St. John's Law Magazine Spring 2022

Magazine | Spring 2022

‚ What s Next?

ALUMNI ON THE FUTURE OF NEW YORK CITY REAL ESTATE

SAVE THE DATE! Law Loughlin Reception THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 METROPOLITAN CLUB OF NEW YORK Questions? Please email Brian Woods at brian.woods@stjohns.edu

CONTENTS

10

SPRING 2022

‚ What s Next?

Alumni on the Future of New York City Real Estate:

12 Alfred C. Cerullo, III ’83NDC, ’86L 13 Benjamin D. Clack ’08C, ’10MBA, ’15L 14 Glenn Goldstein ’91 15 Samantha Kwartler Holzberg ’16 16 Scott Mollen ’72 17 Sara O’Toole ’06 18 Michael J. Rhee ’98

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

20 HOUSING MATTERS

2 From the Dean

Alumni share their daily work on housing matters that impact the lives of countless New Yorkers.

4 Faculty Focus 8 Center Piece: The Mattone Institute Teams With Alumni to Make Career Connections

21 Atenedoro Gonzalez ’16 Gives Back to the Bronx Community That Raised Him

22 Kimberley McLean ’08 Works to Revitalize Queens Neighborhoods

23 Sylvia Nunez ’11 Helps Everyday People in Brooklyn Housing Court

24 Jacqueline Tom ’11 Finds Fulfillment Guiding a New York City Housing Nonprofit

25 Giving Spotlight: Lexy and Samuel S. Lionel ’40, ’10HON

COLUMNS 3

Advances: Clinic Students Advocate for Tenants’ Rights

7 On Direct:

Mattone Institute Director Robert J. Sein ’03

19 Trends: Bringing Ms. J. Home 26 Second Acts: Helena Williams ’81 28 End Note: Elliot Steinmetz ’05

ALSO INSIDE 6

John Q. Barrett and Rachel H. Smith Assume Named Professorships SPRING 2022 l 1

FROM THE DEAN It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost five years since we gathered on the Law School’s third floor and, with the snip of a red ribbon, launched the Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law. Established with the vision and generosity of Joseph M. Mattone, Sr. ‘53C, ‘55L, ‘94HON, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Mattone Group, and led by Rob Sein ’03, the Mattone Institute prepares aspiring real estate attorneys for success in the industry. Under its roof, we offer a range of core and elective courses, career development opportunities, and special events, building on St. John’s tradition of educating exceptional real estate lawyers.

As the Mattone Institute went from concept to reality, Michael Mattone ’91, CEO of Mattone Investors and Joe Mattone’s son, told me, “Generations of students have come to St. John’s Law to put a shovel in the ground.” Many of those students are now proud alumni who work in the real estate industry and on housing matters in New York City. And a number of them help to guide the Mattone Institute as members of its Advisory Board.

St. John’s Law Magazine SPRING 2022 Dean and John V. Brennan Professor of Law and Ethics Michael A. Simons Vice Dean for Administration Sarah Jean Kelly Associate Dean for Law School Advancement Brian J. Woods Associate Dean for External Relations Trent Anderson

This issue of St. John’s Law magazine introduces you to some of those alumni. With a focus on the city’s built environment, they’re reimagining commercial spaces and residential neighborhoods, lofting towers into the sky, remaking the energy grid, and advocating for people in need of safe, accessible, and affordable housing.

Managing Editor and Lead Writer

While our alumni make strides in the field, they also help our students forge career connections as externs, interns, and full-time hires. Our students also build career insights in our partner and in-house clinics, where they advocate for tenants’ rights and help older New Yorkers reclaim and remain in their homes. As they serve St. John’s Vincentian mission, our clinic students uplift our local communities.

Claire K. Pollicino

St. John’s Law has been woven into the rich fabric of New York City since we first opened our doors close to a century ago. Now, through our Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law, our alumni and students are hard at work building a city that can make us all proud.

All the Best,

Lori Herz Copy Editors Dominique Cendales

Art Director Jill Cuddire Rose Creative Group Please send comments to: Editor, St. John’s Law St. John’s University School of Law 8000 Utopia Parkway Queens, NY 11439 stjohns.edu/law

Michael A. Simons Dean and John V. Brennan Professor of Law and Ethics

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Copyright 2022 St. John’s University School of Law

ADVANCES

CLINIC STUDENTS ADVOCATE FOR TENANTS’ RIGHTS Each year, a small group of St. John’s Law students have an unrivaled opportunity to learn the law hands on while helping New Yorkers in need as participants in the Law School’s Tenants’ Rights Advocacy Clinic.

One of 10 clinics offered at St. John’s Law, this one-semester housing rights clinic is run in partnership with the Legal Aid Society’s Queens Neighborhood Office (QNO). Under the guidance of Professor Amee Master, a supervising attorney with Legal Aid’s Housing Justice Unit-Group Advocacy, students represent income-eligible Queens tenants who are facing eviction and asserting their rights to safe and habitable conditions, proper rents, and freedom from harassment.

Sadia Shamid ’21 was one of the clinic’s first students. “When I heard about the Tenants’ Rights Advocacy Clinic, I knew I wanted to apply,” she says. “The clinic’s mission aligns with my belief that everyone should have access to safe and affordable housing. It’s a basic human need. Plus, I grew up not far from St. John’s in Jamaica, Queens. So, this was a chance to give back to my home community.”

Along with her fellow student clinicians, Shamid worked at least 14 hours a week at QNO. “When I was in the office, I assisted in case investigations and drafted stipulations and motions,” she explains.

“I also had opportunities to observe housing court hearings, watch landlord and tenant lawyers interact, and engage with clients.” Shamid also took Professor Master’s weekly seminar course, where she and her classmates discussed their experiences in the field, grew their knowledge of housing law, and honed interviewing, negotiation, oral argument, and other key lawyering skills.

The time she spent working directly with clinic clients inspired Shamid to pursue a career in the public interest. “I saw how my work played a big role in determining whether a person was able to remain in their home or had to leave it,” she shares. “I wanted to

Sadia Shamid

Amee Master

keep serving the public in that way.” Shamid’s desire to be of service only deepened during the pandemic, as it upended jobs and increased housing insecurity for many New York City tenants. Today, she is a full-time law graduate in the Housing Unit at Manhattan Legal Services, a program of Legal Services NYC, the nation’s largest civil legal services provider.

While Shamid charts her career path, students in the Tenants’ Rights Advocacy Clinic continue their vital work. “As we move into the third year of this unprecedented pandemic, New Yorkers are still contending with its immediate impacts,” Professor Master says. “This semester, on the heels of the end of the state’s eviction moratorium, our students are working with tenants at risk of eviction and displacement from their homes. As with so many aspects of our lives and our society, the pandemic has made clear the need for long-term, robust, and equitable housing solutions.”

Doing her part to help New York City tenants navigate the ongoing housing crisis, Shamid is proud to carry on the work she started as a clinic student. “It was such a formative experience,” she says. “I’m grateful to St. John’s Law and to Professor Master for equipping me with the skills and knowledge I now use on a daily basis.”

SPRING 2022 l 3

FACULTY FOCUS Read all about the latest activities and achievements of our outstanding St. John’s Law Faculty:

{ALLEN} Professor Renee Nicole Allen was invited to present her work-inprogress, Get Out: Structural Racism and Academic Terror, to the law faculties at Arizona State, Arizona, and Kansas.

{BARRETT} Professor John Q. Barrett was appointed a trustee of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum and a trustee emeritus of the Historical Society of the New York Courts. His article, “Law Clerk John Costelloe’s Photographs of the Stone Court Justices, October 1943,” was published in the Journal of Supreme Court History. Professor Barrett also lectured online at the FDR Library (C-SPAN), Federal Bar Association EDNY chapter, American Foreign Law Association, Queens Public Library, FBA’s National Art Litigation & Fashion Law Conference, and Nassau County Inn of Court, and was on a Dissed podcast episode about the Steel Seizure Case.

{BOYLE} Professor Robin Boyle gave five presentations recently on Human Trafficking and Coercion. She was a keynote speaker at an academic conference hosted by China’s Shanxi University and spoke to community members at Hicksville High School, the National Charity League, the Garden City Community Church, and St. John’s Law. She will present on that same topic at the upcoming International Cultic Studies Association annual meeting, streaming from Montreal.

