WHO’S NEWS: Pinsky joins Association for a Better New York; New partner at Duval & Stachenfeld | HAP

The Association for a Better New York has appointed Angela Sung Pinsky to serve as executive director, working with the influential coalition of business, labor, non-profit and civic leaders.
Pinsky will assume the role effective September 15, 2015.

As senior vice president for Management Services and Government Affairs, Pinsky was responsible for REBNY’s commercial and residential Management Divisions and managed efforts to improve communication and procedures between the private sector and various governmental agencies that regulate construction, development, and building management.She acted as REBNY’s lead on building code, real property regulations, sustainability and energy, and federal issues that impact New York City real estate.
Pinsky is the former Deputy Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayors of Economic Development in the Bloomberg Administration. Her focus included economic development initiatives, urban development, government technology, and long term planning and sustainability.

Prior to her work in city government, Pinsky worked as a clinical research associate within the pharmaceutical industry, including Abbott Laboratories, Sankyo Pharma Development, and Knoll Pharmaceuticals.
Pinsky holds a B.A. in Public Health, Natural Sciences from The Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s in Urban Planning from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service.
She currently lives in Park Slope with her husband Seth and children, Theodore and Amelia.

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Arielle Herzfeld has joined Avison Young as senior director of marketing, Tri-State, based in the firm’s New York City office.
Herzfeld will lead marketing and public relations efforts across the firm’s New York City, New Jersey, Fairfield/Westchester and Long Island offices.
Herzfeld will direct all internal and external communications for Avison Young’s Tri-State offices, in addition to developing and implementing strategic marketing campaigns. She will also be involved in the creation of the firm’s business development resources and pitch and presentation materials, as well as marketing efforts for the firm’s exclusive agency assignments, including Moinian Group’s 3 Hudson Boulevard and the Paramount Building in Manhattan.
Herzfeld brings more than a decade of strategic marketing and public relations experience to Avison Young. She previously held senior positions at DTZ’s New York office and Grubb & Ellis, where she oversaw marketing, public relations and business development efforts.

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Jay M. Herman, senior partner in the Melville law firm Herman Katz Cangemi & Clyne LLP, has been appointed co-chair of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Condemnation and Tax Certiorari Committee for 2015-2016.
Herman will co-chair the panel, which focuses on issues related to real property valuation litigation, with John C. Bivona, a State Supreme Court Justice in Suffolk.
Herman previously served as chairman of the Nassau County Bar Association’s Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Law and as vice chairman of the Suffolk County Bar Association’s Committee on Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Law.
With almost four decades of extensive trial experience, Herman has handled and argued complex appeals affecting tax certiorari and condemnation valuation issues.

He began his career as an assistant county attorney and a deputy county attorney in the Office of the County Attorney of Nassau County, Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Bureau.
He also was an assistant corporation counsel for the Law Department of the City of New York in the Tax Certiorari Department.
Prior to forming HKCC 10 years ago, he was a partner at two prominent Long Island firms.
He received his law degree in 1976 from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree magna cum laude in 1976 from Hofstra University.
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TerraCRG announced that Lauren Musacchio has joined the company as an leasing associate on the Retail team.
Musacchio is working alongside Peter Schubert to expand TerraCRG’s leasing activity throughout Brooklyn. She assists all leasing efforts within the borough’s major retail corridors, and specializes in tenant representation of all industries including restaurant, retail and creative/tech.
Prior to joining TerraCRG, Musacchio was an assistant editor at Rolling Stone Magazine. She is also the founder of Straw and Gold, an e-commerce website and blog featuring local Brooklyn artisans.
Musacchio earned her degree in Management of Musical Enterprises at Baruch College. She also studied Opera at the Manhattan School of Music and is a singer and songwriter in her band, Countryclub.

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Meridian Capital Group announced that Michael Maidhof has joined the company as a senior vice president, reporting to senior managing director Mike Edelman.
Maidhof will be responsible for expanding Meridian’s agency origination and underwriting capabilities as well as sourcing and placing loans generated by Meridian’s newly-formed investment sales platform.
He joins Meridian from Freddie Mac where he most recently held the role of production and sales manager for the Northeast Region.
His tenure at Freddie Mac began in August 2007 as an underwriter analyst from which he progressed to a senior underwriter in March 2012.
Prior to Freddie Mac, Maidhof worked for Hunt Mortgage Group (formerly Centerline) where he held the roles of underwriter analyst and associate and was focused on LIHTC transactions and servicing Freddie Mac loans. Maidhof holds a B.A. from SUNY Binghamton.

