Land Use: Space and the City

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  Mike Richter

  Prior to joining Brightcore Energy as President, Mike enjoyed a successful 15-year professional athletic career for the New York Rangers where he was a three-time NHL All-Star and Stanley Cup Champion. In addition to his success in the NHL, Mike represented the United States on numerous international competitions including three Olympic teams, earning a Silver Medal in 2002 and World Cup Gold in 1996. In 2008, Mike was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame. After retiring from the NHL, Mike enrolled in Yale University and received his degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics with a concentration in Environmental Policy. In 2007, he launched his career in sustainability as a founding partner at Environmental Capital Partners, a $100M Private Equity Fund focused on financing resource efficient companies in the middle market. Four years later, Mike shifted his focus to the project finance space when he created Healthy Planet Partners, LLC., fund that deployed renewable energy technologies in the C&I space in order to reduce both their operating costs and ecological footprint. Over this period, Mike devoted much of his time to a variety of not for profit boards in the sustainable space, collaborated with a number of efforts in the sport and environment space, and earned an Aspen Institute Environmental Fellowship in 2012. In 2016, Mike joined Brightcore Energy as President to help the company in its mission to become a leader in the design, financing, implementation and maintenance of energy efficiency upgrades and clean energy technologies for commercial, industrial and municipal buildings.

  Brightcore Energy

  President

  Mike Richter

  President

  Brightcore Energy

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  Jonathan Flaherty

  Mr. Flaherty is a Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainability at Tishman Speyer. Flaherty joined Tishman Speyer in 2007 and oversees global sustainability and health strategy as well as global energy management and procurement. In this role, he manages sustainability certifications, investor communications, worldwide performance tracking, procurement strategy and technological innovation implementation. Mr. Flaherty joined Tishman Speyer as part of the Leadership Development Program and has held various roles with the company, including in asset management and portfolio management for New York. Prior to joining the firm, he worked as a legislative aide for Senator Schumer in Washington, DC. Mr. Flaherty is the chair of the board of directors for the Building Energy Exchange and is a team leader for the ACE Mentor Program. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Kenyon College, and a Master of Business Administration and Master of Urban Planning from Columbia University.

  Tishman Speyer

  Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainability

  Jonathan Flaherty

  Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainability

  Tishman Speyer

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  Michael Samuelian

  Michael Samuelian is the President and CEO of the Trust for Governors Island, not-for-profit organization created by the City of New York and charged with the planning, redevelopment, and ongoing operations of 150 acres of Governors Island. Prior to his appointment as President of the Trust, Michael was a Vice President with Related Companies, where his work focused on the design of large-scale public private development projects. He was responsible for the urban planning and design of Hudson Yards, a $25 billion master plan for 17 million square feet of mixed-use development on Manhattan’s West Side. After 9/11, Michael was the Director of Lower Manhattan Special Projects at the New York City Department of City Planning, helping the city's efforts to redevelop downtown. In this position, he worked with a variety of constituents, ranging from the local community boards to state and city agencies to develop consensus for the disposition of federal funds dedicated to the recovery and rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. Michael also led the effort to plan and design a new waterfront park on the East River and was the city's representative in the development and production of the World Trade Center Commercial Design Guidelines. Michael’s professional career as an architect has focused on large-scale commercial and urban planning projects beginning his career with Machado Silvetti in Boston, SMWM in San Francisco and HOK Architects in New York. At HOK he was the lead designer on a number of commercial, transportation and institutional projects including; Penn Station Acela Improvements, the Integrated Science Facility at SUNY Geneseo and the Somerset Corporate Center. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cooper Union and his Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University. Michael is also currently an Assistant Professor at Cooper Union, where he teaches a course titled “Professional Practice” in the School of Architecture. Michael is a Fellow of the AIA, a registered architect in New York State and a member of the New York State Board for Architecture. He also serves on the Board of Governors of Open House New York (OHNY).

  Trust for Governors Island

  President

  Michael Samuelian

  President

  Trust for Governors Island

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  Elena Ashkinazy

  The Director of Sustainability

  Time Equities

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  Richard Barth

  Richard brings more than 30 years of experience in land use planning, public policy, and community development to Capalino+Company. He is the former Executive Director of the New York City Planning Department. Richard Barth joins Capalino+Company as Executive Vice President for Land Use and Housing Strategies where he is responsible for guiding housing and development projects from conception through all approvals. Richard is the former Executive Director of the New York City Planning Department where he served for 12 years after serving as Director of the Department’s Manhattan Office for eight years. He oversaw the preparation and implementation of innovative rezonings and comprehensive plans that opened neglected waterfront and other areas to new investment. He managed major initiatives to promote economic development, new housing opportunities, and neighborhood open space, revitalization and preservation. Some of his major achievements include guiding the creation of the Hudson Yards District on Manhattan’s West Side, the Special Lower Manhattan District, the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Rezoning to reconnect the neighborhoods to the waterfront and to promote mixed-income housing, and comprehensive amendments to the Theater Subdistrict to strengthen the Broadway theater industry. He was also instrumental in facilitating significant office, residential, cultural, community facility, retail and open space projects throughout the city.