“Swimming with Broad Strokes: Publishing and Presenting Beyond the LW Discipline,” an article Professor Boyle wrote with Buffalo School of Law Professor Stephen Paskey, will appear in Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing. In addition, working pro bono under the mentorship of the Safe Passage Project, she successfully got deportation proceedings dismissed against her client, an undocumented immigrant who came to the United States as a minor.

{CHIU} Professor Elaine Chiu is working with the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force to study the troubling rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City. She leads a team that is researching what happens after victims report these crimes to the police—are arrests made? Are hate crime charges brought? Are hate crime convictions secured? Do dispositions involve 4 l ST. JOHN’S LAW MAGAZINE

alternatives to incarceration, mental health treatment, jail, etc.?

Professor Chiu has commented on this research in articles for Politico and NY1, and she will share the study’s results in an upcoming report.

{DURYEA} Professor Catherine Baylin Duryea has recently published “Mobilizing Universalism: The Origins of Human Rights” in the Berkeley Journal of International Law. The article argues that the practice of human rights in several Arab countries in the 1970s and 1980s supports the claim that human rights can be universal— not because rights exist outside of politics or have diverse origins, but because they were constantly reinvented to support a range of different, sometimes contradictory, political goals. Professor Duryea also accepted an invitation to join the Middle East Studies Association’s Committee on Academic Freedom.

{GREENBERG} Professor Elayne E. Greenberg presented “What They Really Want . . . Bringing Objective Evaluation Into Mediation” to bankruptcy mediators in the Honorable Thomas T. Glover Mediation Program in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Washington. In her recurring “Ethical Compass” column for the New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, Professor Greenberg wrote a threepart series addressing lawyers’ ethical obligations in a settlementcentric justice system. She presented a draft of “Harnessing the Paradox of Racial Stressors: Reimagining Racism Education While Reducing Cancel Culture Casualties” at the annual AALS ADR Works-in-Progress Conference hosted by the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. She also presented “Blinding Justice and Virtual Dispute Resolution?” at a recent Stetson Law Review symposium.

The presentation is part of a developing paper that will appear in the Stetson Law Review.

{LAZARO} At PIABA’s annual meeting, Professor Christine Lazaro co-moderated a panel program on Exploring Obligations—and Regulatory Challenges—of Online Broker-Dealers and Trading Platforms. She also co-authored an article for the program titled “The Obligations and Regulatory Challenges of Online Broker-Dealers and Trading Platforms” and participated in a panel addressing the Fundamentals of Arbitration: Significant Documents and an Introduction to the Discovery Guide. Professor Lazaro was invited to join the CFP Board’s

FACULTY FOCUS

Standards Resource Commission and served on an SEC Investor Advisory Committee panel that considered the commission’s potential role in addressing elder financial abuse issues.

{MOVSESIAN} Professor Mark L. Movsesian’s article on the response of courts around the world to the Covid pandemic, “Law, Religion, and the COVID-19 Crisis,” appears in the current volume of the Journal of Law and Religion. He moderated a panel at a recent online conference on cultural property in law and diplomacy co-sponsored by the Law School’s Center for Law and Religion, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and California State University-Fresno. He also participated in an online panel, Secularism and Its Discontents, sponsored by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

{ROBERTS} Professor Anna Roberts presented her draft article, “Criminal Terms,” at the ABA-Academy for Justice Academic Roundtable. The article is slated for publication in the Minnesota Law Review. She also presented at the LatCrit 2021 Faculty Development Workshop, on a panel focused on Writing Critical and Progressive Scholarship.

{SALOMONE} Professor Rosemary Salomone’s latest book, The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford University Press), was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, the Kirkus Review, the Times of India, and Sentence First and listed among the New York Times Book Review Editors’ weekly “12 Books to Read.” The book was also excerpted in the Wall Street Journal Book Review Section, featured in the Economist, recommended by Goodreads, and covered in podcast interviews in the United States, Europe, and Canada and in NPR broadcasts nationwide. The German magazine Spotlight published an interview with Professor Salomone in its latest edition, and she presented the book in a workshop hosted by the Berkeley Center for Comparative Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law at the University of California. Professor Salomone’s commentary, “The Inequities of English Use in Global Higher Education Must Be Addressed,” appeared in Times Higher Education, and University World News published her commentary on “China and the Geopolitics of Language.”

{SOVERN} Professor Jeff Sovern’s article, “Six Scandals: Why We Need Consumer Protection Laws Instead of Just Markets,” has been published in the Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review. He also spoke at, and drafted a short memorandum for, the University of California at Berkeley’s CFPB Academic Advisory Roundtable. Berkeley submitted the memorandum to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with memos drafted by other consumer law professors. Professor Sovern was also quoted in American Banker and Roll Call.

{SUBOTNIK} Professor Eva Subotnik’s co-authored, interdisciplinary paper on legal issues growing out of the Britney Spears conservatorship was accepted for presentation at both the Critical Trusts & Estates Conference 2022 and the Mid-Career Intellectual Property Scholars Workshop.

{WADE} Professor Cheryl L. Wade was the keynote speaker at the University of Cincinnati College of Law’s Corporate Law Symposium on diversity, race, and business. She was also one of the racial justice speakers for a UC Davis Law School series where she discussed her co-authored book, Predatory Lending and the Destruction of the African American Dream. Earlier this year, Professor Wade was a panelist at the Center for American Progress’ Women’s History Month event and at a University of Houston Law Center conference on Race, Racism, and American Media.

Professors Courtney Selby and Rachel H. Smith contributed a chapter to Law Teaching Strategies for a New Era (Carolina Academic Press 2021).

SPRING 2022 l 5

John Q. Barrett and Rachel H. Smith Assume Named Professorships

A

t a ceremony held at the Law School on April 11, 2022, John Q. Barrett was appointed the Benjamin N. Cardozo Professor of Law, a chair first and last held by former Professor and Interim Dean Brian Z. Tamanaha. Rachel H. Smith was appointed the Mary C. Daly Professor of Legal Writing. That chair was held previously by former Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship Anita S. Krishnakumar, who served as the inaugural Mary C. Daly Professor of Law. Funded through the generosity of St. John’s Law alumni and friends, named professorships recognize Law School faculty members for their outstanding contributions to the legal academy, the classroom, and the St. John’s Law community. With the installation of Professors Barrett and Smith, eight faculty members now hold named professorships:

serves as the Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow at the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, NY and produces the Jackson List, an email sent regularly to thousands of subscribers worldwide.

“Given the breadth and depth of his work, John is an important and influential public scholar,” Dean Simons says. “We recognized his notable scholarly output with the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship in 2019. As dean and as his faculty colleague of many years, I’m so pleased to add to that recognition by naming John our Benjamin N. Cardozo Professor of Law. Commemorating one of the country’s most celebrated jurists, the chair is particularly appropriate for John as its latest recipient.”

• Marc O. DeGirolami: Cary Fields ’86HON Professor of Law • Mark L. Movsesian: Frederick A. Whitney Professor of Law • Michael A. Perino: Dean George W. Matheson Professor of Law • Rosemary C. Salomone: Kenneth Wang Professor of Law • Michael A. Simons: John V. Brennan Professor of Law • Cheryl L. Wade: Dean Harold F. McNiece Professor of Law

Professor Smith joined the St. John’s Law faculty in 2016 and teaches Legal Writing, Legal Research, Law & Literature, Lawyering, and Introduction to Law. For the past few years, she has also served as Associate Dean for Experiential and SkillsBased Education, playing a key role in shaping the curriculum as a member of the Law School’s senior leadership team. Professor Smith is the author of two books on her craft: The Handbook for the New Legal Writer and The Legal Writing Survival Guide.

As the Mary C. Daly Professor of Legal Writing, she becomes the first skills professor at St. John’s to hold a named position.

Professor Barrett is a dedicated and impactful educator who has taught Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, and Legal History on the Law School’s full-time faculty since 1995. Outside the classroom, he is an extraordinarily productive legal scholar whose credits include one book, 14 book chapters, 32 law review articles, and dozens of essays. He is also a prolific lecturer. Over the past decade, Professor Barrett has given 125 lectures in 16 different states and five different countries. He is a particularly sought-after speaker to groups of federal and state judges.