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HAP Investments LLC announced that Michelle Arrington has joined the firm as project manager.
She joins HAP Investments with over 20 years of industry experience working on a variety of projects, including real estate development, acquisition and relocations, and leasing assignments.
Arrington most recently held the position of managing director at Arrington Realty & Consulting. She previously worked at Battery Park City Authority as senior project manager, Los Angeles Unified School District as real estate acquisition and relocation consultant, and Ernst & Young as real estate advisor.
She holds a M.S in Real Estate Development from Columbia University, with earlier graduate studies at Harvard University, and a B.A. from Middlebury College.

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Duval & Stachenfeld LLP announced the expansion of its Leasing Practice Group with the addition of partner, Risa Letowsky.
Letowsky was formerly Special Counsel at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.
Additionally, earlier in her career, she served as vice president and associate general counsel for Rouse Properties, a public REIT, and as an associate in the real estate group of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP.
Duval & Stachenfeld’s real estate leasing practice is led by Eric Menkes.

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Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. (MMCC) has hired Ryan Hackett as a loan originator candidate in the firm’s Manhattan office.
Hackett will be responsible for securing commercial debt financing for an array of property types including multifamily, office, industrial, retail, manufactured housing and hospitality.
He will be primarily focused on clients based in Upper Manhattan with an emphasis on multi-family properties.
Hackett joined the mortgage team led by Andrew Dansker. Based in Manhattan, the team focuses on financing multi-family properties in New York in partnership with Peter Von Der Ahe’s investment sales team.
Hackett will be focused on working with clients to place commercial mortgages for acquisitions and refinancing of properties located in Upper Manhattan.
Prior to joining MMCC, Hackett graduated from St. Lawrence University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

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Colliers International has announced that is has promoted Sheena Gohil and Robert Kennedy to managing director, and David Ervolina to director.
Sheena Gohil, promoted from Director to Managing Director, has served at Colliers for the past seven years, providing on-going transaction services and strategic portfolio management to corporate and multi-market clients ranging from publicly traded, Fortune 50 companies to medium size private equity-owned companies.
Additionally, Gohil sources and serves medium size, New York City-based businesses in the media and professional services sectors.
She is actively involved in and serves as chair of the Workshops Committee for CoreNet’s NYC Chapter, and received a B.S. in Business Administration from the Boston University School of Management.

Robert Kennedy, also promoted from Director to Managing Director, has worked at Colliers for the last six years, specializing in tenant representation.
Kennedy assists clients in all aspects of their acquisition and disposition of office space globally, with a primary focus on the New York Metropolitan area.
Kennedy is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, devotes time to many charitable organizations, and received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Connecticut.
David Ervolina, promoted from Associate Director to Director, has served at Colliers for the last four years, focusing on new business pursuits, securing current and future client relationships, lease negotiations, and transaction management.
He specializes in working with clients in the technology/media, financial services, and not-for-profit/non-profit sectors.
Ervolina is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Real Estate Development at the NYU School of Professional Studies Schack Institute of Real Estate.

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TerraCRG announced that Samantha Hochstein has joined their marketing team as digital marketing co-ordinator.
Hochstein will work alongside Lily Becker, providing support to all digital, social media and communication initiatives at TerraCRG.
The Marketing team supports the commercial brokerage’s efforts in marketing properties, development sites and spaces for lease, through maintenance of the brand, development of digital and print marketing and the management of external partnerships within the industry and Brooklyn.
With consideration of market trends and advanced digital platforms available within real estate today, TerraCRG looks to enhance their space on social media and other digital channels, as well as within media, among investors, prospective clientele and the Brooklyn community.
Hochstein graduated from the University at Buffalo, School of Management where she majored in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing.
Prior to working at TerraCRG, she worked at a startup paint-and-sip franchise, Pinot’s Palette-Amherst, where she began her marketing career by managing the social media for the franchise.

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The Center for Real Estate at Rutgers Business School announced the appointment of Stephen Cassidy, president of Denholtz Associates, to its Advisory Board.
The Center for Real Estate at Rutgers Business School is predicated on its ability to bring together the real estate industry’s brightest and most influential executives to interact with students and set the academic course for the Center.
Advisory Board members were selected and represent a diverse group of leaders in a variety of related fields.
As a member of the Center’s Advisory Board, Cassidy will serve as a conduit of information, knowledge, and best practices, fostering productive discussion among students, industry peers, government, and academia.
Members of the Advisory Board share a common goal of fostering productive discussion in order to advance the study of real estate and to meet the evolving needs of a diverse student population.
Cassidy earned a B.S. and an M.S. from Rutgers University and currently oversees operations and finance of Denholtz Associates’ multi-state portfolio from its headquarters in New Jersey.
Cassidy, a licensed Certified Public Accountant, is a member of the New Jersey Society of CPAs, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and The National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP).