercised options to extend the deadline till last year, the ling says.

Wharton has not yet led a response in the case, and an email sent to Sutton was not returned. Also, an SL Green spokeswoman had no comment, and the Cohens

could not be reached by press time.

But for the past couple of years, commercial landlords have been struggling to refinance maturing mortgages at favorable interest rates as loan costs remain above average. Other landlords in the same boat have considered converting commercial sites to residential ones or walking away entirely.

No. 11’s financial problems come amid an otherwise banner run for Wharton, which in recent months has sold a staggering $1.8 billion worth of real estate in a higher-end retail area, Fifth Avenue in Midtown. Indeed, Sutton unloaded 720 and 724 Fifth to fashion house Prada for $822 million before selling nearby 717 Fifth to Gucci parent Kering for $963 million. SL Green was also a seller in the Kering transaction.

somewhat contradictory trajectory in the post-pandemic period.

Retail real estate has followed a

ough vacancy rates have been steadily dropping, giving hope to the sector, some big retailers like Target have closed up shop because of what they claim are high shoplifting rates.

SL Green, New York’s largest ofce landlord, meanwhile, has enjoyed a recent improvement in its share price even though overall daily o ce occupancy rates are still short of pre-Covid levels, and Manhattan's vacancy rate hit a record 18% this winter.

Ross Barkan

Mayor Eric Adams unveiled an AI-powered scanner last month that he said could detect weapons in the subway system — but the city’s chosen vendor has a murky track record, according to some reports. | ED REED/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE/FLICKR

City takes developer Chetrit Group to court over failure to maintain scaffolding outside hotel near Times Square

e city is bringing one of New York’s most high-pro le development rms to criminal court over its failure to maintain sca olding outside of what was once considered the dirtiest hotel in America.

Not much more than a year after the Chetrit Group purchased the then-shuttered Hotel Carter for a whopping $191.8 million in 2015 from a company controlled by the heirs of Vietnamese businessman Tran Dinh Truong did the proli c real estate rm put up the unsightly structure around its facade.

Nearly a decade later, it’s still there, and the Department of Buildings is pushing to have it taken down through the legal system.

Company President Meyer Chetrit and his rm could potentially be on the hook for thousands of dollars in nes pending the results of the case, which was led late last month in Manhattan criminal court. Court documents are not publicly available, and a spokesperson for the legal system did not respond to a request for comment.

e case against Chetrit Group is the latest in the DOB’s ongoing effort to rid the city of its ubiquitous

sca olding, meant to keep pedestrians safe as facade work is done to buildings but which routinely stays up for years and becomes an eyesore.

Dozens of violations

e department currently has 43 open criminal cases against building owners with long-standing sheds, according to DOB spokesperson Ryan Degan. Although the goal of bringing criminal cases is not to win a conviction, Degan said, building owners can be charged with misdemeanors over “aggravated nancial penalties” and a court order to x the building.

Chetrit Group has amassed dozens of violations over the last decade for improperly maintaining both the 22-story building itself, at 250 W. 43rd St. between Seventh and Eighth avenues, along with the shed outside of it — resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in nes. e DOB did not immediately respond to questions whether Chetrit Group was up to date in its payment of these nes. And late last year, the DOB slapped Chetrit with an emergency work order

that the company has yet to resolve. Legally, a building’s owner cannot remove a shed until the underlying problems requiring its installation have been xed, the agency said.

By 2014 Hotel Carter had topped user-generated travel advice platform TripAdvisor’s dirtiest hotel

Five Boro ughs ONE STAG E

survey for the third time in a row, thanks to claims of vermin infestations, building violations and even a murder on site, according to multiple reports at the time.

In 2022 Chetrit had reportedly planned a modern makeover for the decrepit hotel, near bustling Times Square, securing at the time

a $185 million construction loan for its redevelopment. But it’s not clear where exactly that revamp stands now—attempts by Crain’s to reach Chetrit Group were unsuccessful.

e rm is due in court May 14, according to information from the city.

Julianne Cuba

Hotel Carter at 250 W. 43rd St. | BUCK ENNIS

City should celebrate — and learn from — the road to victory for Willets Point project

The city scored a major goal ursday by approving a new development in Willets Point that will usher in a ordable housing and an economic boost to a woefully underutilized corner of the city.

e project, once fully built, will include a 25,000-seat soccer stadium, 1,400 a ordable apartments, a 250-room hotel, 80,000 square feet of retail space and a public school. e site, located in a desolate part of Queens deemed the “Valley of Ashes” in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s e Great Gatsby, will generate $6 billion in economic impact over 30 years and $4 million per year in rent for the city, while creating 14,000 construction jobs. e formerly neglected area even boasts surprisingly good access to transit.

e road to victory was a long and hard one that spanned multiple mayoral administrations. But after nearly 20 years of debate, the stadium is expected to open in early 2027. e construction of an additional 1,100 apart-

ments already started in December. e hard-fought triumph should serve as an example of what can happen when the city

gets out of its own way and truly embraces teamwork. Even the community board ended up voting unanimously in favor of

e minimum pay rate for app-based delivery workers is a win

for

In June 2023, the Adams administration led the nation when it announced a first-of-its-kind minimum pay rate for app-based restaurant delivery workers. For years delivery workers were paid poverty wages by the apps and lacked crucial protections, especially during the pandemic, and we are proud of the work we have done to provide these workers with more dignified and predictable pay.

Workers are making a more livable wage

On Monday, April 1st the first-annual pay increase kicked in, bringing workers’ pay to at least $19.56 per hour before tips. The minimum pay rate has been a huge success and a win for New Yorkers, but it’s important to stay focused on the facts since some apps continue to spread misinformation and sow confusion among workers and consumers. As part of the law, delivery apps are required to submit monthly reports to us so that we can ensure that they are complying with the minimum pay rate. The apps’ monthly compliance data underscores just how much of a success the new pay rate has been. Here are the facts:

ere is no question that workers are earning more money thanks to the minimum pay rate. Almost overnight, these workers went from being paid a rate of $5.39 per hour before tips — far below the minimum wage — to earning at least $17.96 per hour before tips. In just the rst two months since we began enforcing the minimum pay rate, apps paid workers $16.3 million more per week across the workforce — from $9.9 million per week to $26.2 million per week.  at’s a staggering 165% increase based on data from Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub. is means more than $848 million more annually is going into the pockets of our hardworking delivery workers. For the typical worker, this is an increase of more than $14,000 per year.

Apps are using workers’ time more ef ciently

Because apps now pay for the time workers spend “on-call,” the amount of time workers spend waiting for trips has

decreased by a cumulative 209,000 hours, while the amount of time spent on trips has remained steady, improving the use of workers’ time. e number of workers performing deliveries has also remained the same before and after the rate. is means that, despite apps’ threats, the pay increase has allowed workers to earn more money while maintaining the same volume of work.

Consumers and restaurants have not been negatively impacted

e compliance data also shows that there have been no negative impacts on the industry as a whole.  ere was no change in the number of deliveries performed by workers for Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub, which together average about 2.6 million deliveries a week, both before and after we began enforcing the rate, indicating a robust food delivery industry for restaurants and consumers alike.

Of course, there is still work to be done. e data shows that tips have decreased by $6.6 million — in large part because Uber and DoorDash made changes in their apps to make it more di cult for consumers to add a tip While this is troubling, the net increase in earnings is still

the development.

It should also serve as a cautionary tale: if the city hopes to maintain its edge, not every ambitious project can be the subject of a decades-long saga. e timing of the approval, which took place on the same day the Department of Planning released its City of Yes housing plan, is apt.

Part of the proposal outlines plans to increase housing, which the city is in desperate need of, by rewriting zoning laws to ease restrictions across boroughs. For example, reducing limits on housing density in low-density commercial districts to allow apartments to be built on top of ground- oor retail. Another proposal is to remove minimum requirements for apartment size to enable “no-frills studios,” for residents who want to live alone.

ose tasked with architecting solutions to the city’s biggest puzzles, like housing, would be wise to take inspiration from the Willets Point project and learn from its pitfalls.

an impressive $9.7 million per week. Removing or hiding the option to tip punishes workers, lowering their overall potential earnings and taking choice away from consumers. We do not endorse these business decisions, and we urge the City Council to explore legislation to reverse these changes that will give us the power to continue holding apps accountable.

e minimum pay rate was the result of years of advocacy from workers and worker organizations, and extensive research and policymaking by the city. e Adams Administration is committed to improving the lives of working New Yorkers and we are proud of the fact that the minimum pay rate has lifted these workers up nancially so they can better provide for themselves, and their families, and better participate in our shared local economy.

We urge all delivery workers with questions about the Minimum Pay Rate, or complaints about the apps’ compliance, to reach out to us immediately at nyc.gov/ DeliveryApps or by calling 311.

Vilda Vera Mayuga is the commissioner for the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

PERSONAL VIEW

Delivering on the vibrant promise of higher education

At a time when students and parents are questioning the costs and bene ts of a college degree, it’s worth remembering two things: that a good education is priceless, and some colleges, like Brooklyn, remain absolute bargains. ese facts are of particular importance right now as high school students are applying to college.

It’s easy to see why many people think the promise of higher education is broken. Every year, wealthy parents enhance their children’s chances of being admitted to the most exclusive institutions by hiring admissions consultants, essay-writing coaches, and SAT prep tutors. Wellinformed and well-o parents thereby try to game the college admissions system.

whether college is worth the investment as they ponder the debt it creates.

is is not the case, however, at Brooklyn College, one of 25 campuses at the City University of New York (CUNY).

High school students enrolling here are often the rst in their families to attend college. ey and their parents are not looking to game the system — they are looking for opportunities to move ahead in life, and they know that Brooklyn College is the place to achieve those dreams.

At the same time, there is great concern about the high cost of college today. Tuition has skyrocketed over the last two decades, growing at twice the speed of in ation. If a student lives on campus, the average total cost for four years of attendance for a bachelor’s degree is about $100,000 at public colleges and $225,000 at private colleges. e rich need not worry, of course, but others are left wondering

PERSONAL VIEW

Instead of sinking students into debt, Brooklyn College lifts them out of poverty. Tuition at the college is less than $7,000 a year. Because of state tuition assistance across the University system, about 65% of all CUNY students graduate with no debt. A comprehensive 2017 study showed that CUNY propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all eight Ivy League colleges plus Stanford, Duke, M.I.T., and the University of Chicago combined. What’s more, CUNY o ers students world-class educational opportunities. At Brooklyn College, the faculty has included Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur “genius grant” fellows, Grammy, Tony, and Oscar

winners, and scholars working across critical elds, developing new ovarian cancer therapies; using muonic x-rays to identify the composition and value of Rome’s earliest coins; designing adaptive computer software for those with disabilities; and building new tools to predict and prevent urban ooding.

As a result,  Forbes and others routinely rank Brooklyn among colleges that are the “Best Bang for Your Buck.” Each dollar a student invests in a Brooklyn College education reaps $7.30 in cumulative value for them, a 21.7% annual rate of return. is value adds up. On average, a Brooklyn College undergraduate degree brings an alum $41,200 more in annual earnings, or $1.7 million over a lifetime.