As a noted biographer of the late Supreme Court Justice and Nuremberg chief prosecutor Robert H. Jackson, Professor Barrett

“Rachel is a beloved teacher, a respected scholar, and an esteemed colleague who has been an invaluable partner in charting the direction of the Law School for the last several years,” says Dean Simons. “She is a champion for skills education; she centers our students in all that she does; and she is focused on gender equity and antiracism in her work here at St. John’s and beyond.

Awarding her this chair not only recognizes Rachel’s tremendous talents, it affirms the key role our skills faculty members play in the education of our students, in the legal academy, and in the life of the Law School. It’s my honor to name Rachel the Law School’s Mary C. Daly Professor of Legal Writing.”

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ON DIRECT After graduation, there were openings in the firm’s Real Estate group, so I started there full time. Given my path to practice, I always encourage students to keep an open mind about areas of interest and new opportunities.

LH: What did you enjoy most about practicing commercial real estate?

Mattone Institute Director Robert J. Sein ’03 In 2017, Robert J. Sein left the commercial real estate practice at Shearman & Sterling LLP and returned to alma mater as director of the Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law. In that role, he coordinates programs and initiatives, fosters the Law School’s connections with alumni and others in the real estate industry, and helps students realize their goals in the field. Sein is also an adjunct professor at St. John’s Law and the faculty advisor to the N.Y. Real Property Law Journal.

Here, he sits down with the Law School’s director of communications, Lori Herz, to discuss his career path to, and work on behalf of, the Mattone Institute.

LH: What sparked your interest in real estate law?

RS: I came to St. John’s as an aspiring litigator.

But my favorite 1L course turned out to be Property with Professor DiLorenzo, which sparked my interest in real estate transactions.

From there, I took Co-ops, Condos, and Homeowner Associations with the inimitable Professor Rohan, among other courses relevant to the field, including Business Organizations, Tax, Trusts & Estates, Corporate Finance, Remedies, and Conflict of Laws. I was introduced to real estate practice as a summer associate at Shearman & Sterling.

RS: Like many real estate attorneys, I loved working on matters that had a tangible effect on the places people live, work, and play. For example, I worked on the ground lease for the Goldman Sachs World Headquarters in Battery Park City, which was the first major development in Lower Manhattan after 9/11. It was fulfilling to attend the tower’s groundbreaking, watch it go up, and see its positive impact on New York City. I also loved the diversity of deals I worked on throughout the United States. Real estate deals tend to be staffed leanly, so I was able to get great, realworld lawyering experience early on in my career. Plus I built a professional network that I continue to rely on every day.

LH: Why did you decide to return to St. John’s Law to lead the Mattone Institute?

RS: I come from a family of teachers—my mom was a New York City public school teacher, and my dad was a college physics professor—so, in a way, I was always drawn to the world of academia. And I’ve always derived joy and personal fulfillment from teaching and mentoring others. In fact, one of my favorite parts of legal practice was teaching CLEs and mentoring junior attorneys.

Naturally, when I saw that St. John’s was hiring the Mattone Institute’s director, I was intrigued and applied almost immediately.

It was a unique opportunity to combine my knowledge of real estate with my desire to work with students, while giving back to an institution that’s given me so much.

LH: What do you find most gratifying about your Institute leadership role?

RS: I love seeing our efforts result in positive job outcomes for our students. Sometimes, those results are direct, like when we introduce a student to a graduate who hires him or her. But, often, they’re indirect, such as where a student’s knowledge of real estate finance acquired through our programs opens

the door to an interview and an offer. I also love interacting with our fantastic alumni and seeing them get more involved with the Law School and our students by guest lecturing, teaching a CLE, participating in a conference or roundtable, or mentoring.

And I enjoy helping alumni enhance their real estate law credentials, grow their knowledge of the marketplace, and connect with job opportunities.

LH: How do St. John’s Law students benefit from the Institute’s programs and initiatives?

RS: There’s no better place to learn and practice real estate law than New York City.

Our students get a real estate education that’s second to none through courses in Real Estate Development, Drafting: Real Estate Transactions, and Commercial Real Estate Leasing, among others. Their classroom learning is enriched by events—like fireside chats with leading practitioners and industry leaders—that help them expand their professional networks and gain insight into deals, current events, and industry trends.

Many of our students also intern or extern at real estate firms, giving them the opportunity to apply their learning to real-world deals and disputes. Students can participate in the Real Property Law Society and on the N.Y. Real Property Law Journal. Our Real Estate Law Fellowship Program for selected upperlevel students has curricular, experiential, and participation components. And I work with our Career Development Office to help Real Estate Fellows and other students with their career development through resume review, mock interviews, and alumni meetings.

LH: What’s next for the Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law? RS: Most immediately, we’re looking forward to a long-awaited return to in-person events.

The virtual format has its advantages when it comes to events like CLEs, but it doesn’t work well for other things, like site visits or networking receptions. In the coming months, we’d like to increase our focus on affordable housing and evictions and foreclosures, which are some of the defining issues of our time. We’re also exploring the possibility of launching new real estate-focused degree programs, such as an LL.M. (Master of Laws) at St. John’s Law. It’s an exciting time!

SPRING 2022 l 7

CENTER PIECE

The Mattone Institute Teams With Alumni to Make Career Connections Just about five years ago, the Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law first opened its doors at St. John’s Law with a generous endowment from Joseph M. Mattone, Sr. ’53C, ’55L, ’94 HON, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Mattone Group. In that time, from its home base in a well-appointed suite on the Law School’s third floor, the Mattone Institute has helped to prepare hundreds of aspiring real estate attorneys for success in the field.

In the classroom, students learn about commercial leasing, real estate development, real estate finance, and other key subjects through an innovative curriculum taught by renowned scholars and practitioners.

They also participate in co-curricular programs, like the Real Estate Law Fellowship Program, the Real Property Law Society, and the N.Y. Real Property Law Journal, and engage with leaders in the field at site visits, fireside chats, and a range of in-person and virtual events.

At the heart of all the Mattone Institute offers is a group of St. John’s Law alumni who are committed to helping students make career connections. “The Institute exists to support students who are interested in real estate law, and we fulfill that mission year after year 8 l ST. JOHN’S LAW MAGAZINE

by teaming with alumni who work in the industry,” says Robert J. Sein ’03, who has been the Mattone Institute’s director since 2017.

“A number of those alumni partners serve on the Institute’s Advisory Board, and all understand how important it is for students to build real-world experience hands on.”

Helping students gain that experience is a full-circle opportunity for Kelly Porcella ’07. When she was a St. John’s Law 1L, Pamela McCormack ’96 hired her for a summer internship at a top

Kelly Porcella

Pamela McCormack

investment bank. After 17 years, their professional and personal ties remain strong as Porcella serves as Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, and McCormack as Co-Founder and President, of Ladder Capital Corp, a commercial real estate investment trust.

McCormack and Porcella joined the Mattone Institute’s Advisory Board at the outset.

“After serving on the Law School Alumni Association Board of Directors and cofounding its New York City Chapter earlier in my career, I wanted to find a new way to give back,” McCormack says. “I was delighted to see St. John’s Law committed to embracing the corporate-transactional side of the legal profession, and real estate specifically. I was also grateful for the opportunity to honor the Mattone family, who have—and continue to be—generous benefactors of the Law School and, by extension, its alumni.”

Over the years, with Porcella’s and McCormack’s guidance, Ladder has welcomed seven student externs from St. John’s Law. “It’s a robust externship program that offers students a comprehensive educational experience and connections in corporate law and the commercial real estate industry,” Porcella explains. “Working with both our Legal & Compliance group and our Transaction Management group, they get broad exposure to corporate, regulatory, and real estate subject areas to help them determine where they might want to focus, and to specialized internal and external counsel as resources and potential employers.”

Thomas G. Maira

Like McCormack and Porcella, Thomas G. Maira ’96 was happy to support his alma mater and its students through the Mattone

Institute. As a real estate partner at DLA Piper, he coordinated the launch of an externship program in the firm’s New York Real Estate Practice Group. “I attended St. John’s Law on a full scholarship and appreciated that start to my legal studies and career,” he says. “Now I want to help students who are very focused on real estate law get experience in actual practice and build the St. John’s Law brand as real estate graduates.” The program has been a success, with student externs staying on as paid interns and then earning full-time positions at DLA Piper.

Altschuler enjoys this ongoing partnership.

