NEW YORK CITY-The Alliance for Downtown New York, the organization that manages the city's largest Business Improvement District, has named former New York City Council member Jessica Lappin has been named its next president. Lappin also will serve as the president of the Alliance's sister organization, the Downtown Lower Manhattan Association.

"We are delighted that Jessica has joined us as the Alliance's fourth president,” says Robert Douglass, chairman of the Alliance. “Her energy, policy acumen, skills as a persuasive advocate and track record of substantial accomplishments in public service will enable her to make important, lasting contributions to the future of Lower Manhattan.”

Adds Lappin, "I am thrilled to be joining the Downtown Alliance and eager to lead such an accomplished team. It is particularly exciting to be taking the helm at the Alliance at this point in the district's history. The transformation unfolding in Lower Manhattan is inspiring. Few places anywhere can boast of the constellation of game changing projects underway and nearing fruition. Lower Manhattan is an extraordinary place.”

She begins her new position February 10. Lappin was selected after an extensive search process that was initiated following the death of the Alliance's previous president, Elizabeth Berger.

As Council member of Manhattan's fifth district from 2006 to 2013, Lappin's accomplishments were wide ranging and well-suited to her new position. While representing Manhattan's east side, she played a key role in bringing the Cornell-Technion Applied Science and Engineering campus to Roosevelt Island and worked with a variety of stakeholders to mitigate negative impacts stemming from construction of the Second avenue subway.

As the former chair of the Council's land use subcommittee on landmarks, public siting and maritime uses, she also made significant contributions in protecting historic spots and leading the fight to create a greener New York—adding three new parks in Manhattan and opening up previously inaccessible waterfront to the public.

Prior to holding office, Lappin served as a senior advisor to Council speaker Gifford Miller, who also represented the fifth district on the New York City Council. In 2011, she was selected to be a Rodel Fellow by the Aspen Institute, a renowned international think tank.

Lappin is a native New Yorker who attended Stuyvesant High School and, in a full-circle moment,she was in the first class to graduate from the school's Lower Manhattan location.

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Rayna Katz

Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.