Buying into procurement reform

In a city prized as one of the world’s greatest shopping destinations, there’s no bigger buyer than New York City’s government. Between July 2022 and June 2023, city agencies awarded $41.1 billion in contracts for goods, services, and construction, surpassing the entire budgets of many state governments. Despite the crucial role procurement plays in ful lling the daily needs of New Yorkers, most residents are unaware of the city's purchasing process, which is essential to keep the city running smoothly. ose familiar with the process have long criticized the complex, and slow-moving system, where notable achievements are overshadowed by the outdated legal structure. e path forward is through reform, including legislation the city’s Capital Task Force has proposed in Albany to modernize public hearings.

cials into the wee hours was anathema to good governance and had a negative impact on accountability to the public for contracting decisions.

However, we are still grappling with rules and concepts that pre-date the 1989 charter, now 35 years old, and that bear little relation to its original goals.

A perfect example of this is the requirement under Section 326 of the charter that a public hearing be held for almost any contract with a value of $100,000 or more, a threshold unchanged since 1989. ese hearings, modeled on the Board of Estimate era, provide only the illusion of transparency and public engagement without delivering any of the bene ts.

doubled and the total value of New York’s procurement contracts have increased more than sixfold. In Fiscal Year 2023, contracts under $100,000 added up to around only $700 million, or about 2 percent of total procurement value.

Brooklyn College is not just a good investment for our students. It’s a good investment for our state. Each dollar taxpayers invest in Brooklyn College, for example, brings $3.70 of cumulative value to the economy. Every year, the college needs funding for its mandatory cost increases, labor contracts, and critical capital projects for facilities in which such vital mentoring, teaching, and learning occurs. It’s what our students deserve, and our economy needs.

e New York State motto is “Excelsior,” which means “ever upward.” It’s an accurate description of what Brooklyn College o ers its students, and a motto that mirrors the vibrant promise of academic excellence and economic access.

Preparing inconsequential notices and attending empty meetings sap time and energy from skilled procurement o cials and agency leaders. Meanwhile, the vendors and contractors who provide residents with vital city services are forced to endure delays.

e way the city buys is rooted in its charter reform of 1989, prior to which the Board of Estimate, imposed upon the city by the state during the scal crisis of the 1970s, would gather in marathon sessions lasting into the early morning approving rounds of contracts — a model distinctly disfavored under the 1989 reforms. As noted at the time, the perception of contracting decisions being the subject of political maneuvering between various elected o -

e intentions behind having a contract public hearing requirement are no doubt admirable — aiming to be transparent and accountable — but the reality is that the public hearings accomplish neither.

Almost no one attends the hearings and few, if any, comments are received.

e burden, however, is real, with city agencies conducting over 700 hearings in the past year, each of which adds about three weeks to the procurement process.

Consider that the $100,000 threshold set in 1989 has never been adjusted higher for in ation, even as prices have more than

ere is a better way to do this. We can maximize public transparency in city contracting through technology and data tools that demystify the process and meet people where they are in terms of government interaction. is is the way forward highlighted by good government groups worldwide and the Adams administration has taken unprecedented steps to make this a reality in New York City, launching the PASSPort Public transparency portal to provide the public and potential vendors meaningful information.

Fortunately, Albany can unlock a better alternative. During the last legislative session, at the urging of the Adams administration, the State Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill S7383 (Sepulveda), but the State Assembly failed to vote on it

(A.8864, Rajkumar). e State Senate has passed the bill again in the current session, and it is awaiting action by the Assembly. We urge the state legislature to reconsider this crucial reform in the current session and we will be up in Albany to advocate for it.

e proposed bill would amend the City charter to replace public hearings with a seven-day online public-comment period, similar to the notice-and-comment rulemaking procedure used by administrative agencies, and more typical of municipal and state contracting nationwide. It would also authorize the Procurement Policy Board to set a di erent threshold to trigger the online comment requirement, allowing for public participation in high-dollar contracts deserving of increased attention while accounting for the growth of city contracting and in ation since 1989.

Procurement reform can unlock enormous public value by streamlining the city’s arduous and outdated system, all for relatively little political capital. at’s something New York’s leaders should buy into.

Lisa M. Flores is the Chief City Procurement O cer and director of the Mayor’s O ce of Contract Services.

Michelle J. Anderson is the president of Brooklyn College.

The CUNY system is vital for rst-generation college students looking for opportunities to move ahead in life, writes Brooklyn College President Michelle J. Anderson. | BLOOMBERG

New technology and data tools can demystify the city’s procurement process and meet people where they are, writes Lisa M. Flores, chief city procurement of cer and director of the Mayor’s Of ce of Contract Services. | BLOOMBERG

Redevelopment at historic Sears building in Brooklyn lands more than $300 million in construction nancing

Julianne Cuba

e controversial Brooklyn businessman behind the renovation of a historic Sears building in the borough recently secured a massive construction loan to move the project forward.

Clipper Equity  — led by David Bistricer, whose rm has twice landed itself a spot on the city’s worst landlords list — has scored more than $300 million to construct what will ultimately become known as Bedford Square, spanning four buildings, more than 40,000 square feet of residential space and three city blocks in the heart of Flatbush, not far from the iconic Kings eater.

cant Sears Roebuck & Co. department store at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Beverly Road, which in 2020 housed a Covid-19 testing center in its parking lot. e Art-Deco building was designed by Chicago architects Nimmons, Carr and Wright. In 1932, when the retail store opened during the height of the Great Depression, Eleanor Roosevelt famously addressed the attending crowd.

$430 million construction cost

Amenities in the residential portion of the complex will include a coworking space, a gym, a yoga studio, a pet spa and about 20,000 square feet of outdoor green space.

e centerpiece of the redevelopment site is the currently va-

e landmarked structure has 140,000 square feet of available commercial space above-grade and once refurbished may include a grocery store, a charter school or a medical o ce, according to a Clipper Equity representative.  Bistricer purchased the site for more than $90 million in 2022, according to city records. And total construction will cost about $430 million, according to the representative.

Amenities in the residential portion of the complex will include a

Green Market Report

coworking space, a gym, a yoga studio, a pet spa and about 20,000 square feet of outdoor green space with dog runs, basketball courts and tennis courts.

e rst building in the complex, building A, at 2201 Beverly Road, is planned to include 296 apartments, according to the Clipper Equity representative. Building B, at 2366 Bedford Ave. will include 354 units; building C, at 2363 Bedford Ave., will include 132 units; and building D, at 158 Lott St., will include 95 apartments. Clipper will set aside 30% of the units at all four residential towers as a ordable housing o ered at 130% of the area median income, or $165,230 for a family of three.

Bistricer and his family have a checkered past in Brooklyn real estate, and especially at a ordable housing complexes. More than a decade ago, tenants of Flatbush Gardens — which at one point had amassed nearly 3,000 housing code violations — took him to court over his failure to uphold a contract in which he said he’d improve the development’s commu-

nity space in exchange for a letter of support for his attempt to take over Starrett City. e feds ultimately rejected his endeavor to purchase the massive housing complex in East New York, now known as Spring Creek Towers, but Bistricer was able to re nance the Flatbush Gardens property for nearly $330 million several years ago, multiple outlets reported at

WOMEN IN CANNABIS AWA RD S

the time.

Clipper Equity, which purchased the Bedford Avenue and Beverly Road properties a few years back, declined to provide more information on its recent $300 million loan but said thenancing came from various sources, and work is expected to wrap in 2026. S. Wieder Architect is the architect of record.

Clipper Equity plans to redevelop the site of the old Sears building at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Beverly Road by constructing four new buildings that will span three city blocks.

S. WIEDER ARCHITECT

NOTABLE LEADERS IN SUSTAINABILITY

Public opinion on environmental issues has shifted signi cantly in the past decade, with a growing number of Americans expressing concern about climate change and supporting policies to address it. At the same time, the meaning and measure of corporate success has gradually shifted from one focused entirely on pro t to one that held space for environmental considerations as well.

Many leaders committed to environmental consciousness have emerged. We are proud to celebrate the 2024 Notable Leaders in Sustainability here. Read on to learn about individuals rede ning corporate commitments by overseeing decarbonization policy, designing environmentallyconscious housing, heading sustainable investing and more.

METHODOLOGY: The honorees featured here were nominated by their peers, companies or other acquaintances. Crain’s New York Business editors selected the honorees based on their accomplishments, track record of success and contributions to their industry and community, as outlined in the eligibility section of the nomination form.

Jessica Bailey

President and chief executive of cer, Nuveen Green Capital

Scope of work: Bailey oversees daily operations for Nuveen Green Capital, a leader in sustainable commercial real estate nancing solutions, acting as a liaison with parent company Nuveen and serving as company spokesperson.

Biggest professional win: Bailey led the rm’s expansion to more than three dozen states, achieved annual double digit origination growth and deployed more than $2 billion in private capital to C-PACE projects. Outside nancial returns, she aims to ensure that the company’s growth and lending activities directly correlate to the decarbonization of the built environment.

Other contributions: Bailey sits on the boards of PACENow, ClimateHaven and the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters. She is also a member of the Young President’s Organization.

Allison Bernett

Sustainability manager, Assembly OSM

Scope of work: Bernett directs strategy, collaborates across departments, sets sustainability objectives and coordinates initiatives from design to implementation.

Biggest professional win: Bernett enacted the company’s sustainability roadmap by working to align goals and market and regulatory pressures. She crafted a framework tailored to Assembly OSM’s distinctive capabilities while guiding sustainable innovations. Bernett has cultivated a vision of “climate positive” buildings, wherein architecture goes beyond a net zero impact to create tangible positive environmental effects.

Other contributions: Bernett helps lead educational efforts at Assembly OSM. She has also spoken twice at the New York City Build Expo’s sustainability track and previously presented research at the International Building Simulation Conference.

Donnel Baird

Founder and chief executive of cer, BlocPower

Scope of work: Baird is committed to addressing the intersection of climate change and social justice. Under his leadership, the energy equipment and climate tech company BlocPower operates in more than 43 metro areas across the country, impacting more than 4,700 families.

Biggest professional win: The New York City mayor’s of ce selected BlocPower to lead a precision employment initiative aimed at building a clean energy workforce in New York communities affected by gun violence. The company also received an investment of $37 million from the Mayor’s Of ce of Criminal Justice.

Other contributions: Baird sits on the boards of directors of organizations such as the New York Federal Reserve Bank and the Climate Reality Project.

Preeti Bhattacharji

Head of sustainable investing, J.P. Morgan Private Bank

Scope of work: Bhattacharji leverages a decade of experience administering sustainable investments across asset classes and return pro les.

Biggest professional win: At J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Bhattacharji designed and implemented a plan to expand the nancial institution’s sustainable investing platform in the U.S., which grew by $4.2 billion in 2023. Under her leadership, the team directed capital into sustainable investing, resulting in positive social and environmental outcomes. Bhattacharji also worked with a foundation to redesign capital deployment processes, helping create a new investment policy statement.

Other contributions: Bhattacharji is an advisory board member for the Columbia University Impact Investing Network, which educates students about environmental, social and governance and impact investing.

Sara Bayer

Director of sustainability and associate principal, Magnusson Architecture and Planning

Scope of work: Bayer manages projects with internal teams at Magnusson Architecture and Planning, which is centered on socially responsible housing and community development. Her projects include construction and renovation work and efforts to advise on the sustainability components of other projects.

Biggest professional win: Bayer led the rm’s engagement with the New York State Research and Development Authority’s Building of Excellence program. She is involved in two current ventures, overseeing early phase design studies focused on cost and health analyses related to technologies essential for low carbon operations.

Other contributions: She sits on the board of New York Passive House, serving on the policy and membership engagement committees.