“Thanks to the Mattone Institute, law students today are being exposed to what real estate practice really is and, to me, that is incredibly

John V. Terrana

Fredric L. Altschuler

St. John’s Law students also find professional success thanks to Fredric L. Altschuler ’72, who is senior counsel at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP and a Mattone Institute Advisory Board member. “For 40 plus years, I was single-mindedly focused on career and family,” he shares. “But as I got older and started to cut back on my practice, I began to think about how I could give back to the Law School and legal community. Real estate practice has been extremely good to me, and it seemed like a good time to pay my dues. The Institute is a great resource in feeding the New York City law firm and corporate pipelines with talented young future real estate lawyers.”

Throughout his career, Altschuler has helped to recruit and hire talented lawyers. He has also been an able and enthusiastic mentor.

“I’ve developed many real estate industry contacts over the years,” he says. “With those connections, I’ve often helped fellow lawyers and clients in identifying employment opportunities, making introductions, giving advice, and the like.

So when Rob Sein and I discussed how I could best work with the Institute, we both felt I could help advise law students and recent graduates about identifying job opportunities, being a lawyer, working in a law firm environment, and handling their career.”

valuable and a large reason why I’m so excited to be involved,” he says. His excitement is shared by John V. Terrana ’84C, ’91L, the Co-Managing Partner and Chair of the Tax Certiorari Practice Group at Forchelli Deegan Terrana LLP (FDT). He and his firm have been involved with the Mattone Institute since its inception.

As Terrana sees it, it was an easy alliance.

“We’re one of Long Island’s largest fullservice law firms, and have a longtime and deep relationship with St. John’s,” he says.

“Close to one-third of our attorneys are alumni. We’re also heavily concentrated in real estate, have worked with the Mattone family many times, and find them to be outstanding corporate citizens. So I was certain that we could make a difference and offer students invaluable experience in many real estate-related practice areas.”

Terrana’s vision for helping students is now a reality. FDT regularly brings on interns and externs from the Law School, and several past interns and externs are now full-time attorneys at the firm. Reflecting on that fruitful partnership, and all the others that alumni have forged with the Mattone Family Institute for Real Estate Law, Sein says: “We’ve been focused on student success from day one, and our alumni have supported us every step of the way. As employers, as mentors, and in countless other roles, they help our students make career connections that will benefit them, the real estate industry, and the wider legal profession for years to come.”

SPRING 2022 l 9

‚ What s Next?

10 l ST. JOHN’S LAW MAGAZINE

FROM HARNESSING AND SUPPLYING CLEAN ENERGY TO REIMAGINING AND REVITALIZING THE PLACES AND SPACES WHERE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE LIVE AND WORK, ALUMNI IN THE FIELD OFFER THEIR TAKE ON THE FUTURE OF NEW YORK CITY REAL ESTATE.

SPRING 2022 l 11

people back in greater numbers. And I also recognize that the postpandemic commercial real estate canvas that emerges may offer a somewhat newer look, as discussions continue about zoning and legislative options for commercial-to-residential building conversion.

Whatever the built environment may be, those who call Midtown East home during some part of their day want new, state-of-the-art public and work spaces that are easily and quickly accessible by mass transit.

The real estate community is building for that future as it continues its unparalleled commitment to our city and region. That commitment is nowhere more obvious than in the Midtown East neighborhood surrounding iconic Grand Central Terminal.

It’s difficult to imagine the immediate and impressive impact that the Vanderbilt Corridor Rezoning and the Greater East Midtown Rezoning would have on New York City’s economy and Midtown East’s rebirth—never mind how important it would all be in a postCOVID world. I’m extremely excited about new projects spurred by these rezoning initiatives that would help reshape the area’s commercial office infrastructure. They would also tie in desperately needed transit improvements that the government hasn’t been able to finance on its own.

ALFRED C. CERULLO, III ’83NDC, ’86L President/CEO, Grand Central Partnership Commissioner, NYC Planning Commission Everyone can sense it.

New York City is on track for a post-pandemic renewal. Spring is in the air. Mandates and restrictions are easing. New leadership in Albany and City Hall is bringing opportunity for conversation and collaboration. Retailers, restaurants, and offices are sparking back to life, and their employees are once again emerging out of buses and trains, enhancing pedestrian activity. Our Midtown East neighborhood is reawakening.

But I don’t take the pace of this recovery for granted—we still have hard work in front of us to stimulate the economy and bring our

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Change is already underway. SL Green’s state-of-the-art One Vanderbilt, adjacent to Grand Central, has already introduced a new pedestrian plaza. A new tourist destination, the Summit, sits high above Midtown and provides additional access to all facets of the landmark public transit hub. Others major developments include 270 Park Avenue (JPMorgan Chase), 175 Park Avenue (RXR Realty and TF Cornerstone), 343 Madison Avenue (Boston Properties), 415 Madison (Rudin Management), 417 Park Avenue (GDS Development), 425 Park Avenue (L&L Holdings), 520 Fifth Avenue (Rabina Properties), and 570 Fifth Avenue (Extell Development).

Each of these projects showcases the forward-thinking vision and success of neighborhood rezoning efforts. At this critical time, with the commitment of a smart and resolute real estate community, they are helping New York City get back on its feet—just another reason why we welcome these investments here in Midtown East, the world’s central business district.

BENJAMIN D. CLACK ’08C, ’10MBA, ’15L

Corporate Counsel, Curaleaf

I’m very excited about the proposed Affirmation Tower project on Manhattan’s West Side. If given the green light by state officials, the tower would be the world’s tallest building owned by majority Black-owned companies, the tallest building ever built by a woman-led contractor, and the world’s tallest skyscraper designed by a Black architect.

The development team’s latest vision for Affirmation Tower includes affordable housing, the NAACP’s new headquarters, commercial offices, and New York City’s first Civil Rights Museum. This will be a beacon of Black excellence in the most iconic city in the United States, where Black people make up almost 25% of the population. Our people have been left out of creating the infrastructure of this city since its inception, but this tower could change that.

For Black people and other minorities, owning property is the best way to build generational wealth. The Affirmation Tower project will also create jobs for minority contractors and businesses because Black developers are more likely to hire minority tradesmen. This will cause millions, if not billions, of dollars to circulate through Black and minority communities, which have been historically excluded by systemic racism such as Jim Crow laws, redlining, and job discrimination. More recently, those communities have also been disproportionally affected by the pandemic.

I’m very pleased that affordable housing units are part of the proposed Tower. I’ve seen city rents increase year after year. When I first moved here in 2005, my rent was $375 a month. I now pay almost 10 times that amount. This fine city operates on the backs of hardworking middle class people, and more and more of them are getting priced out of living here. We should be doing all we can to provide a living wage to all workers, that includes lowering the cost of housing.

community, and nine times in the Asian community. In white neighborhoods, money circulates nearly an unlimited number of times.

I started a real estate investment club last fall focused on educating and empowering the Black community, so our money circulates through it. Our club invests in Black-, women-, and minority-owned businesses, and plans to purchase real estate in Black neighborhoods.

Affirmation Tower would stand as an affirmation of all that’s possible for our club’s investors, and for the entire Black community. Rising high in the Manhattan skyline, it will show all who live, work, and look upwards here that the dream of creating a New York City built by and for all can indeed become a reality.

A study by the Selig Center for Economic Growth found that money circulates once in the Black community, six times in the Latino

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Clean Path NY is a partnership between energyRe, the New York Power Authority, and Invenergy. The founding investors at energyRe include principals of Related Companies, where we’ve focused on sustainable development in and beyond the energy sector for decades.

Now, through this project, we’re taking our involvement in solving New York City’s clean energy challenges to the next level, benefiting people here and statewide.

The impact of Clean Path NY will be enormous. At the moment, a major traffic jam on New York State’s energy grid is blocking renewable energy produced upstate (where the grid is 90%+ clean energy) from reaching downstate and New York City (where the grid is 80%+ powered by fossil fuels). Our project is comprised of a stateof-the-art, 175-mile transmission line that will clear that traffic jam and bring 3,800 MW of wind and solar power from Upstate New York directly into New York City.

GLENN GOLDSTEIN ’91

Executive Vice President, energyRe President, Related Retail Our future depends on the fight against climate change, and the real estate industry will play a vital role in ensuring a more sustainable future driven by clean energy. The project I’m most passionate about right now is called Clean Path NY, which will transform the way New York City is powered by reducing its reliance on fossil fuels. Our company—energyRe—was recently awarded the right to develop the project after a competitive request for proposal run by the New York State Research and Development Authority.