  Capalino+Company

  EVP

  Richard Barth

  EVP

  Capalino+Company

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  Patrick O'Sullivan

  Patrick O’Sullivan is a partner in Herrick's Real Estate Department where he represents owners, developers, investors, governmental entities and not-for-profit institutions on a range of real estate matters with a focus on development issues, particularly those that arise in public-private transactions. He has represented clients on a range of complex transactions for properties across the U.S., including acquisitions and dispositions, large-scale developments, joint ventures, construction projects, ground leases, and public and private financings. Patrick also navigates clients through the multi-step process of applying for and utilizing tax incentive programs at the local and federal level. He advises clients on the tax incentives available for investors in Qualified Opportunity Zones and on how to structure those investments given the evolving regulatory framework. Patrick is a former Executive Vice President and Head of the Real Estate Transactions Group at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. While at NYCEDC, Patrick worked with leading real estate developers to successfully executing complex public-private transactions throughout the City.

  Herrick Feinstein LLP

  Partner

  Moderator

  Patrick O'Sullivan

  Partner

  Herrick Feinstein LLP

A Look into NYC Infrastructure Woes

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  Robert Schiffer

  Robert Schiffer is a Managing Director of the Investments Group at SL Green Realty Corp., New York City's largest commercial landlord. Mr. Schiffer, who has been with SL Green for 10 years, co-manages a team of 12 investment professionals. Mr. Schiffer is responsible for the development of One Vanderbilt, SL Green's 1.6 million square foot office tower. He is also responsible for SL Green's political outreach initiatives, origination of new investments for SL Green's structured finance platform, and new investments for SL Green’s residential platform as well as other corporate initiatives. Mr. Schiffer holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED) from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Cornell University.

  SL Green Realty Corp.

  Managing Director of the Investment Group

  Robert Schiffer

  Managing Director of the Investment Group

  SL Green Realty Corp.

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  Peter Waldt

  Peter V. Waldt is Senior Director, Commercial Planning & Development for Amtrak. He oversees revenue generation from Amtrak's telecommunications, pipe & wire, advertising, parking and retail leasing assets. He is responsible for the transaction side of Amtrak's major station master development, including New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. Prior to Amtrak, he was Managing Partner in DWH Strategic Advisors, LLC a Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of New York. He spun DWH off from C&W's Development Consulting service line operating in the US, and Canada. He advised Amtrak on the Penn Station Vision Plan and Gateway Tunnel Project, MARTA on the initiation of retail concessions, North East Corridor Commission on its Economic Development Report, and Amtrak on the development of a Business and Financial Plan for the Northeast Corridor, as well as numerous private sector clients. Prior to C&W, Peter's primary mission with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was to generate cash flow from under- and non-performing assets. Responsibilities included the creation and implementation of the MTA Sponsorship Program, creation and implementation of the MTA Transit Orient Development Program, management of the West Side Yard & Vanderbilt (Brooklyn Arena) Yard developments, acquisition of the Mineola Intermodal Center, and Evaluation & Brokerage of all 14,000 parcels of MTA real estate. Prior to the MTA, he was head of underwriting for New York State's economic development corporation (ESDC, nee UDC), where he had the opportunity to work on over 30 sports facility projects, over 100 large development projects, over 1,500 real estate financings and over 5,000 financial transactions. He received an MS in Public Policy Analysis for the University of Rochester.