Lynn Bodnar Kelly

Executive director, New York Restoration Project

Scope of work: Bodnar Kelly oversees a staff that stewards more than 80 acres of parkland and 52 community gardens throughout the ve boroughs of New York City. Under her leadership, the nonpro t New York Restoration Project has built more than 50 new green spaces across neighborhoods that were historically underserved.

Biggest professional win: Bodnar Kelly previously served as the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, where she organized a coalition of more than 200 organizations across the city to secure an investment of $44 million for the New York City Parks Department’s operating budget.

Other contributions: Bodnar Kelly previously served as senior vice president at the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Mona Benisi

Head of global sustainability real assets, Morgan Stanley Investment Management

Scope of work: With 17 years of industry experience, Benisi works with private infrastructure and real estate investment teams to develop and execute sustainability strategies at Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

Biggest professional win: Benisi has guided real estate portfolios toward achieving net zero carbon aspirations by 2050. Through analysis, innovation and collaboration, she helps those she works with cut emissions, save on costs and attract investors.

Other contributions: Outside of work, Benisi previously chaired the sustainability committee for the National Association for Real Estate Investment Managers, as well as the sustainability council for the National Association for Real Estate Investment Trust. In addition, she speaks frequently at conferences and workshops.

Sarah Bratton Hughes

Senior vice president, head of sustainable investing, American Century Investments

Scope of work: At the private investment management company American Century Investments, Bratton Hughes manages an environmental, social and governance investment platform and active ownership practices. She implements research and training, manages engagement and drives investment initiatives and product development.

Biggest professional win: Bratton Hughes launched S360 TM, a sustainability research platform that identi es and assesses material, sustainability-related risks and opportunities at the issuer level. She supported work with the sustainable investment council to advance initiatives in areas including integration, research tools and communications.

Other contributions: Bratton Hughes is the youngest (and rst female) president of the St. Francis College alumni board and an active member of the alumni association.

Christine Brozynski

Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright

Scope of work: At the law rm, Brozynski focuses on the nancing and development of renewable energy projects, including debt and tax equity nancings, commodity hedging arrangements, acquisitions and project documentation.

Biggest professional win: Brozynski represented the lenders responsible for the several billion-dollar debt nancing for the 339-mile Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, which would deliver 1,250 megawatts of clean and renewable hydropower from Quebec to New York City.

Other contributions: Brozynski is a member of Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energy and Young Professionals in Energy. She promotes careers in sustainability via speaking engagements and her involvement with the Princeton in Solar/ Cleantech organization.

Michael Capasso

Founder and president, C.A.C Industries

Scope of work: Michael Capasso leads C.A.C. Industries, an organization of approximately 400 employees performing heavy civil public improvement infrastructure work. He has acted as president for more than 30 years since founding the company.

Biggest professional win: Capasso led an initiative called “The 1% Challenge,” encouraging employees to make their daily activities more sustainable. The challenge provided cost-bene t to clients, increased recycling and led to the utilization of environmentally friendly construction equipment.

Other contributions: Capasso created the C.A.C. Cares Initiative, wherein project teams can apply for the organization to provide services to the communities in which they work. He sits on the Capital Reform Task Force alongside Mayor Eric Adams.

Carlos Cerezo Davila

Environmental design director,

Kohn Pedersen Fox

Scope of work: Leading the environmental performance team at the architectural rm, Cerezo Davila manages initiatives to minimize the environmental impact of projects and operations through an energy ef ciency-focused design approach.

Biggest professional win: Cerezo Davila created and manages a team that works to shift the approach from traditional “checklist sustainability” to evidence-driven assessments. His work also ensures that architectural projects foster accountability and meet contemporary sustainability standards.

Other contributions: Cerezo Davila has taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Center for Real Estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

$112B

Marshall Cox

Chief executive of cer, Kelvin

Scope of work: Kelvin is an energy management and electri cation platform for radiator-heated structures, where Cox leads a team of 32 focused on decarbonizing legacy buildings. Under his leadership, Kelvin raised $15 million in Series A funding.

Biggest professional win: Cox helped implement Cozy technology, which was of cially recognized as an energy ef ciency solution in the New York State Technical Resource Manual, qualifying it for utility rebates. Kelvin was also behind the comprehensive integration of Cozy technology across classrooms in Dewitt Clinton High School in the Bronx.

Other contributions: Cox is a member of the Building Energy Exchange, the Urban Green Council and the Urban Future Lab, and was an inaugural cohort participant in the The Clean Fight.

Zach Craun

Associate partner, COOKFOX Architects

Scope of work: At the architectural rm COOKFOX Architects, Craun works on projects that emphasizes contextual design while focusing on social and environmental responsibility. He leads his rm’s green and design teams for net zero single family residences, museums and events.

Biggest professional win: Craun was involved in the building of COOKFOX’s rst net zero project, Tyndall Point, a mass timber structure heated and cooled by a closed-loop geothermal system. The structure features an 80 kilowatt photovoltaic array and is equipped to store solar energy.

Other contributions: Craun chairs the facilities committee of the board of trustees of the De La Salle Academy in New York and serves as a board member of the Fontainebleau Association in France.

Karen Fang

Managing director and global head of sustainable nance, Bank of America

Scope of work: Fang works across Bank of America’s eight lines of business to drive the deployment of $1.5 trillion in sustainable nance capital by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions in nancing, supply chain and operations before 2050. She is a member of Bank of America’s management committee.

Biggest professional win: Fang has played an integral role in the launch of Bank of America’s sustainable nance commitments, guiding the bank’s sustainability vision so that it can deliver success for shareholders and clients.

Other contributions: Fang co-chairs the U.N. Global Investors for Sustainable Development blended nance task force and serves on the climate advisory council for the Rockefeller Foundation.

Steve Cohen

Senior vice dean, Columbia University School of Professional Studies

Scope of work: Cohen has spent the past four decades serving as a leader in sustainability and environmental policy and management, working at the EPA, under contract for the U.S. Department of Energy, and at SUNY Buffalo, West Virginia University and Columbia University.

Biggest professional win: Cohen has worked since the early 1980s to build graduate programs to train people to work effectively in public service and sustainability management. He continues to write about ways to build innovative and creative organizations.

Other contributions: Cohen is on the board of directors of Homes for the Homeless and serves as lead independent director of the board of directors for the Willdan Group.

Ken Colao

Founder, president and chief executive of cer, CNY Group

Scope of work: At the construction management rm, Colao oversees large-scale mixed-use projects, including conversions, adaptive reuse and the repurposing of obsolete buildings. He guides a team dedicated to sustainable business practices and construction methodologies.

Biggest professional win: Colao created an in-house sustainability team to standardize regenerative practices across projects, helping the company move toward obtaining B-Corp certi cation and establishing social and environmental performance standards.

Other contributions: Colao serves as vice chairman of the board of directors for the New Jersey Institute of Technology, chair of the board of advisors for the Hillier School of Architecture and Design and vice chairman of the board of governors for the New York Building Congress.

Liz Gallo

Chief executive of cer, WhyMaker

Scope of work: WhyMaker is a platform fostering educator retention and student engagement. Gallo aims to increase knowledge of clean energy and green careers by connecting high school students with sustainable companies.

Biggest win: In 2023, Gallo facilitated a partnership between WhyMaker and the New York State Research and Development Authority, training 600 educators about the state’s climate and energy goals. This initiative aligns with the national climate agenda and provides educators with events featuring insights from climate experts.

Other contributions: Gallo previously served as president of the New York State Council of Educational Associations. She also presided over the New York State Technology and Engineering Education Association.

Fatmir Gjinaj

Co-founder and president, F&D Partners

Scope of work: Gjinaj is co-founder and president of the energy consultant rm, where he works to empower clients to mitigate energy costs, enhance energy ef ciency and embrace sustainable practices.

Biggest professional win: Under Gjinaj’s leadership, F&D has helped businesses optimize energy usage while remaining sustainability-conscious. He has developed collaborations with Associa, American University and other institutions in the real estate, retail, hospitality and education spaces.

Other contributions: Gjinaj has implemented strategies focusing on renewable energy adoption, including solar panels and electri cation studies. He has helped low-income housing communities reduce utility bills and helped properties comply with Local Law 97 in New York City.

C arolyn Shafer

Director of the Pratt Sustainability Center

Crain’s New York Business

2024 Notable Leader in Sustainability

Pratt Institute is a founding core partner in The New York Climate Exchange, and the only independent school of art and design to achieve a Gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. We are committed to educating environmentally and socially responsible citizens, and leading research for a better, more sustainable tomorrow.

Alexandra Harden

Supply chain and sustainability manager, Just Salad

Scope of work: Harden oversees sustainable produce procurement and sourcing decisions at the restaurant chain Just Salad. She manages reusable bowl programs, helping avoid nearly 40,000 pounds of waste annually. Through efforts related to the sourcing of ingredients, Just Salad’s meals carbon footprint has dropped by 4%.

Biggest professional win: Harden led Just Salad through the bene t corporation certi cation process, securing its place among a handful of other food service companies certi ed nationwide. She also managed the launch of BringBack, a program allowing customers ordering online to receive returnable containers.

Other contributions: Harden contributes to panels on sourcing strategies and sustainable business practices. She supports community partners like Chelsea Community Fridge and Pantry.

Jen Hensley

Senior vice president of corporate affairs, Con Edison

Scope of work: Hensley has launched investments at the energy company Con Edison to increase green jobs, create equitable pathways, strengthen grid resilience in underserved neighborhoods and storm-proof New York City’s energy infrastructure.

Biggest professional win: Hensley has positioned Con Edison as a partner in New York State’s goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2040. She has also launched key investments to strengthen the green jobs career pipeline as well as create inclusive pathways for the jobs needed to usher in the state’s clean energy future.

Other contributions: She is a board member and chair of the governance committee at Pursuit, a nonpro t working to increase opportunities in tech for Queens residents.

Atalia Howe

Vice president of initiatives and impact investing, Community Preservation Corporation

Scope of work: At the nonpro t lender and investor, Howe develops informational resources that educate borrowers about the implementation of energy ef ciency and water conservation measures, which can improve cash ow and overall asset value while increasing tenant satisfaction.

Biggest professional win: Howe helped the organization achieve carbon neutral operations and led a three-pronged approach which involved measuring operational carbon emissions, developing a reduction strategy focused on employee education and offsetting remaining emissions.

Other contributions: Howe appears on panels and participates in working groups on behalf of her organization to advance a sustainable and low carbon built environment. She’s also is a member of Accenture’s professional women’s network.

NOTE WORTHY

$50B

Kashif Hussain

New York City deputy public advocate for infrastructure and environmental justice, Of ce of the New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams

Scope of work: Hussain leads and manages the city’s infrastructure and environmental justice unit, which assesses local policy and the state of infrastructure in New York City. The unit aims to reduce the city’s carbon footprint, remove toxic chemicals from food and the environment, address traf c violence, combat environmental racism and advocate for investment in clean energy technologies and transportation.

Biggest professional win: In collaboration with fellow sustainability leaders and Sen. Chuck Schumer, Hussain helped bring a wind turbine assembly center to Sunset Park in Brooklyn.

Other contributions: Hussain founded the Pakistani American Youth Society and the Newkirk Community Garden.

Anisa Kamadoli Costa

Chief sustainability of cer, president and trustee, Rivian and Rivian Foundation

Scope of work: At the Rivian and Rivian Foundation, Kamadoli Costa drives the electric vehicle and automotive technology company’s global sustainability and philanthropic agenda. She has spent the past two decades connecting environmental, social and governance issues to business performance, reputation and shareholder value.

Biggest professional win: Kamadoli Costa engaged with local communities, policymakers and business leaders to stop the development of the Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska. She testi ed before Congress to represent a purchaser of mined materials, helped raise public and business awareness and drove policy action.

Other contributions: Kamadoli Costa serves on boards and councils for nonpro ts including the World Economic Forum and the Just Transition Fund.

New York City is committed to investing $50 billion worth of pension funds in climate solutions by 2035. (City of New York)

Amanda Kaminsky

Director of sustainable construction, Lendlease Americas

Scope of work: Kaminsky oversees sustainable building practices, compliance with environmental regulations, completion of project lifecycle assessments and the reporting of sustainability metrics at the construction and real estate company Lendlease Americas.

Biggest professional win: Prior to her role at Lendlease, Kaminsky co-authored an American Society for Testing and Materials standard speci cation showing how ground-glass pozzolan mixes can serve as a low carbon replacement for cement. She built on this innovation at Lendlease and spearheaded the use of GGP in the foundation of 1 Java Street, an 834-unit development of the rm.

Other contributions: Kaminsky sits on the boards of the Carbon Leadership Forum, the Health Product Declaration Collaborative and the Recycling Certi cation Institute.

Andrew Kessler

President, New York Green Bank

Scope of work: New York Green Bank (NYGB) is a $1 billion investment fund focused on lling nancing gaps in sustainable infrastructure markets and leveraging public funds to mobilize private investment. As its president, Kessler oversees all activities and teams.

Biggest professional win: Under Kessler’s leadership, NYGB has become one of the nation’s only self-sustaining green banks and completed a $314 million portfolio monetization, facilitated with Bank of America. NYGB has also worked to expand investment activity in areas such as sustainable transportation and decarbonization, and develops lending practices that support underserved communities.

Other contributions: During the pandemic, Kessler organized a virtual race that engaged runners from 20 states and raised $3,000 for local food banks.

Benjamin Koenigsberg

Co-head of projects in the U.S.,

Norton Rose Fulbright

Scope of work: Koenigsberg has led some of the sustainability legal market’s leading transactional work at the law rm Norton Rose Fulbright, including advising on the nancing of multiple utility scale solar and wind projects with progressive sustainability effects.

Biggest professional win: Koenigsberg represents the New York Power Authority for the Clean Path New York transmission project, a clean infrastructure project that includes a 175-mile underground transmission line to deliver more than 7.5 million megawatt-hours of emissions-free energy into New York City annually.

Other contributions: Koenigsberg has been ranked by Chambers USA since 2008. He contributed to the creation of thousands of jobs through his work with the New York Power Authority.

Alex La Ferla

Principal, Amie Gross Architects

Scope of work: Leading Amie Gross Architects’ sustainability efforts, La Ferla oversees a team that focuses on developing new sustainable and affordable housing throughout the New York metro area.

Biggest professional win: La Ferla led efforts to secure a $1 million New York State Buildings of Excellence award from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. The award helped maximize the performance of a 113-unit affordable housing community developed by a nonpro t in Westchester, which showed how working with the existing topography of a site can prove environmentally bene cial.

Other contributions: La Ferla is a member of the American Institute of Architects as well as of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

Gael Lamothe Director, SCCS

Scope of work: Lamothe oversees East Coast projects at the construction advisory rm SCCS, helping project teams navigate fast-paced environments.

Biggest professional win: Lamothe served as lead project manager on Chestnut Commons, one of the rst New York City developments to implement a zero waste program. Chestnut Commons is Passive House Certi ed and is in compliance with New York City Active Design Guidelines that promote healthy living for residents. The project fosters economic and social growth by providing 275 affordable housing units for formerly homeless and low-income households.

Other contributions: Lamothe leads projects that work with nonpro ts including Make the Road New York and Cypress Hills Community Development. He has also donated his services to Habitat for Humanity.

Sean Lewin

Operations associate, Hudson Square Business Improvement District

Scope of work: Lewin is responsible for day-to-day operations within the Hudson Square district. He manages the business improvement district’s sustainability programs, overseeing installation and maintenance of Hudson Square Standard trees and maintaining pedestrian-focused streetscapes and open spaces.

Biggest professional win: Lewin’s team maintains more than 500 trees planted in Hudson Square Standard tree pits designed to capture stormwater and help trees thrive in urban environments. He also spearheaded composting partnerships with local coffee shops, which use coffee grounds to revitalize soil.

Other contributions: Lewin was a 2023 Neighborhood Leadership Fellow at Coro New York. He volunteers with Stop the Chop New York City.

Kara Magoolaghan

Chief sustainability of cer, Mulford Corporation

Scope of work: Magoolaghan oversees sustainability initiatives at Mulford Corporation, a nonpro t dedicated to managing and facilitating affordable housing. She sources funding aligned with sustainability goals and engages with government of cials to advocate for sustainable practices in affordable housing.

Biggest professional win: In 2024, Magoolaghan secured a $1 million grant from the EPA’s environmental justice grant program, which will help install climate resiliency measures across low-income housing in Yonkers. The project involves implementing stormwater mitigation and providing relief from severe heat.

Other contributions: Magoolaghan sits on the board of Columba Kavanagh House. She also chairs the deconstruction committee and is a member of the board at Construction Junction.

NOTE WORTHY Sydney Mainster

2/3

More than twothirds of Americans are willing to pay higher prices for sustainable products.

(PR Newswire)

Vice president of sustainability and design management, The Durst Organization

Scope of work: At The Durst Organization, Mainster executes the real estate company’s vision for sustainability in ground-up development projects, renovations and operations. She led efforts to achieve LEED Gold Certi cation or higher in every commercial of ce tower across the rm’s portfolio.

Biggest professional win: Mainster institutionalized sustainable practices including siteseparated construction waste and the recycling of drywall trim scrap. She has advocated for healthier building products and educates design consultants on sustainability concerns.

Other contributions: Mainster serves on the board of the Building Energy Exchange and is a board member of the New York League of Conservation Voters.

Dana Mecomber

Director of climate sustainable planning and capital strategy, MTA Construction and Development

Scope of work: Mecomber leads a team dedicated to advancing greenhouse gas emission reductions for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. She is responsible for creating and implementing strategies to achieve the MTA’s commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2040.

Biggest professional win: Mecomber led a team assessing and quantifying the positive impacts of transit infrastructure on the New York region’s greenhouse gas emissions, which helped provide credible estimates of transit’s role in cutting regional transportation-related emissions so riders could understand the impact of their personal decisions.

Other contributions: She is active in the Urban Land Institute’s women’s leadership initiative.

Kavita Patel

Principal, MUUS Climate Partners

Scope of work: At MUUS Climate Partners, the venture capital arm of MUUS & Co, Patel is responsible for investing in startups that harness technology to help with decarbonization efforts.

Biggest professional win: Patel spearheaded the creation of MUUS Climate Partners’ decarbonization impact measurement process, which assesses companies pre-investment based on emissions, decarbonization dif culty and funding need relative to 2030 targets. Post-investment, the company measures realized emissions reductions achieved by each portfolio company.

Other contributions: Patel sponsors student projects at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a member of and contributor to such groups as Women in VC, the Emerging Venture Capitalists Association and the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association.

Samantha Pearce

Vice president, sustainability, New York State Homes and Community Renewal

Scope of work: Pearce oversees sustainability programs and decarbonization policy at the government agency, which promotes affordable housing, community revitalization and economic growth. Her portfolio includes the Weatherization Assistance Program, Clean Energy Initiative and Climate Friendly Homes Fund.

Biggest professional win: She collaborated with marketing, design, construction and environmental teams to develop sustainability guidelines, standards aimed at ensuring that all New Yorkers have safe and environmentally clean homes.

Other contributions: She was nominated to serve as a representative to the regional board of the National Association for State Community Services Programs.

Daniel Piselli

Director of sustainability, FXCollaborative

Scope of work: At the architecture and interior design rm FXCollaborative, Piselli leads design teams on educational, cultural, residential and infrastructure projects. He directs the rm’s sustainability efforts, working with project teams to design ef cient buildings and overseeing sustainable design on all projects.

Biggest professional win: Piselli co-authored research studies showing that the energy ef ciency made possible by passive house design standards applies to tall buildings and urban schools. This in uenced the rm’s work on projects including La Central, a $1 million New York State Research and Development Authority Buildings of Excellence winner.

Other contributions: Piselli sits on the board of numerous initiatives that work to further sustainability. He also lectures for college and high school students.

NOTE WORTHY

$220-480K

Jessica Prata Cianciara

Assistant vice president of sustainability, Columbia University

Scope of work: Prata Cianciara helps Columbia realize sustainability goals by overseeing internal departments, external consultants and governmental agencies.

Biggest professional win: Prata Cianciara led the development of Columbia’s 2030 Sustainability Plan, which is committed to science-based targets to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. She also fostered change on campus through a “living net zero” program.

Other contributions: Prata Cianciara has recently spoken at New York City Climate Week and for the Society of College and University Planners. She is a faculty advisor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, School of International and Public Affairs and School of Professional Studies. Her professional af liations include Urban Green and the Colgate University alumni board.

Mike Richter

President, Brightcore Energy

Scope of work: Richter handles strategic direction and leads business development for Brightcore Energy, an energy ef ciency solutions provider for commercial and institutional markets.

Biggest professional win: Richter has helped Brightcore develop proprietary technology, hire specialized talent and secure funding to help the company achieve climate goals and avoid using fossil fuels. Under his leadership, Brightcore has expanded its product offering to include clean energy solutions, such as geothermal heating and cooling for urban environments.

Other contributions: Richter was a professional hockey goaltender earlier in his career, winning the 1994 Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers and a silver medal with the 2002 U.S. Olympic hockey team. He meets regularly with students to discuss environmental and sports topics.

Publicly listed companies spend between $220,000 and $480,000 each year on sustainability ratings.

(EthixBase360)

Christy Rivera

Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright

Scope of work: Rivera represents developers, investors and lenders in a range of project development and nancing transactions focused on renewable energy at the law rm Norton Rose Fulbright. She has experience negotiating debt and tax equity nancings and hedging and off-take arrangements.

Biggest professional win: Rivera was among the partners that led the team that represented senior lenders in the nancing of the SunZia project, the largest clean energy infrastructure project in U.S. history.

Other contributions: Rivera is a member of Women of Renewable Industries and Sustainable Energies as well as the National Association of Women Lawyers, organizations that work to break down barriers and create equal opportunities for women in their respective industries.

Michael N. Romita

President and CEO, Westchester County Association

Scope of work: At Westchester County Association, an economic development and business advocacy organization, Romita leads projects and policy initiatives focused on sustainable business innovation, healthcare, real estate and housing, workforce development and digital connectivity.

Biggest professional win: Under Romita’s leadership, WCA secured Westchester’s inaugural solar ordinance, facilitating smart infrastructure that would support state climate action goals, and advocated for legislation resulting in telehealth payment parity and an expanded nursing workforce.

Other contributions: Romita created Westchester’s annual sustainable business conference and launched the Clean Energy Portal. He also serves on the boards of the Westchester Parks Foundation and the Westchester Center for Racial Equity.

Dianna Rose

Social entrepreneur, Jars of Delight

Scope of work: Rose is a social entrepreneur, sustainability expert and lecturer at the zero-waste catering company. She works to provide innovative solutions and prioritize the elimination of food and packaging waste through partnerships around the donation of surplus food, food insecurity solutions and local community garden efforts.