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As a net result, this new energy pathway will transform the way the city is powered by dramatically reducing fossil fuel generation. The project’s impact will be measurable and enduring. Clean Path NY will lead to the removal of 49 million tons of carbon from New York’s atmosphere through 2040 and will reduce the harmful particulate matter in our state’s air by 20% every year. That will directly lead to better health outcomes, cleaner air, and real progress on environmental justice in New York City and frontline communities across the state.

Overall, Clean Path NY is an $11 billion project that will create more than 8,300 jobs across New York State. Projects like Clean Path NY are more important now than ever before. We see the effects of climate change becoming more evident every day—whether through severe weather or rising seas. When it comes online in 2027, our project will provide New York City with 16% of the power it needs. It will be resilient, reliable, and, most importantly, renewable energy. The green economy is a tremendous opportunity, and also an imperative for securing our future, and I’m incredibly excited that our project—Clean Path NY—is a vital part of that effort.

SAMANTHA KWARTLER HOLZBERG ’16 Senior Corporate Counsel, WeWork

We all know that the pandemic has changed the way we think about the places we live and the places we work. In the United States and around the world, for the first time and in unprecedented numbers, employees are experiencing the freedom to work in different locations based on their preferences, making the traditional approach to office life feel like a thing of the past.

As employers think about their office footprint and plan for their real estate needs, flexible office space is becoming an appealing alternative.

Not only does “flex space” allow employers to give their employees more day-to-day options, it also enables companies to enter new markets, test new ways of working, and reduce capital expenditures.

Even government agencies are opting for flexible work arrangements after adopting new workplace technologies during the shutdown.

With this shift, there is an opportunity for flex space to become a larger part of the commercial real estate market, although it remains only a small portion today.

At WeWork, we help people think about this shift by comparing it to the e-commerce disruption of traditional retail back in the early 2000s.

Companies like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy were retail industry leaders because they pivoted quickly and invested in omni-channel opportunities as more and more customers opted to do business with them online. Similarly, today, we’re seeing sophisticated owners and operators of real estate already leveraging, or at least starting to consider, flex space as part of their portfolios. Flex space will become a must-have amenity for any landlord looking to fill a portfolio of spaces, and a necessity for any company looking to attract and retain top talent.

As an employee of WeWork, a global leading flex space provider, flexibility in where I work is something I value. I think there are many professionals like me who enjoy working from the comfort of their home, while also having the option of attending important meetings— or social events—at company headquarters. This is an exciting time in real estate, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the evolution towards more flexible thinking about where and how we work.

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Governor Hochul’s support is rooted in past success. In Lower Manhattan, approximately 20 million square feet of office space has already been converted to apartments and, over the last 20 years, the area’s residential population has reportedly doubled. The rise of that mixed-use community proves that conversions can serve all stakeholders. Now, looking to Midtown Manhattan, experts believe that about 10% of older commercial buildings could be converted, generating some 14,000 new market-rate and affordable units.

While providing safe, affordable housing is a major benefit of conversion, it’s not the only one. We’ve seen that neighborhoods with more diversified uses are more resilient in the face of economic stress. For instance, Downtown Brooklyn seemed to suffer far less economic pain during the pandemic than predominantly commercial neighborhoods. Conversions could also boost public safety, as streets with a mix of properties tend to be less desolate. In addition, building owners may find conversion a cost-efficient alternative to upgrading properties to meet environmental regulations and the needs of today’s commercial tenants.

SCOTT MOLLEN ’72

Partner, Herrick, Feinstein LLP The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on opportunities to convert commercial space in New York City into residential properties.

Growing the housing stock in this sustainable way will require shared vision, as well as a private-public partnership with state and local governments focused on removing regulatory obstacles.

On the regulatory front, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced plans to amend the Multiple Dwelling Law to facilitate conversions of Manhattan commercial buildings south of 60th Street that were built before 1980. That effort, and similar legislative changes, could clear the way for tremendous redevelopment that would benefit property owners, tenants, and the city more broadly.

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This isn’t to say that converting New York City commercial space on a large scale would be easy. Midtown East offers some insight. Changes to residential use there would require reconsideration of 2017 rezoning laws. For example, the requirement that conversions on side streets be approved through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure often involves uncertainty and inordinate delays.

Structural issues could also impede conversions. The large floor plates of some city office buildings render it difficult, if not impossible, to address requirements for light and air. Many laws and regulations that impede conversions were enacted long ago to address dangers in tenement buildings. But those provisions don’t necessarily reflect technology advances, such as new ways of providing air conditioning, ventilation, heating, lighting, sprinklers, and fireproof construction.

My colleagues and I look forward to advising our clients in connection with these exciting issues. With appropriate legislative amendments and government support, including sensible incentive programs, the promises of large-scale conversions from commercial to residential use can be realized.

SARA O’TOOLE ’06

Vice President – Real Estate and Leasing Counsel Vornado Realty Trust The project I’m most excited about right now is the redevelopment of Manhattan’s PENN District, which comprises 30th to 34th Streets between Sixth Avenue and Ninth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

The project is spearheaded by Vornado Realty Trust, which owns roughly 10 million square feet in the PENN District and has committed more than $2.4 billion to its redevelopment, in addition to more than $3 billion committed by New York State. In the PENN District, Vornado is creating a campus, a city within a city, and a neighborhood of the future.

Among the highlights of the redevelopment project is the transformation of the former James A. Farley Post Office Building, an iconic New York City landmark that spans two city blocks and avenues, into the Farley Building. The Farley Building is well situated, standing adjacent to Penn Station and across the street from Madison Square Garden, the city’s bustling sports and entertainment venue. The Farley Building includes 730,000 square feet of office space leased by Facebook. It’s also home to the Moynihan Train Hall, a new gateway for Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road service that offers a range of dining, retail, and other amenities. With its PENN District project, Vornado has completed the construction of a new Long Island Rail Road 33rd Street entrance and is also expanding, revitalizing, and bringing new tenants to the Long Island Rail Road concourse, which will connect Seventh Avenue and the Moynihan Train Hall.

The redevelopment project also brings plans for the demolition of Hotel Pennsylvania, which will give rise to PENN 15, a modern, 2.7 millionsquare-foot tower, and the redevelopment and updating of the buildings that will now be known as PENN 1 and PENN 2. Together, PENN 1 and PENN 2 will comprise a unique, two-building, 4.4 million-square-foot, interconnected campus, with a focus on an amenity-rich office culture.

Outside, there will be landscaped plazas and over 65,000 square feet of tenant space, including a 17,000-square-foot rooftop park. Inside, among other offerings, you’ll find new grand lobbies and more than 200,000 square feet of tenant amenities, including a social staircase with bleacher seating, full-service restaurants and a range of dining options, a 35,000-square-foot wellness and fitness center, a health center, a conferencing facility and flexible work suites, and a 280-person hall for presentations and events.

With the PENN District project well underway, it’s an exciting time to be part of the revitalization of a district and community that’s at the hub and heart of New York City.

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as well as a vibrant mix of retail and community-use facilities. Once completed, the project’s seven residential buildings will offer over 2,000 rental apartments, including around 450 affordable housing units.

MICHAEL J. RHEE ’98

Senior Vice President and General Counsel The Durst Organization Halletts Point, a $2.4 million real estate venture that will transform the Queens waterfront, is the project I’m most excited about at this moment. Developed by The Durst Organization, it’s a model of cooperation between the Astoria, Queens community, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and a private developer that should serve as a model for real estate projects across the city.

The Hallett’s peninsula is the longtime home of the Astoria Houses, a vibrant, but underserved, NYCHA community. With Halletts Point, The Durst Organization is bringing residents a much-needed supermarket,

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At 10 Halletts Point, the first of the seven buildings to open, The Durst Organization has created a complex consisting of a 22-story north tower, a 17-story south tower, and approximately 400 apartments. The supermarket offers the community over 23,000 square feet of healthy and affordable food options as part of the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program. We’re also completing Halletts Point Building 7, a residential rental building dedicated entirely to affordable housing.

The impact of the Halletts Point project is evident in the additional development it has spurred on the peninsula. Prior to our project, with its mix of underutilized warehouses, light manufacturing, and empty lots, the neighborhood was fairly desolate. Today, you can see vacant lots transforming into essential rental housing that will revitalize the community and uplift its residents.

I’m extremely proud to have a role in The Durst Organization’s Halletts Point development project. It’s a vital addition to New York City’s built environment, and one that needs to be replicated widely to make our communities and living spaces accessible to all who call this wonderful city home.

TRENDS

BRINGING MS. J. HOME

BY PROFESSOR ANN GOLDWEBER Five years ago, Ms. J.* walked into the Law School carrying a shopping bag filled with documents. By that point, the widowed retiree had been turned away by everyone she had reached out to for assistance. The Consumer Justice for the Elderly: Litigation Clinic, which I co-direct with Professor Gina Calabrese, was her last hope.

Like other low-income, older Queens residents represented by our in-house clinic at St. John’s Law, Ms. J. was the victim of a home improvement contractor scam. Her story exposes the regulatory gaps, unchecked predation, and systemic racism that have left countless New Yorkers vulnerable to losing their homes and accumulated wealth. But it also shows that justice can be served, with the perseverance of hardworking student clinicians.

Students participate in our civil litigation and advocacy clinic for one semester. To date, under my supervision, 11 student teams have worked on Ms. J.’s case, each one seamlessly picking up where the last one left off. The first team to interview Ms. J. and review her documents pieced together that she obtained a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage to pay for the work on her home.

By the loan’s terms, the lender hired a United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) consultant to go on site and inspect the construction before releasing installment payments to the contractor.

Although Ms. J.’s home improvement project was supposed to take just six months from start to finish, the students learned, it was nowhere near complete in that time. To make matters worse, the authorities issued Ms. J. violations and penalties for failure to obtain proper building permits. Then the contractor abandoned the job and locked Ms. J. out, leaving her with a home that was inaccessible and uninhabitable. With this fuller view of the matter, the students and I strategized about how to meet Ms. J’s goals of completing construction, moving back into her home, and holding the contractor liable.

Step one, we decided, was to fire the contractor and HUD consultant formally. Then, we brought in an engineer to assess the contractor’s work on Ms. J.’s house. He found that much of it needed to be redone. He also determined that the consultant paid the contractor for work that was incomplete or never even started. Finally, he reported that the remainder of Ms. J.’s loan wouldn’t cover the cost of finishing the project.

With that assessment, it became clear to us that the home improvement contractor and HUD consultant had colluded to defraud Ms. J. Researching possible legal claims, the students found that Ms. J. couldn’t sue the consultant, even though her FHA mortgage loan was designed to protect borrowers. While that was disappointing, their research and case investigation also uncovered that the contractor had engaged in similar fraudulent conduct in the past, creating a pattern and practice of unscrupulous conduct. So, on our advice, Ms. J. decided to pursue claims against the contractor for breach of contract, fraud, and a violation of New York’s General Business Law. Since the home improvement contract contained a mandatory arbitration clause, Ms. J. was forced to bring her claims before the American Arbitration Association. It was the first time in our clinic’s almost 28-year history that a case was being heard by an arbitrator. But that didn’t deter the students. With characteristic enthusiasm and curiosity, they dove in and familiarized themselves with the rules and procedures of that dispute resolution forum.

Ahead of the November 2021 arbitration hearing, the students drafted and submitted a Memorandum of Law in Support of Claim for Damages, affidavits of Ms. J. and the expert witness, and numerous exhibits. The hearing was held on zoom and we were prepared to present our arguments and evidence. The arbitrator had read the submissions and had some targeted questions and concerns, which the students addressed in a supplemental submission.

In March, we received the arbitrator’s final decision. We won on every claim, successfully piercing the corporate veil to hold the contractor individually liable. The students were thrilled to tell Ms. J. that she was awarded $237,711 plus interest, including $100,000 in punitive damages.

Now, after nearly six years of displacement from her home, with the clinic students’ assistance, Ms. J. has a new home contractor and HUD consultant and is close to securing a Certificate of Occupancy. The latest team of students is preparing legal papers to turn the final arbitration award into a judgment, so we can start collection activities. It’s been a long journey, with many roadblocks, but we’re finally getting closer to the finish line. Our happiest day will be when Ms. J. is back home where she belongs.

She plans to host a barbeque for all the students who have worked on her case so tirelessly. We can’t wait.

*The clinic client’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.

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 HOUSING MATTERS The legislative hall. The city courthouse. The community nonprofit. From different vantage points on the ground, alumni share their daily work on housing matters that impact the lives of countless New Yorkers.

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 ATENEDORO GONZALEZ ’16

Gives Back to the Bronx Community That Raised Him City Council District 15 covers about a dozen neighborhoods in the middle of the Bronx, one of New York City’s most diverse boroughs and the place that Atenedoro Gonzalez has called home his entire life. Today, he serves that vibrant community as General Counsel and Legislative Director for Council Member Oswald Feliz, who has represented District 15 since April 2021. For Gonzalez, who defended tenants in his early legal career, public service is more than a job. It’s a calling.

“I’ve seen poverty and inequity my entire life through the lens of my community,” he says. “I was born in the South Bronx to immigrant parents from Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic and grew up in what was, at the time, the poorest congressional district in the country. I was better off than many people I knew thanks to my hardworking parents, but a lot of my neighbors and family members weren’t so lucky. These life experiences are what motivated me to become a public interest lawyer.”

Gonzalez was studying to take the LSAT when a large fire broke out in his apartment building. While his family was spared the worst of the damage, others lost everything. “I watched the legal process unfold in the fire’s aftermath,” he explains. “Because they weren’t represented by counsel, people didn’t know that they had rights as rent-stabilized tenants. Some left the building, and others continued paying rent, even though their apartments were largely uninhabitable. Witnessing that injustice piqued my interest in real estate law.”

Council Member Feliz offered Gonzalez that changemaking role last year. The two worked closely together as tenant lawyers and share a strong commitment to promoting housing rights for their Bronx constituents and all New York City residents. “Our office has worked diligently with local property owners to provide more affordable housing,” Gonzalez notes. “We’ve also brought significant funding to address the homelessness crisis impacting our Bronx communities. And, from day one, our team was hands on, tackling housing issues worsened by the pandemic. We’ve helped hundreds of families apply for government programs to alleviate the burden of rental obligations during this unprecedented time.”

As he gives back to the community that raised him, Gonzalez credits the St. John’s Law community that helped him build a rewarding career. “During law school, I found familia with student groups like the Latin American Law Students Association that helped balance life in a competitive environment, giving me comfort in a world historically lacking in people of color,” he says.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today, making substantive and macro changes to not just the Bronx, but to New York City as a whole, without the legal education I received and the relationships I fostered at St. John’s. I’m a very grateful and proud alumnus.”

At St. John’s Law, Gonzalez found diverse opportunities to pursue that interest. As a member of the N.Y. Real Property Law Journal, he was introduced to articles written by experts in the field. During the summer, he interned for the nonprofit Part of the Solution, where he assisted low-income tenants in Bronx housing court. In his final year at the Law School, Gonzalez served as the Journal’s editor-in chief. “Earning that leadership post was a point of pride,” he shares, adding, “I keep the certificate of appreciation signed by our faculty advisor, the late Professor Vincent DiLorenzo, on my office wall as a reminder of how I got to where I am today.”

After graduating from St. John’s, Gonzalez spent five years at Bronx Legal Services, where he defended tenants in housing court and worked to protect their rights more broadly. It was a rewarding experience that led him to a pivotal realization. “I started seeing the system as a leaking pipe,” he says. “I could try to bandage the pipe, but it wouldn’t stop the larger issues that were causing the leak. I needed to help replace the pipe, and I could only do that by putting myself into a position to influence actual change.”

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 KIMBERLEY MCLEAN ’08

Works to Revitalize Queens Neighborhoods The Great Recession was at its height when Kimberley McLean graduated from St. John’s Law in 2008. Although she never planned to practice real estate law, she couldn’t pass up a solid job offer in a down market. Soon, as an associate at a small Long Island law firm, she was hard at work litigating landlord-tenant matters and handling a range of commercial and residential transactions.

As she built practical knowledge and skills, McLean had an insider’s view of a growing New York City housing crisis rooted in predatory lending to homeowners in historically underserved and marginalized communities. Drawn to be of service, and to help people access and remain in affordable housing, she left private practice to become a staff attorney at the nonprofit Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica, Inc. (NHSJ).

“The foreclosure crisis demanded legal minds on staff to help create solutions in real time, and I saw this as an opportunity to utilize much of my legal training,” McLean says. NHSJ has been doing the vital work of preserving, protecting, and revitalizing neighborhoods in southern Queens since 1974. It offers housing education, counseling, and financial services to low-to-moderateincome residents to help them access sustainable, affordable housing. NHSJ also partners with local government, businesses, and residents to promote homeownership and community reinvestment.

Tasked with representing NHSJ in all legal matters, McLean counsels the organization and its clients and serves as a political liaison. “NHSJ has a broad mission that I support in conversations with clients, lenders, elected officials, and everyone I’m in contact with,” she explains. “A typical day involves the intake and counseling of clients, advocating on behalf of clients, advocating on behalf of the organization, and assisting with grant applications, among other responsibilities.”

McLean’s professional stake in NHSJ’s mission is matched by a personal one.

“I’m a Queens resident, so I have a vested interest in the vitality and affordability of my neighborhood for challenged populations,” she shares. Those challenges trace back to redlining practices that cemented housing inequality in southeast Jamaica and across southern Queens. NHSJ formed to help right those historic wrongs, and it continues to address them as they manifest in the community.

Now, with many Queens residents experiencing the pandemic’s disproportionate impact, NHSJ is setting new benchmarks that will enable the organization to go beyond what it’s already achieved, McLean says. “We’re here for our southern Queens neighbors. We’re here because they deserve a new stock of safe, accessible, and affordable housing. We’re here to help them stay in the homes they have and love. These, and others, are the goals we roll up our sleeves to meet every day, and I can’t think of anything I would rather be doing.”

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 SYLVIA NUNEZ ’11

Helps Everyday People in Brooklyn Housing Court With some two million residents hailing from 120 countries of origin and speaking over 135 different languages, Queens, NY has been dubbed the “World’s Borough.” Growing up there, as a child of parents from Ecuador, Sylvia Nunez had friends from diverse backgrounds and spent a lot of time taking part in their customs, eating their foods, and dabbling in their languages.

It was a deeply enriching and influential upbringing. “Having immigrant parents and taking part in the lives of so many people really shaped my perspective growing up,” Nunez says. “It certainly gave me a lot of empathy.

Thanks to my parents, I was introduced early on to the beautiful world of books and language. I read and wrote a lot as a kid and teenager. That affinity ended up guiding my career path.”

Following her lodestar, Nunez worked as a writing tutor during college. Many of her students were recent immigrants to New York City. As she helped them develop their grammatical, organizational, and critical thinking skills, Nunez made an important discovery. “I realized that our lessons transcended school assignments and improved the students’ everyday lives,” she explains. “That experience sparked a passion for working with clients on a very direct and personal level. I decided that law was the most effective way to advocate for the benefit of everyday people, especially those living in the communities I grew up in and loved so much.”

“I was drawn to work for the courts because it posed a new challenge— participating in housing practice from the perspective of the bench,” Nunez shares. “From the start, it’s been a great fit. Brooklyn’s housing court is one of the busiest in the state system. So I get to work closely with, and make court a more positive experience for, individuals on a daily basis. I’m also very aware of the challenges faced by unrepresented tenants who litigate their cases. As a court attorney, I try to demystify the court system, so those litigants find the judicial process more accessible and feel empowered as they engage in it.”

Nunez’s work in the court system has become even more critical in the wake of the pandemic. “Since evictions in New York can only occur pursuant to judicial order, court is where the crisis comes to a head,” she observes. “During the pandemic, there was a patchwork of tenant programs, laws, administrative orders, and court directives to help slow evictions. With many of those protections now lifting, thousands of families are more vulnerable.”

As she continues to offer guidance in housing court, Nunez is grateful to be on the path she first charted as a child. “I feel very lucky and privileged to have my job, and to be a positive force for people during such a stressful time in their lives,” she says. “I’ve always wanted to be of service to my community, and I get to do that every day.”

At St. John’s, Nunez honed her advocacy skills. In the 1L Legal Writing classroom, she steered her writing style from the more creative to the persuasive.

As a 2L student intern at the Catholic Migration Office, her work on housing matters drew her to the practice area. Pursuing that interest after graduation, Nunez worked for a nonprofit representing senior citizens in housing and other matters. She then went to the Legal Aid Society, where she supervised housing attorneys, paralegals, and interns as they navigated the new Universal Access to Justice Program in Queens Housing Court.

“The program was the initial implementation of a New York City law mandating that all tenants in housing court have access to free legal services,” Nunez says. “In my supervisory role, I oversaw litigation and helped to create policies which would effectuate the screening and representation of a large number of newly eligible tenants.” Although she found her work as an advocate and policy maker fulfilling, in time, Nunez knew she was ready for a change.

When a Court Attorney position opened in Kings County Housing Court, she jumped at the opportunity.

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 JACQUELINE TOM ’11

Finds Fulfillment Guiding a New York City Housing Nonprofit It’s widely reported that New York City is facing an affordable housing crisis.

Over a quarter of all households spend 50% or more of their income on rent.

For nearly half of all households, more than 30% of their income goes to rent.

The pandemic has only made matters worse for the city’s rent burdened, who now have to navigate the end of the statewide eviction moratorium.

One of the local nonprofits working to address this crisis is Settlement Housing Fund, Inc. (SHF), which has created and sustained high-quality affordable housing and related community development programs in New York City since 1969. Jacqueline Tom is the organization’s general counsel, a role she started in recently as the next step in a career that has taken her from private practice to work in the public interest.

Growing up in Rego Park, Queens, Tom saw her family’s three-bedroom home as the realization of the American dream. “My parents, both of Chinese descent, purchased our house in the 1970s,” she says. “It was a different time then.

Interest rates were higher and money market funds yielded greater returns.

Two people, neither of whom had a bachelor’s degree, were able to spend conservatively (I’m told they ate a lot of noodles) to save up and buy a house while also raising two children.”

As a student at St. John’s Law, Tom continued to build on the foundation her parents set as industrious homeowners. After graduating, she worked as an associate at a large law firm, but soon realized it wasn’t a good fit. “Some people thrive at big law firms, but I’m not one of them,” she shares. “I was falling asleep at my desk so often that I brought a pillow and blanket to the office so I could take naps under my desk. The combination of stress and sleep deprivation eventually led to a diagnosis of major depression.”

Even with all the clear signs of overload and overwhelm, Tom says, she tried to push through. “I wanted what my parents had—a three-bedroom house in a nice neighborhood. Then, one night, I overheard them whispering to each other. My dad was concerned about how tired I looked, and about the fact that I was 30 and still single. My mom replied: ‘Don’t worry. She won’t be working like this forever. This is only a steppingstone.’ When your Asian parents are worried about you working too hard, you’re definitely working too hard.”

With that parental nudge, Tom left big law for the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where she rose through the ranks to become associate general counsel. Her job as an advisor there focused primarily on the rehabilitation and preservation of the city’s aging stock of affordable housing. It was exciting work in an industry she came to love.

“What many people don’t realize is that public sector work can be so much more challenging than private sector work, and much more fascinating,” Tom explains. “In New York City, when politicians, policymakers, government agencies, real estate developers, private financial institutions, nonprofits, investors, and all of their lawyers come together to create an affordable housing project, you often end up with an extremely creative deal structure and an ownership chart that closely resembles a large family tree covering the last 200 years. Funding sources for these projects vary, and federal, state, and local laws all come into play—and don’t always play nicely. It’s issue spotting heaven.”

That same fascination drives Tom now, as she guides affordable housing projects and programs at SHF. As a corporate officer and board member, she has a seat at the decision-making table and welcomes the responsibility that comes with it.

“New York City needs innovative, affordable housing solutions,” she says. “SHF has broadened, and continues to broaden, its involvement in various initiatives, developing housing both on its own and in partnership with private developers.

It’s a privilege to support its efforts. I may never own a three-bedroom house in New York City, but I have more than enough as I do this important and fulfilling work.”

