DAY IN THE LIFE OF:
Kyle Kimball
The EDC chief talks about favorite cocktails, watching “The Real Housewives” and pitching ideas to City Hall
EDC President Kyle Kimball, one of the few holdovers from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration
K
yle Kimball is the president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation — and one of the few City Hall carryovers from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration. The 41-year-old Park Slope resident is head of the quasi-city agency that manages about 60 million square feet of NYC real estate. The agency is also involved in developing major projects such as the High Line, Gotham Center and Empire Outlets. Before joining EDC in 2008, Kimball served as a vice president at both JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs.
2 a.m . My mind is racing. I’m known for responding to and initiating emails between 2 and 3 a.m. I don’t do it on purpose — it just sort of happens. But I do go back to sleep. 5:30 a.m. My alarm clock is my 1-yearold daughter yelling, “Daddy!” My first task of the day is to take care of her. I get her ready for school and make her lunch. My partner is a public school teacher; he’s out of the house by 7 a.m. We live on the bottom two floors of a brownstone, and rent out the top two. I try to do a little bit of gardening each morning before I shower, even if it’s just pulling weeds for five minutes. 7:30 a.m. One of the benefits of having this job is that I have a driver. I had to get permission from the Conflict of Interests Board to put a car seat in the car to take my daughter to [daycare] in Park Slope. 8:15 a.m . I have a big weakness for pastries, so I’ll get one from the Blue Spoon Coffee Company. A lot of the music I get is from using the [song-identification app] SoundHound there. 66 August 2014 www.TheRealDeal.com
8:30 a.m. I’m at the desk in Lower Manhattan. At any given time, three people are working on my schedule. I try to spend a third of my day being strategic, a third managing and a third doing outreach. I meet with community stakeholders, other commissioners and developers. So far, the [current] administration is much better about commissioners talking to each other, and doing things together.
site, and move that project forward. At Homeport in Staten Island, we’re working with the developer to integrate more affordable housing.
10 a.m. I go on site visits. Recently I went to Industry City [in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park]. I’m thinking about innovative ways to partner to attract more industrial tenants.
4:30 p.m. I return texts, emails, calls and tweets. I try to be active on Twitter. In a given day, I have two dozen calls to return; 400 emails; and, depending on the topic, two or three tweets to return or address.
3 p.m. I meet at City Hall and check in with [Alicia Glen,] the deputy mayor. We go through our priority projects and I pitch new ideas to her. I get a lot done at City Hall just talking to people in the hallways.
A Negroni, made with Campari, gin and vermouth, is a favorite cocktail
12 p.m. I meet with mentors, other com5:30 p.m. I usually have an evening reception in which we’re announcing the winner of a competition or accepting an award. Also, I’m a trustee on the boards of NYC & Co. and the Brooklyn Public Library.
missioners and community stakeholders for lunch. My favorite places for meetings are Café Gusto and Open Door Gastropub. An important leadership lesson is learning how to use lunch to talk to people, and not just sit at your desk. Sometimes, on very busy days, my lunch consists of Starbursts.
1 p.m. I hold several internal EDC meetings. I meet with my chief financial officer, chief operating officer, chief strategy officer and the head of our real estate department, Patrick O’Sullivan. [He] gets deals across the finish line for the most part, but my role is to coach him through tough situations. I can utilize my connections with developers to make a phone call to negotiate a few final points. We often discuss projects that are stuck or about to be. We’ve had a number of problems getting Bush Terminal Piers Park [in Brooklyn] because of engineering issues. At Willets Point, the city bought a bunch of land, so a lot of the existing owners are now city tenants. We’re thinking about how to move them off the
Kimball, right, with his partner Douglas Hecklinger and their daughter, Isadora
The Blue Spoon Coffee Company, where Kimball picks up his daily pastry
8 p.m. My partner is a mixologist and a good cook. I’m lucky that I have some interesting cocktail-and-food concoction waiting for me when I get home. My favorite drink is the Negroni, but I’m also a fan of a dry gin martini or beer. Sadly I don’t get to see my daughter at night because she’s asleep by the time I get home. I don’t watch a ton of TV except for football and college basketball. My appointment shows are “Game of Thrones” and recently “The Leftovers.” My guilty TV is “The Real Housewives of New York City.” I don’t always watch it, but I am not above it. 11 p.m. I take my pit bull Hermoine, named after [the character in] “Harry Potter,” for a walk before I go to bed. By Mark Maurer
PHOTOGRAPH OF Kyle Kimball FOR THE REAL DEAL BY Briana E. Heard