Biggest professional win: Rose established The Institute of Concessions, a program through the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey supporting minority and women-owned enterprises in scaling food and retail businesses. She oversees business cohorts and develops programming, retail operations and staf ng.

Other contributions: She founded Her Sustainable Life, an educational platform that fosters sustainability awareness in low-income communities.

Manna Samuel

Sustainability services manager, PwC

Scope of work: Samuel conducts materiality and landscape assessments to benchmark clients’ reporting maturity against the market. She leads cross-sector carbon footprinting assessments, oversees corresponding decarbonization analysis and manages data gathering and visualization processes.

Biggest professional win: When PwC was designing a bespoke onshore and offshore team model, which triggered additional offshore staff demand, Samuel helped design and lead a pilot carbon and environmental, social and governance audit training module with a planned pipeline reach of more than 200 members.

Other contributions: Samuel mentors with The City Tutors, working with individuals to develop career documents and make career moves. She also guest lectures at Fordham University.

Shefali Sanghvi

Director of sustainability and senior associate, Dattner Architects

Scope of work: Sanghvi designs socially and environmentally sustainable housing projects, establishes the architectural rm’s research direction and focuses on spreading knowledge across the organization. She also collaborates with the marketing team to highlight sustainable project successes.

Biggest professional win: Sanghvi led the sustainable practice group, where she worked to create methods for remote knowledge sharing, and was involved in Vital Brookdale, an initiative to develop wellness-oriented housing projects in underserved neighborhoods.

Other contributions: Sanghvi works with the American Institute of Architects’ committee on the environment around the intersection of sustainability and social equity.

Beth Sasfai

Head of the environmental, social and governance and sustainability advisory practice, Cooley

Scope of work: Sasfai guides private and public companies on various corporate matters at the law rm Cooley, focusing on environmental, social and governance practices.

Biggest professional win: Sasfai and her team orchestrated a global ESG strategy that abides by U.S. and EU reporting requirements. She also partnered with a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company to create an ESG strategy.

Other contributions: Sasfai develops impactful contributions within Cooley’s sustainability initiatives and its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. A member of the sustainability working group, she provides guidance on aligning company operations with sustainability principles.

Jeffrey Schub

Senior vice president, sustainable nance integration, Wells Fargo

Scope of work: Schub leads teams and initiatives to drive capital deployment across the private, public and nonpro t sectors.

Biggest professional win: Schub previously served as executive director of the Coalition for Green Capital, leading the legislative campaign for the In ation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The fund includes a $27 billion national green bank for investing in clean energy, environmental justice and carbon pollution reduction, aiming to catalyze hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment.

Other contributions: Schub serves as a board member and chair of the board at The Climate Access Fund, overseeing nancing for low-income focused community solar projects. Schub has lectured at various institutions.

Michael is the founder and President of C.A.C. Industries, Inc. and Green Asphalt.

Michael grew up in New York and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Cornell University. He is committed to continuing education for both himself and his staff and takes executive education courses at Harvard Business School and London Business School. He is an active member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) where his attendance at meetings and events brings new ideas and schools of thought to his current business practices.

NOTE WORTHY

2B

Every year, New York City trees capture nearly 2 billion gallons of stormwater runoff and store more than 1 million tons of carbon.

(City of New York)

Johan Schwind

Managing director, URBAN-X

Scope of work: At URBAN-X, a platform that provides programming, connections and resources to early-stage founders, Schwind has supported more than 100 startups in the climate and urban tech space, helping emerging entrepreneurs with product development, fundraising and go-to market strategies.

Biggest professional win: Schwind led URBAN-X’s transformation from a city-focused accelerator to a sustainability and climate solutions platform. Aiming to address the ways that cities will operate within the realities of climate change, this shift considers where startups can have scaleable impact and has involved the company broadening its focus to include international founders.

Other contributions: Schwind gives of his time to help climate and social impact driven founders through free consultations and pro bono product development.

Carolyn Shafer

Director of sustainability for academic affairs and director of sustainability center, Pratt Institute

Scope of work: Shafer manages faculty coordinators, the campus sustainability committee and Pratt Earth Action Weeks.

Biggest professional win: Shafer developed a network of initiatives that provide infrastructure for sharing research, collaborating across departments and accessing peer support. She was behind the creation of departmental sustainability coordinators, a group of faculty who work to expand Pratt programs addressing sustainability.

Other contributions: Shafer spearheads the Partnership for Academic Leadership on Sustainability, a national initiative which aims to integrate sustainability into art and design education, foster collaboration and leverage resources to pilot innovation.

NOTABLE SPOTLIGHT with Michael A. Capasso

Insights on technology integration and environmental responsibility

What role do you see technology playing in the future of your business and the industry?

With A.I. technology on the rise, we’re actively searching for ways we can implement those systems to improve our company and assist our staff with daily tasks. We’re exploring new opportunities for creating a calculator to measure greenhouse gas emissions for all our projects as well as EPDs for all Green Asphalt’s mixes. While those are just some of the ideas we’re trying to implement, we’re always going to be looking for ways to integrate new technologies into our company that help us function better and improve our sustainability objectives.

What have you implemented at C.A.C. that inspires your employees to discover the next big idea?

I believe our 4 Core Values and our 27 Fundamentals are what help our employees improve C.A.C. every day. The Core Values are It’s Always We, Be Green and Lean, Educate to Transform, and Be Humble and Kick Ass. They were created to help inspire our employees in all aspects of their jobs. Whether it’s discovering the next big idea or just taking an extra step at a job to ensure everyone’s safety, our employees really believe in our Core Values and take pride in

living by them because they want to, not because they have to. I believe our Core Values and Fundamentals are what help build a foundation of teamwork and a healthy work environment for all employees at our company, allowing them to think outside the box and make a meaningful impact with their ideas.

What legacy do you hope to leave through your leadership journey?

I have always tried to cultivate a company culture that provides the same feeling as being part of a family. With our company being an ESOP, it’s a step in the right direction to give the ownership of the company to the people who make C.A.C. great so that they can bene t directly from their hard work. I truly believe that operating as an ESOP will continue to drive that sense of family in the workplace, and can inspire the next generation of leaders at C.A.C. to continue growing our legacy.

What inspired you to integrate sustainability into your business model?

I’ve always believed that businesses have a responsibility to not just succeed nancially, but also to contribute positively to society and the environment. Sustainability isn’t

just a choice; it’s our moral imperative. Whether it’s C.A.C.’s implementation of sustainable practices or Green Asphalt’s production and sale of 100% recycled asphalt, I believe that a successful business cannot turn a blind eye to the health and safety of the communities and environment they operate in.

What advice would you give to other business owners looking to embrace sustainability?

Start small but start now. Sustainability isn’t an all-or-nothing endeavor— it’s about taking incremental steps towards a more responsible future. Every year since we’ve made sustainability our goal, we’ve made conscious decisions to try and implement sustainable practices that adhere to the Core Value of Being Lean and Green. We’ve been able to reduce our costs, our greenhouse gas emissions, and our overall impact on the communities and environment that we work in, which makes our company more agile in the ever-changing landscape of the construction industry.

NOTABLE LEADERS IN SUSTAINABILITY

Adam Shelly

Project development director, Ecosystem

Scope of work: Shelly oversees the technical and commercial development of energy and decarbonization projects in existing buildings, campuses and power plants. He also manages project engineers, strategizing around market initiatives and fostering relationships for district heating and cooling retro ts.

Biggest professional win: Shelly pioneered the development of Active Thermal Energy Storage, an investment tax credit enhancing energy ef ciency and helping clients save money. He also led the development of Con Edison’s utility thermal energy network projects creating decarbonized energy networks connecting New York City buildings.

Other contributions: He received the Association of Energy Engineers’ International Energy Engineer of the Year award in 2022.

Sam Stockdale

Senior vice president, head of sustainability, Link Logistics

Scope of work: Stockdale oversees implementation of corporate sustainability strategy across a 539 million square foot portfolio. His expertise spans energy infrastructure and management, investments, data analytics, engineering and construction.

Biggest professional win: Link Logistics deployed Energy Solutions, a customer-focused utilities management program that leverages energy and sustainability experts to deliver a suite of data-driven initiatives. He also collaborated with Brightstorm, a program of the Nature Conservancy, to reduce phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment discharge from rivers, streams, estuaries and habitats.

Other contributions: Stockdale supports the Association of Energy Engineers as an organizational contributor.

Sean Szatkowski

General manager and executive vice president, Skanska USA Building

Scope of work: Szatkowski oversees operations of the New York portfolio, building and maintaining client relationships, nurturing his internal team and ensuring quality across projects.

Biggest professional win: Szatkowski was integral to Skanska’s redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B, which took a sustainable approach on elements ranging from construction to operations. The team recycled more than 21,000 tons of concrete from the demolition of the original garage.

Other contributions: Szatkowski is a member of several groups at Skanska, including the science and technology advisory council and the national operations leadership council.

NOTE WORTHY

44%

Mallory Taub

Sustainability director, Gensler

Scope of work: Taub advises clients by developing and implementing strategies to accelerate the decarbonization of their buildings. She works with global clients across the real estate, nancial, technology and sustainability sectors.

Biggest professional win: For the past two years, Taub helped co-found and co-lead Gensler’s Climate Action and Sustainability studio, which creates sustainability standards for large organizations, connecting corporate climate commitments to real estate design. Taub also works internally to help Gensler meet sustainability targets.

Other contributions: Taub is a steering committee member of the Urban Design Forum, where she served as a 2019 Forefront Fellow advising the New York City Mayor’s Of ce of Resiliency.

Bill Ulfelder

Executive director, The Nature Conservancy in New York

Scope of work: Ulfelder oversees an annual budget of $30 million and a team of more than 150 conservation experts, scientists and policy experts.

Biggest professional win:

Under Ulfelder’s leadership, the nonpro t undertook its “Heart of the Adirondacks’” initiative, which protects 175,000 acres of forestland. In addition, Ulfelder closed a $9.3 million agreement with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, established a conservation at Follensby Pond in 2024 and led a 2022 campaign to pass the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Bond Act in New York.

Other contributions: Ulfelder contributes to media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN and NPR.

About 44% of all environmental scientists in the U.S. work in federal, state and local government.

(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Thomas Walker

Project manager,LEED AP BD+C and ESG committee chair, CNY Group

Scope of work: Walker has extensive experience managing teams of professionals and serving diverse clientele focused on sustainable development. His expertise in LEED-certi ed projects enhances the rm’s commitment to environmental sustainability and operational ef ciency.

Biggest professional win: Walker played an integral role in the Halletts Point Building 7 project team, contributing to the rm’s sustainability goals. He engaged with sustainability experts and implemented a waste management plan that resulted in a 92% recycling rate.

Other contributions: Walker is involved with the U.S. Green Building Council and is a regular volunteer for the Special Olympics, preparing and supporting participants during events.

Tensie Whelan

Distinguished professor of practice and founding director, New York University Stern Center for Sustainable Business

Scope of work: Whelan focuses on research and tools for business leaders to help them better design, implement and monetize sustainability strategies. She also developed a sustainable business curriculum for students at NYU.

Biggest professional win: Whelan designed customizable tools for private equity leaders, which were downloaded 300 times in three months. Alongside industry leaders such as P zer, General Motors, AB Inbev and Cargill, she established the return on sustainable investment methodology, which helps quantify nancial bene ts of sustainability.