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GIVING SPOTLIGHT

LEXY AND SAMUEL S. LIONEL ’40, ’10HON

Make a Major Gift to Support Experiential Learning

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Examiners. Lionel retired from the full-time practice of law in 2019, when he turned 100.

ith a $1 million gift, alumnus Sam Lionel and his wife, Lexy, will help St. John’s Law students gain practical experience and make professional connections as participants in the Law School’s popular externship program. To honor their tremendous generosity and legacy, going forward, the offering will be called the Lexy and Samuel S. Lionel ’40, ’10HON Externship Program.

Each semester, St. John’s Law students go into the field to work in externship placements across a range of practice settings, including legal services providers, private law firms, corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, and judicial chambers. Under the supervision of an assigned mentor attorney, they handle real client matters and build their legal knowledge and skills hands on. To complement their real-world learning, the externs take a weekly seminar course where they reflect on their fieldwork and engage in activities and assignments that reinforce it.

Externships offer students an unrivaled opportunity to learn what it means to be a lawyer. It’s a vocation that the 103-year-old Sam Lionel pursued to its heights for over 80 years. New York City born and raised, he was just 21

when he graduated from St. John’s Law. After earning five battle stars for his U.S. military service during WWII, Lionel was in private practice in New York for several years before returning to the military as a judge advocate general. Later, he worked at the Pentagon and as a faculty member in West Point’s Department of Law. Heeding the call to go west, Lionel settled in Las Vegas just as tourists flocked to play the tables and see the headliners at the Sahara, the Sands, and the Riviera. He eventually joined forces with former Nevada Governor Grant Sawyer to form Lionel Sawyer

& Collins. The law firm grew to become a state powerhouse, expanding into Reno and Carson City, and working with numerous clients at the vanguard of the gaming and hospitality industries.

Over the years, Lionel guided the firm’s success, and became widely known as the unofficial dean of the Nevada Bar. He also accrued professional honors for his expertise in litigation and corporate law, including annual recognition in Best Lawyers. He was named a fellow of the prestigious American College of Trial Lawyers, and served as a member and chairman of Nevada’s Board of Bar

Through the years, he remained a proud and loyal St. John’s Law alumnus. In recognition of his steadfast commitment to alma mater, St. John’s awarded Lionel an honorary doctorate in 2010 as well as its highest accolade, the Medal of Honor.

Now, his impact deepens as he and his wife support experiential learning at the Law School. “The Lionel Externship Program is designed to touch many lives and open opportunities for students,” says Lexy Lionel, as Sam Lionel adds, “We’re optimistic the students will do well!”

Dean Michael A. Simons shares Lionel’s outlook. “Sam is an icon of the Las Vegas bar, and his service to his clients, and the results he achieved for them, are legendary,” he says. “It’s always fun and inspiring to meet with him and Lexy on my trips out west. I’m grateful for their constant generosity, and their gift now to establish our Lionel Externship Program will be transformational. As it carries his name, the program will carry on Sam’s legacy as a consummate practitioner and dedicated alumnus to benefit generations of St. John’s Law students.”

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SECOND ACTS

Helena Williams ’81

LEADS THE TRANSFORMATION OF NEW YORK CITY’S JFK AIRPORT

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I

n an average month, millions of passengers and thousands of flights pass through New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, making it North America’s busiest international air passenger gateway. All that traffic has challenged the tarmacs and terminals that first opened to great celebration in 1948. Now, excitement has sparked once again with New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s announcement of a major expansion project that promises to transform JFK into a state-of-the-art transportation hub.

Helena Williams

Anchoring the update on the airport’s north side will be a new world-class, multi-billion-dollar Terminal 6. It’s an ambitious effort led by JFK Millennium Partners and a redevelopment team that includes Vantage Airport Group, American Triple I, RXR Realty, and JetBlue. At the helm, serving as project executive and chief executive officer, is Helena Williams, who brings a wealth of experience in high-level public transportation and public service to the job.

“I’m very excited to be part of the transformation of JFK under Governor Hochul’s leadership, and in partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,” Williams says.

“The Port Authority’s total investment of over $18 billion will guarantee JFK its place as a premier U.S. airport and international travel portal. That investment includes nearly $4 billion for the new Terminal 6, which will have 10 new gates and 100,000 square feet of bright and airy commercial dining, retail, lounge, and recreational spaces.”

The project, which is slated to start later in 2022, taps a vast knowledge of city infrastructure and wide range of leadership skills that Williams has honed along her professional path. After graduating from St. John’s Law, she worked in New York City government before starting at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. During a 20-year career there, Williams guided operations and initiatives as president of MTA Long Island Bus and, later, as president of the Long Island Railroad, among other key positions. She also pivoted from her MTA career twice to take on Nassau County government executive roles.

Reflecting on these diverse experiences, Williams sees a common thread. “What connects these lines of work for me is service to the public,” she says. “In transportation, the goal is to provide safe, reliable service that gets people where they want to go.

Government has a similar duty and standard of performance.

The public wants safe communities, clean water, repaired roads, emergency services, beautiful parks and beaches, access to healthcare, and good schools. So there’s a real symmetry.”

As the new Terminal 6 project prepares to break ground, Williams sees so much to look forward to. “New York is a great city, and great cities need great airports,” she shares.

“JFK will retain its renowned place with new airport facilities and funding that creates jobs and economic impact, local business opportunities, and a commitment to minority and women’s business development and growth. It’s an honor to be part of this transformation, and to help make JFK a place of excellence and a point of pride for all New Yorkers.”

Image: Vantage/JFK Millennium Partners

SPRING 2022 l 27

END NOTE

Elliot Steinmetz ’05

ENJOYS SUCCESS IN TWO ARENAS

O

ver three years and four seasons, through a global pandemic and in the media spotlight, the Yeshiva University Maccabees played to victory after victory.

As 2021 came to a close, so did the NCAA Division III team’s 50-game winning streak. Still, it was one for the men’s college basketball record books, and a major milestone for the Macs head coach, Elliot Steinmetz.

Raised on Long Island, the son and grandson of coaches, Steinmetz was a sports enthusiast and played basketball at Yeshiva during his college years. Intending to work in finance, when the economy slumped in the early 2000s, he opted to earn a J.D. at St. John’s instead. “I was always interested in law, and felt it could open up opportunities in a variety of fields,” Steinmetz says. One of those opportunities was a 2L summer internship at a small Westchester law firm that focused on commercial real estate matters. “I was fortunate enough to have a good learning experience there, that ultimately translated into a full-time position, and eventually a path for my career in law,” he shares.

As he charted his legal career path, Steinmetz also started coaching basketball, first at a summer camp, and then for a succession of high school teams. He returned to Yeshiva in 2014 to coach at the NCAA level and soon earned a reputation as a transformative leader. The team drew talented Jewish players from across the country who took on opponents using Steinmetz’s unmatched motion offense. When the pandemic shut down arenas in 2020, the Macs had won two Skyline Conference championships in three years.

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That same year marked the sixth anniversary of Rosenberg & Steinmetz PC, the real estate law firm that Steinmetz launched with attorney Rachelle Rosenberg. “The self-motivation and drive that comes with co-leading a firm is something you can’t replicate,” he says. “I’ve handled a range of transactions in the commercial real estate and finance world and met and worked with some great clients and people. Having a litigation partner with vast commercial real estate knowledge gives me someone next door with whom to talk through concepts and strategies on different deals. The camaraderie and chemistry of working with others, be it a partner or employees, make the practice all the more enjoyable.”

Being a part-time coach and a full-time lawyer gives Steinmetz unique perspective on finding success, and he shares that insight with his student-athletes as they navigate life on and off the court.

“Whether you’re in the legal world or trying to guide a sports team, the ability to communicate with respect and understanding is vital to your success,” he explains. “The concept of investing in things that are important and putting yourself out there for failure is crucial as well. It requires trust in those around you, and collective responsibility for things that go right and wrong. Finally, approaching everything in a selfless manner, and with enthusiasm for what you’re doing, are key ingredients for success.”

With a worldview framed by his dual, but complementary, roles of lawyer and coach, Steinmetz looks to the brackets and matters ahead. “I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to help people strive for success in two different arenas on a daily basis,” he says. “It’s incredibly gratifying.”

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COMING IN FALL 2022 We’re pleased to announce the launch of our in-house

DEFENSE AND ADVOCACY CLINIC Under the direction of Professor Martin J. LaFalce, students will build practical knowledge and skills while representing adults charged with misdemeanors in New York City Criminal Court.