NEW YORK CITY—Mayor Bill de Blasio made four key appointments to his administration Tuesday, including two of particular importance to the real estate industry.
The Mayor appointed Dr. Feniosky Peña-Mora as commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction and—in something of an expected move—David Ehrenberg was reappointed as the president and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. In addition, Jacques Jiha was named commissioner of the Department of Finance while Lisette Camilo was tapped as the director of the Mayor's Office of Contract Services.
“These are leaders who understand the communities they work for,” says Mayor de Blasio. They have the skills to keep the machinery of these agencies running and take them in a progressive direction that delivers for the people of this city.”
Peña-Mora, an engineer with more than two decades of research and industry experience, is a profession at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. He also is the founding partner of Peña-Alcántara Consultants, Inc., a firm specializing in the use of information technology and construction management techniques in infrastructure projects. In Peña Mora's new role, he will be charged with building public works that will range from making streets safer as part of the Vision Zero initiative to renovating and constructing municipal facilities.
“We will strengthen resiliency, efficiency and safety in every project we oversee,” he says. “We hope to build a new generation of streets, public works and buildings that weave our diverse communities closer together and enrich the fabric of this city.”
Meanwhile, Ehrenberg will continue to oversee the Brooklyn Navy Yard's tenant base and 1.8 million square-foot expansion. Prior to joining the Navy Yard, Ehrenberg spent seven years at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. While at NYCEDC, he was a senior manager on many of the city's priority economic development projects while supervising dozens of industrial and manufacturing projects citywide and overseeing the city's Industrial Development Agency.
“We are going to deepen our connections with employers, schools and workforce programs,” says Ehrenberg, “to help more New Yorkers be a part of this success story and get the skills they need to secure good-paying jobs in our fastest growing sectors.”
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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.