Other contributions: Whelan is an advisor to the Future Economy Project for Harvard Business Review. She was awarded the Stern Faculty Excellence Award in 2020.

Ben Wolkon

Co-founding partner, MUUS Climate Partners

Scope of work: At MUUS Climate Partners, the venture capital arm of MUUS & Co, Wolkon manages investments in climate tech companies and co-leads functions across deals, portfolio company support and capital formation. He develops his rm’s portfolio of early and growth-stage companies, driving the transition to a zero emissions economy.

Biggest professional win: Wolkon led MUUS Climate Partners’ Fund I in delivering signi cant nancial returns and climate impact, providing the basis for hiring talented individuals in the space and successfully raising Fund II. Fund I was the rst or an early investor in leading climate tech companies.

Other contributions: Wolkon is a member of the MIT Climate Pathways Project and serves on the boards of several companies.

Justin Wood

Director of policy, New York

Lawyers for the Public Interest

Scope of work: Leading policy and legislative work at the nonpro t New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, Wood develops and executes campaigns with residents and elected of cials to end New York’s reliance on fossil fuels.

Biggest professional win: Wood was a founding member of the Transform Don’t Trash New York City campaign, and helped pass the Waste Equity Law of 2018 and the Commercial Waste Zones Law of 2019. These efforts protected workers, incentivized businesses to reduce waste and reduced excess miles driven by garbage trucks.

Other contributions: He is a steering committee member of New York Renews, which worked on efforts to pass the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.

Richard Yancey

Executive director, Building Energy Exchange

Scope of work: Yancey oversees an international center committed to sustainable architecture and building decarbonization. At the nonpro t Building Energy Exchange, he focuses on engaging stakeholders and fostering effective climate action.

Biggest professional win: Yancey established the organization as a force in energy ef ciency, with more than 1,200 educational events attended by 50,000 building decision-makers. Building Energy Exchange’s initiatives, including its Women in Sustainability and Energy series, have garnered recognition for their impact on sustainability.

Other contributions: Yancey advises public and private sector leaders on climate action, contributing to initiatives like the mayor’s climate action plan technical working group and the Local Law 97 advisory board’s multifamily buildings working group.

Rockaway development site caught up in Buildings Department bribery case changes hands for $14.4 million

C. J. Hughes

A development site in the Rockaways that played a key role in the sprawling bribery case against former Buildings Department Commissioner Eric Ulrich is in new hands.

e site, a block-through parcel at 157 Beach 115 St., has been sold by developer the Marcal Group for $14.4 million, according to the city register.

Marcal founder and Chief Executive Mark Caller stands accused of bribing Ulrich to help develop the 32,000-square-foot

million in 2018 for the site, which extends through to Beach 116 Street, and so appears to have realized a notable pro t. e buyer of No. 157 is Menachem Chazanow, the chief executive of Diamond National Investments, an eight-year-old Atlantabased rm that has so far mostly developed apartment buildings in the South, according to Diamond’s website. Chazanow closed Feb. 29, the register says; the deed appeared April 4.

An email sent to Chazanow was not returned by press time. And a phone message left with the Marcal Group also went unreturned.

The buyer of No. 157 is Menachem Chazanow, the chief executive of Diamond National Investments, an Atlanta-based rm.

site near the Atlantic Ocean, including allegedly trying to clear out a homeless shelter next door.

Caller, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, paid $2.2

But in an emailed statement, Caller’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said “the sale has absolutely nothing to do with the pending case,” adding that “Caller has a strong defense and fully expects to be acquitted.”

In September Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg unveiled a sweeping indictment against Ulrich, Caller and ve others, accusing them of participating in a long-running scheme to

trade money, apartments and even art for favors from the Buildings Department and other city o cials.

Felony counts

Ulrich, a Republican former City Council member from Queens who was named to the Buildings post by Mayor Eric Adams, faces a total of 16 felony counts in the case. He has pleaded not guilty. For his part, Caller stands accused of seeking a quick rezoning for No. 157, which used to contain a decrepit theater, so he could put up an 8-story building on the property before the 421-a a ordable housing tax abatement expired in summer 2022.

Caller’s site.

Bragg has also accused Caller of conspiring with Ulrich to push for city inspections of the next-door shelter with the apparent aim of having it shut down, which would have likely boosted the value of

In return, Caller allegedly offered Ulrich a two-bedroom apartment with water views at 147 Beach 116 St., a luxury project Marcal developed across the street, though Brafman claims Ulrich paid a market-rate rent for the unit.

Caller has also been a major

donor to Adams, raising nearly $50,000 for the mayor for his last campaign. ough Adams is mentioned throughout the indictment, Bragg has not speci cally accused him of any wrongdoing in the case.

Caller is due back in New York Supreme Criminal Court in Manhattan on May 8.

157 Beach 115 St., Rockaway Park | GOOGLE STREET VIEW

Solar eclipse summons New Yorkers

A total solar eclipse took place Monday, April 8. One popular vantage point in the city was the Brooklyn Bridge, shown in these photos. New York was one of 13 contiguous states where the full eclipse could be seen, though that did not include New York City, which got 90% coverage. e next total eclipse that will be visible from the contiguous U.S. will occur in August 2044, according to NASA.

Photos by Buck Ennis

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ACCOUNTING

UHY

LEGAL Benesch

UHY announced that Nick Florio has been hired as CoLeader of the rm’s Staf ng Practice in its Northeast region. With over 35 years of experience providing accounting services for public and private companies, Florio has successfully guided clients through all facets of strategic planning to help them make critical decisions while ensuring transactions are taxef cient and seamless. Nick will play a key role in helping build upon UHY’s staf ng industry success in the Northeast.

BUSINESS / TECH CONSULTING

EisnerAmper

EisnerAmper, a leading global business advisory rm, announces new leadership appointments within its Technology and Life Sciences practices

Thomas H. Fagley has been named National Biotech Sector Leader, and R. Brooks Malone III has been named National Software Sector Leader. Tom is an audit partner with approximately 30 years’ experience providing solutions for companies that specialize in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, contract research, and venture capital.  With approximately 35 years’ experience, Brooks is a partner helping high-growth and investorbacked technology companies and their founders and executives including software, SaaS, hardware, and related industries.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

JRM Construction Management

JRM Construction Management, a leader in the construction industry, proudly announces that they have hired Mark Phillips as their new Vice President of Aviation. With 18 years of experience spearheading a broad range of projects, Mark will leverage his industry knowledge and strategic insight to further enhance JRM’s aviation construction capabilities. His innovative vision aligns with JRM’s dedication to deliver excellence.

Jaclyn Ruch has joined Benesch as a Partner in the rm’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group. Jaclyn represents private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in connection with buyouts, mergers, acquisitions, sales, joint ventures, restructurings, growth investments and other investments, including control and non-control investments and co-investments.

Aan Amin has joined Benesch as a Senior Managing Associate in the rm’s Corporate & Securities Practice Group. He advises public and private companies and private equity rms in a variety of transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, minority investments, joint ventures, carve-outs, corporate reorganizations, and other strategic transactions.

REAL ESTATE

Rockefeller Group

Rockefeller Group, the U.S. property owner, developer and operator, announced today that Marisa Gadlin has been named Senior Vice President, Head of Core Holdings. Ms. Gadlin joined in 2021 and is based in the company’s headquarters at 1271 Avenue of the Americas. In her new role, she will lead strategic initiatives, asset management, leasing and operations for its trophy New York of ce portfolio, which totals approximately six million square feet in Midtown Manhattan.

Fagley

Malone

HOUSING

pushing a housing plan that would ditch the Bloomberg-era approach of allowing some neighborhoods to limit construction, instead boosting density nearly everywhere in the city.

at contrast became unusually explicit last month, when Maria Torres-Springer, Adams’ deputy mayor for housing, announced the release of a report examining the consequences of 15 rezonings passed under Bloomberg in 2009.

In a March 28 speech on housing at New York University, Torres-Springer revealed the conclusions: Seven of the neighborhoods saw a decrease in housing in the decade after they were rezoned.

“It o ers a pretty telling snapshot of our city’s planning politics in the 2000s,” she said. “As recently as 15 years ago, as the demand to live in our great city continued to rise, we did the opposite of what we should have — we made it harder to build housing.”

Many of the downzonings took place in whiter and wealthier areas in the outer boroughs, where residents were pushing back against “out-of-character” development. In the wake of a 2009 rezoning in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn that imposed height limits and reduced residential density, new permitted housing units dropped from 743 in the decade before the rezoning to just 164 the decade after — a 78% decline.

In North Corona, Queens, a 2009 rezoning was adopted with the speci c aim of scaling back a 2003 plan that had allowed more four- to ve-story buildings, to the dismay of local politicians and community groups. After the revised plan, the construction of new units dropped from 1,232 in the 10 years before 2009 to just 100 in the decade after, according to the new study.

e Adams administration was legally required to release the “look-back” report under a 2021 city law. But others are making similar arguments. Howard Slatkin, who served as a City Planning o cial during the Bloomberg years, said in an interview that the city’s stagnating housing growth “calls into question how much those downzonings may have prevented new housing, even beyond the intent at the time.”

“ ere’s a lot of evidence that downzonings played a big role in the virtual disappearance of new housing from low-density neigh-

borhoods,” said Slatkin, who now serves as executive director of the nonpro t Citizens Housing & Planning Council.

Dan Doctoro , an architect of much of the Bloomberg administration’s zoning policy, said in an interview that he remains proud of most of the development he helped usher in. But he conceded that the city passed up opportunities for growth.

“In retrospect, we could’ve been more aggressive, particularly around transit,” said Doctoroff, who served until 2008 as deputy mayor for economic development.

e Bloomberg-era plans were often more nuanced than simple downzonings. Instead, the administration pursued what it called “balanced neighborhood rezonings” — allowing some growth on main commercial streets but reducing density and adding height limits on side residential streets. A prototypical example was Park Slope, whose 2003 rezoning raised density along 4th Avenue but put height limits on the adjacent, brownstone-lined side streets.

“ e expectation was that these would control height, rather than stop new housing,” Slatkin said. “But they likely did a bit of both.”

Not what the city

needed

e Bloomberg downzonings were hardly the only contributor to the present housing crisis. But

any policy that sti ed growth is bound to be seen more critically now, with the city facing a shortage of some 560,000 homes, by some estimates.

Amanda Burden, who led City

to be the ones where new housing was limited, while upzoned neighborhoods were disproportionately Black, Hispanic and lower-income.

Vicki Been, who co-authored the Furman Center report, said

IN ONE COMMUNITY — NORTH CORONA, QUEENS — HOUSING GROWTH PLUMMETED AFTER A 2009 REZONING

Far more apartments were built in the 10 years before the rezoning than in the 10 years after it.

Units demolished Units in new buildings

Planning for the entire Bloomberg administration, said she has no qualms about the city’s zoning policies in those 12 years. e administration took every opportunity to add density in transit-rich areas, she said, while allowing downzonings in neighborhoods where tra c problems or narrow streets made it impossible.

“Where it could handle the density, we built very, very, very high,” she said.

Bloomberg presided over 124 neighborhood rezonings in his time as mayor which began in 2002, and no studies have examined exactly how many limited growth. But a 2010 study by the NYU Furman Center found early warning signs: Of the 188,000 lots that were rezoned between 2003 and 2007, just 14% were upzoned, 23% were downzoned and 63% were otherwise restricted through “contextual” zoning that essentially froze the existing building types in place.

e study added another troubling dimension: White and wealthier neighborhoods tended

“Neighborhoods where for decades there had been no development whatsoever, the rezonings that were passed by the administration — plus all of the other policies that the administration put in place — led to a dramatic change.”