  Amtrak

  Senior Director Commerical Planning & Development

  Peter Waldt

  Senior Director Commerical Planning & Development

  Amtrak

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  Louis Wolfowitz

  Mr. Wolfowitz is a Senior Managing Director in Savills-Studley’s Capital Markets Group, based in New York City. Mr. Wolfowitz brings over 30 years of experience in advising and raising capital for clients across all enterprises. Within the commercial real estate space, he has represented REITs and operating companies, developers, institutional investors, private equity, and family offices. He has represented large and mid-size industrial, consumer products, food, financial services, health care and media corporations; government and public transportation authorities; and not-for-profit entities. Prior to joining Savills-Studley in 2017, Mr. Wolfowitz was the head of Cushman & Wakefield’s Corporate Finance & Investment Banking Group, where he led a specialized practice providing real estate advisory and transaction execution services to corporate and institutional occupiers of real estate. Over his 13-year C&W career, he completed over $10 billion of transactions, encompassing over 40 million square feet of commercial real estate. Activities & Achievements Mr. Wolfowitz began his career as an investment banker with Merrill Lynch & Co., and helped establish the modern REIT industry, completing six initial public offerings, including those for Kimco Realty Corporation and Vornado Realty Trust. Over the course of more than a decade on Wall Street, he completed numerous public securities offerings, private placements, asset sales and merger and acquisition assignments on behalf of REITs and other real estate operating companies. Education Mr. Wolfowitz received his Bachelor of Arts (Economics) from Vassar College, and his Masters of Business Administration (Finance) from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a FINRA-registered general and municipal securities principal, and a New York State licensed real estate broker. Mr. Wolfowitz was a member of the C&W team that played an instrumental role in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center in New York City. His efforts were recognized by the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), which bestowed its highest honor, the 2011 Henry Hart Rice award, for creating two public-private partnerships to attract world-class tenants to the World Trade Center. He was also a member of the C&W team that received REBNY’s 2009 Edward S. Gordon award for the Sale and Leaseback Financing of a Condominium Interest in the New York Times Building. He was a three-time recipient of C&W’s Top Producer award. Prior to C&W, Mr. Wolfowitz spent six years as a Senior Vice President of GE Capital, a division of the General Electric Corporation, where he led GE’s $6.1 billion acquisition of Security Capital Group. Also while with GE, he established that company’s first direct investment program in REITs, investing over $1 billion.

  Savills-Studley

  Senior Managing Director

  Louis Wolfowitz

  Senior Managing Director

  Savills-Studley

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  David Garten

  Senior Advisor

  RXR & Red Oak Street

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  Kate Slevin

  Kate is vice president of state programs and advocacy at Regional Plan Association. She oversees RPA’s programs in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and builds support among a wide variety of stakeholders for the organization’s mission to expand economic opportunity, improve infrastructure and strengthen environmental resiliency. Kate joined RPA in 2016 from the urban planning-focused Municipal Art Society, where she was vice president of planning and policy. She previously served as assistant commissioner for government and community affairs at the New York City Department of Transportation. At DOT, she managed the legislative program for former Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and helped secure support for bike, pedestrian and transit projects. Previously, she spent a decade at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign advocating for more sustainable transportation and land use policies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. She served as executive director of the organization from 2007-2012. During her tenure, she fought against cuts to transit service and helped to secure millions of dollars in new funding for cycling, walking, and smart growth projects. Kate started her career at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as an urban park ranger in Brooklyn. She has a master’s in urban planning from New York University and a bachelor’s in earth and environmental sciences from Wesleyan University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

  Regional Plan Association

  VP of State Programs & Advocacy

  Kate Slevin

  VP of State Programs & Advocacy

  Regional Plan Association

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  Jainey Bavishi

  Jainey K. Bavishi currently serves as the Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency and Deputy Chief Resilience Officer, where she leads the City’s OneNYC resiliency program, preparing the city for the impacts of climate change and other 21st century threats. Jainey most recently served as the Associate Director for Climate Preparedness at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. In this role, she led the implementation of the climate preparedness pillar of the President's Climate Action Plan. In the final year of the Obama Administration, she was responsible for embedding and institutionalizing climate resilience considerations across Federal programs and policies; advancing climate equity to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on low-income and other vulnerable communities; and developing innovative approaches to climate adaptation finance. Prior to this, Jainey served as the Executive Director of R3ADY Asia-Pacific based in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she was responsible for initiating, expanding and managing the start-up public-private partnership, which focused on enhancing disaster risk reduction and resilience in the Asia-Pacific region. Previously, she served as the Director of External Affairs and Senior Policy Advisor to the Administrator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Washington, DC. She was also the Founding Director of the Equity and Inclusion Campaign, a coalition of community-based leaders in the Gulf Coast region that focused on recovery from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike, at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. Jainey has a Master’s degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Bachelor’s degree in public policy and cultural anthropology from Duke University.

  City of New York

  Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency

  Jainey Bavishi

  Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency

  City of New York

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  Sanjay Mody

  Sanjay Mody's is Special Counsel with the law firm of Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP. His practice spans the areas of infrastructure, real estate, government and finance. He advises public and private sector clients on a range of matters, focusing on complex transactions with a governmental dimension. Before joining Windels Marx, Mr. Mody was counsel in the Regulatory and Government Affairs practice group at a global law firm. He also served in a prior role as Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, where he advised the Chairman on policy, legal, and financial issues relating to the agency's infrastructure and economic development projects, including the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, airport terminal redevelopment, and a new cross-Hudson rail tunnel, among other significant real estate transactions. Sanjay is a Board Member of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, a member of the New York Committee of the Regional Plan Association, and a David S. Rockefeller Fellow of The Partnership for New York City.

  Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf

  Partner

  Moderator

  Sanjay Mody

  Partner

  Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf