Stroock Presents: GOAT Town: Recent Episodes
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
“Stroock Presents: GOAT Town,” is a podcast examining zoning and land use regulation in New York City. In each episode, Stroock Special Counsel John Egnatios-Beene, will be joined by an elite industry professional from the New York real estate and land use world to engage in a critical examination of laws governing the city’s growth and development.
Continuing to be faced with a shortage of affordable housing amid an abundance of unused office space, the City of New York established the Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force to study the conversion of vacant office spaces to expand the city’s housing supply. Earlier this year, the Task Force issued a list of recommendations intending to ease the regulations that govern the adaptive reuse of office buildings. In the latest episode of Stroock Presents: GOAT Town, John Egnatios-Beene is joined by Vishaan Chakrabarti, Architect and Founder and Creative Director at Practice for Architecture Urbanism | PAU. Together, they walk through the recommendations of the Task Force exploring topics including:
- Whether conversions actually offer a viable solution
- Actions that could be taken to augment efforts and conversely, missing steps within the process
- The easing of regulations contained in the zoning resolution and the Multiple Dwelling Law
- The establishment of tax incentives to support the inclusion of affordable housing in conversions
- The importance of increasing housing supply along transit lines (i.e., subway, ferry)
- Conversion of roadbed to public space
- Strategic use of designated landmarked neighborhoods.
In the second release of this two-part episode of "Stroock Presents: GOAT Town", Special Counsel John Egnatios-Beene and Rachel Loeb (former New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President & CEO and Founder & CEO of Muse Partners), distill NYCEDC’s unique role in facilitating the region’s long-term economic prosperity. They look at:
- Efforts to modernize New York City’s aging airports
- The importance of cultivating productive working relationships between all project teams
- The successful effort of incentivizing JetBlue to remain headquartered in NYC, resulting in job security and opportunities for thousands of area residents
- The future of NYC landowners and development partners
- The concept of newly formed Muse Partners and its mission to help investors efficiently and effectively advance regional development
In the first of this two-part episode of “Stroock Presents: GOAT Town”, Special Counsel John Egnatios-Beene speaks with Rachel Loeb, former New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President & CEO and now Founder & CEO of Muse Partners.
At its founding, the NYCEDC dedicated itself to boosting quality of life for all New Yorkers by preserving, and enhancing, equitable economic strength and growth across the five boroughs -- a commitment continuing today.
John and Rachel (a self-professed “New Yorker by choice”), explore the mission of this multi-faceted nonprofit agency, including:
- unique features of its foundation and operations
- its keen focus on economic development and innate ability to effect desired policy outcomes
- rehabilitation and growth projects across the city including lessons learned
In the next episode of Stroock Presents: GOAT Town, Special Counsel John Egnatios-Beene speaks with Jessica Lappin, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York, former Member of the New York City Council, and lifelong New Yorker, on the evolution of privately owned public spaces (“POPS”). They explore:
- Where and how did POPS originate?
- What is their purpose and how can they be “activated”?
- Where are they going?
- What public policy challenges do they create and how involved – or not – should the government be?
In the second of our inaugural two-part episode, Stroock Special Counsel John Egnatios-Beene continues a conversation with Ian Rasmussen, principal and founder of Urban Cartographics.
Ian and John explore the following questions:
- What risks do private developers face?
- Is the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program an effective tool? Does it provide a feasible development path?
- Will 421-a make a comeback?
- What are the economics of building in New York City?
- What is needed to make developments economically feasible?
- Examining the example of other locales, what role can and should the government play in the development process?
- How can we attain an economically and practicably workable housing system?
Affordable housing remains a scarce resource in New York City and the inability to build it is a hot – and oftentimes controversial – topic. While numerous impediments thwart production, many point the finger at the City Council’s tradition of member deference.
In the first of this two-part episode “Stroock Presents: GOAT Town,” Special Counsel John Egnatios-Beene speaks with Ian Rasmussen, former land use and zoning lawyer and now Principal and Founder of Urban Cartographics, a planning and zoning consultancy specializing in the NYC development approval process.
In this episode, John and Ian examine:
- the current production of affordable housing
- barriers to building affordable housing (such as deference and current zoning regulations)
- impacts from zoning tools such as the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program
- the now expired 421-a tax benefit
- who and how can reconcile ongoing problems
The Stroock Real Estate group is pleased to announce the launch of “Stroock Presents: GOAT Town,” a new podcast examining zoning and land use regulation in New York City.
In each episode, Special Counsel John Egnatios-Beene, will be joined by an elite industry professional from the New York real estate and land use world to engage in a critical examination of laws governing the city’s growth and development. Applying both a planning and a practical lens, John and guests will delve into in areas such as:
- Affordable Housing
- The Office Market (Post-COVID)
- Industrial/Manufacturing in the 2020s
- Public Spaces
- The Death of Retail
- Climate Change
- Zoning
- Waterfront Regulation
- Open Streets/Restaurants
- Policy and Politics (local, state and national)
- Mass Transit
In this inaugural episode, John outlines the focus and goals of the podcast series, and he also provides an explanation, inclusive of some early 19th century New York history, behind the curious part in its name: GOAT Town.