Seth Pinsky, who formerly ran the city’s Economic Development Corporation

whole, the city built 15% fewer housing units in the decade since 2009 than the decade leading up to it, according to the report, although it made no claim that zoning was the sole factor.

In a different environment

ere are multiple reasons why the Bloomberg administration took the approach it did. e housing crunch had not yet reached crisis levels, and fewer policymakers paid attention to whether growth was spread evenly. City Hall also felt political pressure to limit development — Been pointed to Staten Island, which saw a nearly borough-wide downzoning in 2004 and which had pursued a high-pro le secession plan in the 1990s, something that may have been fresh in Bloomberg o cials’ minds.

Another factor was the city’s 2007 sustainability plan, PlaNYC, which called for limiting growth in car-dependent areas in the name of ghting climate change. at policy was likely “too successful” at stopping new construction in low-density neighborhoods, Slatkin said. ( e 2010 Furman Center report was critical of how Bloomberg upheld those goals, however, since 59% of downzoned lots were within a half-mile of a train station entrance.)

the studied neighborhoods “are exactly the areas Mayor Adams is now saying should step up.” “ ose downzonings and contextual rezonings — those were probably not what New York City needed,” said Been, who later oversaw housing as a deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio.

Adams’ City of Yes housing plan, as his administration sells it, would add “a little more housing in every neighborhood.” Outer-borough commercial streets and neighborhoods near transit would be upzoned to allow buildings about four or ve stories tall, a ecting many of the neighborhoods where growth was limited under Bloomberg. at could include places like North Flushing, Queens, where new housing units dropped 90% from 266 to 26 in the decades before and after its 2009 rezoning, according to last month’s City Planning report. Or Sunset Park, Brooklyn, which saw a 39% decrease following its 2009 rezoning that aimed to “preserve neighborhood character and scale.” As a

Given those political realities, some former Bloomberg o cials still strongly defend what the administration was able to accomplish. Seth Pinsky, who ran the city’s Economic Development Corporation for ve years starting in 2005, pointed to rezonings that transformed areas like Jamaica, Queens and the South Bronx that had seen little investment in prior years.

“Neighborhoods where for decades there had been no development whatsoever, the rezonings that were passed by the administration — plus all of the other policies that the administration put in place — led to a dramatic change,” Pinsky said.

If the Adams administration passes its housing plan, it may end up undoing much of what Bloomberg oversaw. But Burden, Pinsky and Doctoroff, three top Bloomberg officials, take no offense at Adams’ plan — all said they strongly support it.

“We’re in a di erent environment now,” Doctoro said, “and we have to respond to the demands of the city.”

The Bloomberg administration may have been “too successful” at stopping new construction in low-density neighborhoods as part of its environmental strategy, one former of cial said. BUCK ENNIS

Mayor Eric Adams, pictured with former chief housing of cer Jessica Katz, is pushing a housing plan that would add density in outer-borough neighborhoods — likely undoing some of the Bloomberg administration’s changes. | ED REED/MAYORALPHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE

Rezoning passed in March 2009, so each listed year was measured from March to the following March.

Source: Department of City Planning

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neighborhood as his “promised land” and “moonshot.” By that, he means developing about 10 million square feet of new towers, creating the city’s next cluster of supertalls after Hudson Yards and Billionaires Row. Not only would that transform Manhattan’s skyline, but it also would put Roth on equal footing with Steve Ross, the developer of Hudson Yards, whose buildings rent for sometimes twice as much as Roth can command for his.

But after years of waiting for the right time to strike and hoping to land a sweeter incentive deal, Roth may have missed his moment. His moonshot remains stuck on the launching pad, a casualty of the rise of working from home and higher interest rates.

“You can’t build anything in [the Penn] District today because of the frozen capital markets. You cannot do it because the math doesn’t work,” Roth acknowledged on a February conference call. He vowed to press on, insisting, “ e Penn District will be really important ve years from now.”

Waiting game

Some big New York developers got into real estate by inheriting it from their parents. Brooklyn-born Roth got into the business because he wasn’t allowed to work at his father’s apparel manufacturer. “ ey had an anti-nepotism clause,” he told Crain’s in a rare 2015 interview. He did not speak to Crain’s for this story after multiple requests were made through his press representative at public relations rm Rubenstein.

Roth started developing industrial buildings in New Jersey before moving on to shopping centers. Realizing the stock market was pricing real estate cheaply, in 1979 he won a proxy ght for control of Harrison, New Jersey-based retailer Two Guys, whose land he coveted. Victory gave him the retailer, its land, and a manufacturer of fans and air conditioners called Vornado. Roth took that name for his enterprise, and the company went public in 1993, around the time he was battling Donald Trump for control of department store chain Alexander’s. e weary agship store at the corner of East 59th Street and Lexington Avenue o ered intriguing redevelopment possibilities.

After Trump defaulted on personally guaranteed loans, Roth prevailed. en he let the Alexander’s site lie dormant for years. He explained his thinking in a 2010 speech at Columbia University.

Broadway producer, was appointed trustee to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by Donald Trump when he was president. eir son, Jordan, is president of Jujamcyn eaters.

Roth has also had success renovating older buildings near Penn Station, including the Farley Building, where Meta Platforms agreed in 2020 to lease 700,000 square feet. He also recently upgraded 1 and 2 Penn Plaza, rebranding them Penn1 and Penn2, and installed the latest amenities, including plush common-area seating and a lively bar scene.

“

ey really fancied up those places,” said Anne McDermott, a former tech sales executive who worked inside one of the two buildings on three occasions over the past 40 years.

“You can’t build anything in [the Penn] District today because of the frozen capital markets. You cannot do it because the math doesn’t work.”

“My mother called me and said, ‘ ere are bums sleeping on the sidewalks of this now closed, decrepit building. ey’re urinating in the corners. It’s terrible. You have to x it.’ And what did I do? Nothing,” Roth recalled. “Why did I do nothing? Because I was thinking, in my own awkward way, that the more the building was a blight, the more the governments would want this to be redeveloped, the more help they would give when the time came. And they did.” anks to government help, Roth was able to build taller than he otherwise could have when he developed the 1.1 millionsquare-foot, 57-story o ce and condominium tower at 731 Lexington Ave. e building serves as the headquarters for Bloomberg LP, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s media organization.

Its height was enhanced by 73,000 square feet of air rights granted under city zoning regulations and about 200,000 square feet of air rights acquired from other buildings, according to Alexander’s 2003 annual report. Roth also bene ted from a zoning bonus under the city’s inclusionary housing program by developing 41 a ord-

able housing units, amounting to 41,000 square feet, o site. is raised the building’s oor-area ratio from 10 to 12, the Urban Land Institute said in a case study, netting the developer an additional 169,000 square feet. Finally, Roth received a partial real estate tax exemption under New York’s 421-a program for providing multifamily housing units and supporting osite a ordable housing.

e bene ts of waiting for government assistance were something Roth wouldn’t forget as he turned his eyes to the Penn Station area. e neighborhood hadn’t seen much development since garment manufacturers relocated there from the Lower East Side in the 1920s. But the area, with its aging industrial buildings, pasttheir-prime hotels and dowdy department stores, looked promising after Times Square was cleaned up in the 1990s.

In 1997 Roth placed his big bet on the neighborhood, paying $650 million for 4 million square feet of Manhattan properties, including 2 Penn Plaza and 11 Penn Plaza, from Bernard Mendik, a former Real Estate Board of New York chairman once married to the sister of developer Larry Silverstein. en Roth spent an additional $1.7 billion to acquire 1 Penn Pla-

za and other properties, eventually buying most of the buildings on both sides of Seventh Avenue between West 31st and West 34th streets. As part of that shopping spree, he teamed up with two parties to pay $159 million for the 1,700-room Hotel Pennsylvania, whose phone number, PA6-5000, was the name of a hit tune for Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.

“Vornado has been buying properties around Madison Square Garden with plans to turn the district into an urban retail and entertainment locale similar to Times Square,” Bloomberg News reported in 1999.

VornadoLand

In spite of Roth’s inability to deliver on his biggest plans, he’s built a thriving enterprise. Vornado has more than 20 million square feet of commercial space across Manhattan and 2 million square feet of retail space, much of it along Fifth Avenue, in Times Square and in the Plaza District. e rm developed the supertall Billionaires Row tower at 220 Central Park South and reaped $3 billion in proceeds from selling the apartments. Forbes estimated Roth’s net worth to be $1.1 billion in 2019. His wife, Daryl, a leading

Big as Roth’s empire is, it would have been even bigger if Merrill Lynch hadn’t backed out of the supertall tower on the Hotel Penn site in 2007. After that asco, he decided to build there anyway, and in 2010, the City Planning Commission granted Vornado a special permit to develop a 2.1 million-square-foot tower reaching 68 stories high, or 1,216 feet — about as tall as the Empire State Building, excluding the spire. In return, Vornado agreed to widen the northbound platforms at the Penn Station subway station underneath Seventh Avenue and reopen a passageway underneath West 33rd Street, closed since 1986, connecting the Seventh Avenue subway to the Sixth Avenue lines and the PATH.

But after all the groundwork was painstakingly laid, Roth waited.

“One of the great mysteries is why Roth didn’t build after he got the permit,” said George Janes, an urban planner who opposes Vornado’s plans for the area. “He wouldn’t be talking about tennis courts now if he’d done that.”

An adviser to Roth said nothing was built because an anchor tenant couldn’t be found after Merrill Lynch was swallowed up by Bank of America, which was building a new headquarters overlooking Bryant Park. Goldman Sachs Group was developing a headquarters downtown, and others were still tallying up the cost of the 2008 crash. In 2013, JPMorgan paid $13 billion to settle Justice Department claims into sales of troubled mortgages, and in 2014 it paid $2.6 billion to settle allegations of turning a blind eye to Bernie Mado ’s Ponzi scheme.

“It just wasn’t the time for banks to be looking for new space,” Piper Sandler’s Goldfarb said.

e ground quickly shifted, however.

In 2015 private equity giant KKR agreed to lease space at Hudson Yards, whose enormous glass towers were rising up two blocks west of Penn Station, the fruit of a deal made by CEO Steve Ross of e Related Cos. after Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to build an Olympic stadium on the site came to naught. In 2017 BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, also agreed to move to Hudson Yards. Meanwhile, Ernst & Young and law rm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom

HOTEL PENNSYLVANIA SITE

PENN 2

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST FARLEY

Steven Roth on a February conference call

agreed to relocate to Manhattan West, a set of new o ce towers developed by Brook eld Properties next to Hudson Yards. Big tenants were paying $150 per square foot or even more for shiny new space — about 50% above what Roth could charge at his centrally located but older buildings, such as 280 Park Ave. or 1290 Sixth Ave.

“It wasn’t location that sold Hudson Yards,” Goldfarb said. “It was the high ceilings, the big windows and the o ce thermostats that actually worked.”

As threats from the west encroached on Roth’s Midtown empire, another competitor rose in the east with the 2021 opening of SL Green’s 73-story tower at 1 Vanderbilt Ave. Evercore ISI analysts say the building next to Grand Central Terminal could be worth $4.5 billion by itself, not so far below the $6 billion market value for all of Vornado. Figures like that persuaded Roth to nally redevelop all the property he owned around Penn Station.

“Penn District’s time has come, the district being validated by the neighboring Hudson Yards and Manhattan West,” Roth said in his 2019 letter to shareholders. “Our grand plan includes developing three to ve new [buildings] in the Penn District. Imagine the NEW New York along the 34th Street corridor from VornadoLand (Macy’s, Penn Station, MSG) to Moynihan to Manhattan West and to Hudson Yards.”

Investors liked the sound of that, and the stock that Roth sometimes called “stupid, stupid cheap” paid out $500 million in dividends in 2019. It headed into the new year trading at $67 a share, for a $13 billion market capitalization.

Behind the scenes, o cials in the administration of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo were working to ensure Roth’s promised land was one of milk and honey.

Fixing a ‘hellhole’

One evening in January 2018, Vornado Senior Development Executive Marc Ricks had important business to discuss with Cuomo’s

economic development chief Howard Zemsky, MTA head Pat Foye and Rick Cotton of the Port Authority.

“Gentlemen,” began his email, released after neighborhood groups led a Freedom of Information Law request. “I understand the Governor has directed us to sit with you as soon as possible to advance discussions at Penn Station.”

Linking his building plans to the wellbeing of Penn Station marked a change in direction for Roth. But with his dreams for transforming the neighborhood reaching their 20th anniversary, he had to amp up his game. He found a partner in Cuomo.

After carving out Moynihan Station from the old Farley Post O ce, rebuilding LaGuardia Airport and naming the replacement of the Tappan Zee bridge for his father, Cuomo was ready to tackle the hardest job of all: renovating Penn Station, the underground rail hub that serves 600,000 commuters a day.

square feet around that station — a project on par with Hudson Yards. Tax revenue from higher rents and more commercial activity would help cover the estimated $7.5 billion cost of rebuilding Penn Station, the state said.

Cuomo insisted partnering with the private sector was the only way to get the massive public work done.

“ ere is no alternative, because paralysis is a death sentence,” he said in January 2020. “If we do

“These ideas come back in slightly different forms under different names. They’re like a vampire you can’t kill completely.”

Lynn Ellsworth of New Yorkers for a Human-Scale City

nothing, the world will pass us by.”

In 2017 Cuomo created a task force that included Roth to come up with solutions. ree years later, the governor unveiled an ambitious plan that called for xing up Penn Station while transforming the Penn District. Vornado and others would develop up to 10 supertall towers totaling 18 million

It looked as if waiting would pay o for Roth once again, as when he held o developing Bloomberg LP’s headquarters on East 59th Street. Not only could he build up to ve times more than the city had permitted in 2010, but the state required fewer public improvements than the city had demanded. And in shades of the Alexander’s saga, state o cials said redevelopment was necessary be-

economic conditions is not abandoning.”

e ground could shift again quickly, as it did in 2015, when big companies started leasing space in Hudson Yards. But persuading banks to write loans for o ce towers is a lot harder now, even for a successful developer with more than 50 years of experience. Manhattan’s return-to-o ce rate was 58% last September, the Partnership for New York City said, and “the expectation is that this will only grow to 59% on a long-term basis.”

cause the streets around Penn Station were “blighted.” Were Vornado to redevelop all the proposed sites around Penn Station, it would stand to get a $1.2 billion tax break from the state, according to scal watchdog Reinvent Albany. Yet the expected revenue would be $4 billion short of the amount needed to rebuild the train station, the watchdog group found. at analysis helped marshal opposition from civic leaders and members of Congress. Former MTA chief Dick Ravitch said he was “genuinely outraged” by the state’s plan to “recklessly” proceed with a “gift” of 18 million square feet to developers. Building a digni ed Penn Station is a worthy cause, he said, but the state “altogether failed to explain why that requires a real estate giveaway on this scale.”

While political pressure mounted, the o ce market cratered as interest rates started to rise in the spring of 2022 and workfrom-home habits hardened. On Nov. 1, 2022, Roth hit the pause button for rebuilding the Penn District.

“ e headwinds in the current environment are not at all conducive to ground-up development,” he said on an earnings call.

Decoupling

Nine months after Roth called o his moonshot, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has described Penn Station as a “hellhole,” said in June 2023 that the state and Vornado were “decoupling” and she would nd other ways to pay for the transit hub’s renovation. One possibility would be issuing municipal bonds to supplement the $1 billion already allocated by the state Legislature.

Yet hope is far from lost for Roth’s dream. e state’s plan with Vornado has no expiration date, and decoupled couples recouple sometimes. Roth donated nearly $70,000 to Hochul in 2021.

“I inadvertently created a whirlwind when I made what I thought was an obvious comment … [that] was interpreted as our abandoning the grand plan,” Roth said in last year’s letter to investors. “Nothing could be further from the truth. A pause necessitated by

Vornado has hunkered down. Its stock has fallen to $30 a share, and the company cut its dividend by two-thirds last year to conserve the cash it will need to make larger down payments on mortgages that will have to be re nanced soon at higher rates. e Bloomberg building’s $500 million loan is due in June, and Vornado’s 50% share of 280 Park’s $1.2 billion mortgage matures in September.

Even if conditions improve, it’s not clear whether Roth’s grand plans for the Penn District are still viable. Soon after taking o ce, Hochul shrank the scope of the project by 1.4 million square feet, according to a 2021 presentation, the equivalent of a supertall tower. Her revised plan also includes construction of up to 1,800 housing units. A spokesman said the governor changed the building plan “in response to community feedback.”

Further revisions may be coming in light of how embedded work from home has become. Perhaps a cluster of supertall o ce towers isn’t in the Penn District’s future, after all.

“It’s not clear what the best use of the neighborhood’s space would be,” said Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the Municipal Art Society.   Ellsworth, of New Yorkers for a Human-Scale City, fears it won’t be long before Roth starts building unless high interest rates continue to choke development. “ ese ideas come back in slightly di erent forms under di erent names,” she said. “ ey’re like a vampire you can’t kill completely.” at said, Federal Reserve ocials believe in ation still is too high to start lowering interest rates and the market, which entered the year anticipating six rate cuts, now reckons one or two are more realistic.

If development does move forward, the neighborhood may push back. One place targeted for demolition under the state proposal, the Church of St. John the Baptist, recently had the altar’s marble repaired and holes in the white walls patched up. It isn’t clear if the state and Archdiocese of New York agreed to eliminate the church, but the renovation work could be a sign the single-spire brownstone on West 30th Street will be around a while longer. Neither the archdiocese nor church leadership returned messages, but church member John Albanese said he has faith the building will outlast any developers’ grand plans.

“Moses didn’t get to the promised land,” Albanese said.   Nick Garber contributed to this article.

Penn Station is known among commuters for its claustrophobic corridors that can be hard to navigate. | BUCK ENNIS

The Church of St. John the Baptist on West 30th Street was originally targeted for demolition under the state’s plan, though recent repair work suggests it may have been spared. | AARON ELSTEIN

Midtown health rm aims to break taboos around menopause care

Elektra offers personalized plans, advice for managing symptoms like sleep loss and hot ashes, and prescriptions for hormone replacement therapy

By Amanda D’Ambrosio

Women’s health-tech rms have generated buzz by innovating services for pregnancy and fertility earlier in a woman's life. But a Midtown-based telemedicine company is garnering attention by focusing on an oft-overlooked part later in the health cycle: Menopause.

Elektra Health, founded in 2019, o ers clinical and patient education services for women who are no longer in the reproductive window. It aims to provide specialized menopause care through personalized health and wellness plans; advice for managing symptoms, such as sleep loss and hot ashes; and prescriptions for hormonereplacement therapy.

Such care is not all that common in the U.S. More than 1 million women go into menopause each year, according to the National Institutes of Health, yet there are still knowledge gaps and a lack of physicians who receive adequate menopause-speci c training, said Jannine Versi, CEO of Elektra Health.

Versi, an entrepreneur who comes from a family of doctors, and her co-founder, Alessandra Henderson, came up with the idea for Elektra out of a desire to help women better understand their hormones. When Henderson went through the process of freezing her eggs, the hormones she had to take brie y impaired her vision, which inspired her to learn how these chemical mes-

sengers a ect the body. Her research ultimately showed her that many women have a poor understanding of their hormones, especially those entering menopause, and the medical system isn’t set up to fully educate them.

When Elektra launched, investments in women’s health rms were taking o . But a lot of this investment focused on pregnancy and fertility.

“Women’s health gets lumped into this one category,” Versi told Crain’s. “It means so many things.”

Investor attention

ere’s been an uptick in investor attention around women's midlife care. Elektra Health raised $3.3 million in February in a seed round led by UPMC Enterprises, the venture arm of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, as well as Flare Capital Partners and Seven Seven Six. e investment brought the company’s total fundraising to $7.6 million.

e company also works with large employers. Elektra Health partnered with Financial Districtbased insurer EmblemHealth in 2022 to o er the menopause care platform to Emblem’s 4,000 employees, and since then the insurer has o ered it to its plan enrollees. Boston-based insurer Mass General Brigham Health also offers Elektra’s menopause care platform to patients enrolled in

its plans.

Dr. Anna Barbieri, an ob-gyn and founding physician at Elektra Health, said the company’s clinical services and patient education o erings also serve women seeking to make lifestyle changes. e company’s clinical memberships, which include telemedicine appointments with OB-GYNs and access to hormone therapies, are available to patients in New York, Connecticut and Florida. e cost for a clinical membership, temporarily on hold, is $30 per month or $250 per year in addition to the costs of medical care. Elektra offers telemedicine appointments with its six-person clinical team as well as referrals to in-person appointments with women’s health specialists.

It also o ers a membership just for education that consists of webinars and menopause counseling. People who subscribe to Elektra’s education membership can speak to a menopause doula, a nonclinical professional who explains what to expect during that time of life.

Barbieri said education doesn’t really happen in traditional clinical settings. OB-GYNs usually get a 15-minute block to see a patient, a time slot that doesn’t allow for in-depth counseling around menopause symptoms and lifestyle changes, Barbieri said.

Barbieri said Elektra is aiming to ll some of these gaps through its telemedicine o erings. “We

FOCAL POINTS

Company Elektra Health

Founded 2019

Headquarters Midtown Employees 10 full-time employees

Co-founders CEO Jannine Versi and Alessandra Henderson, board member and adviser Service offerings The company offers two types of memberships: a clinical care membership, which includes telemedicine appointments and access to lab work and prescriptions, and a patient education platform. Memberships cost $30 per month or $250 per year, on top of additional costs for medical care.

Funding Elektra Health raised $3.3 million in seed funding in February in a round led by UPMC Enterprises, Flare Capital and Seven Seven Six. This followed a $3.8 million funding round in August 2021.

Members Versi said the company can’t share the number of members on the platform, “but it is in the thousands.” She said that membership is growing quickly as the rm nalizes health plan and hospital system contracts.

are not at a point where virtual care can substitute for everything,” Barbieri said. “We can certainly serve as a bridge.”

Elektra is planning to expand its virtual footprint into Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in the coming months, and Versi said that the recent funding round will support its e orts to grow its number of in-person clinics.

Although Elektra launched in a period of growing investments in women’s health tech, Versi says funding for the sector is “barely scratching the surface” of what’s needed to ll gaps in services.

“I really think it's just the beginning,” she said.

Jannine Versi, CEO of Elektra Health, left, and Dr. Anna Barbieri, founding physician, say the company’s dual clinical and patient education offerings aim to close knowledge gaps in menopause care. BUCK ENNIS