Ruben Diaz Jr. first entered public office as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1997, and is currently serving his second full term as Bronx Borough President, having been reelected in November 2013 with more than 89 percent of the vote.

As borough president, Ruben Diaz Jr. has led the implementation of a robust agenda—on economic development, housing, health and wellness, education, and public safety—in every corner of the borough. The Bronx has seen over $12.7 billion in new development of all kinds since Borough President Diaz took office in 2009. This includes more than 29,000 new units of housing and thousands of new jobs.

More than 15,000 new jobs have been created in The Bronx since 2009, thanks in large part to the continued partnership between Borough President Diaz, the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation and those seeking to do business in the borough. As a result of those efforts, the unemployment rate in The Bronx has been cut nearly in half, and roughly 100,000 more Bronx residents have jobs today than when Borough President Diaz took office eight years ago.

Much of this success is driven by new infrastructure improvements, and Borough President Diaz has helped bring significant new projects to the borough. This includes the East Bronx Metro North expansion, which will bring new commuter rail service to Co-op City, Morris Park/Van Nest, Parkchester and Hunts Point; the future redevelopment of the Sheridan Expressway and the reconstruction of the historic Orchard Beach Pavilion, among others.

Borough President Diaz has also put forward a robust legislative agenda, having led the charge for a new “living wage” law in New York City, which passed in May 2012 and requires developers that receive heavy taxpayer funding for their project to pay the employees of that development a “living wage.” Borough President Diaz has also put forward legislation to create a letter grading system for nail salons and other cosmetology businesses and to develop a public registry of felony gun offenders.

On health, Borough President Diaz has also launched the his “#Not62” Initiative, aimed at improving social and economic factors that will help promote more positive health behaviors within for Bronx residents, including help attain better access to clinical care as well as well improve social and economic factors. In October 2015, The Bronx received The RWJF Culture of Health Prize, which honors communities which place a high priority on health and bring partners together to drive local change, in recognition of those efforts.

Since taking office in 2009 Borough President Diaz has provided millions in funding to projects of all types in every Bronx neighborhood, including new technology upgrades to borough schools, green roofs and boiler upgrades, park improvements and more.

Prior to his current role Borough President Diaz served seven terms in the State Legislature. During that time, he earned a reputation as a champion for working families in The Bronx and across New York State. He demonstrated a passion for constituent service, social advocacy, criminal justice reform and community empowerment balanced with support for sensible, green economic development and job creation programs. He also sponsored and secured passage of important and innovative laws to address the consequences of the intolerable levels of asthma in the South Bronx, healthcare insurance fraud, and quality of life concerns.

In the State Assembly, Ruben Diaz Jr. served as Chair of the Committee on Election Law and on the Assembly’s Standing Committees on Education, Ways & Means, Children and Families, Environmental Conservation and Transportation. He was also a member of the Assembly’s Puerto Rican and Hispanic Task Force and the Black/Puerto Rican and Asian Legislative Caucus.

A lifelong resident of the Bronx, Borough President Diaz lives in the Southeast Bronx with his wife Hilda Gerena Diaz. They have two sons, Ruben Diaz III and Ryan Isaiah Diaz. He graduated from Lehman College, City University of New York, with a Bachelor’s degree in political theory. Borough President Diaz is also the recipient of honorary doctoral degrees in civil law from Berkeley College and Mercy College, and a doctoral degree in humane letters from the Metropolitan College of New York, and the President’s Medal from Hostos Community College.

Robert S. Nelson, a long-time owner and operator of apartment buildings across New York City, serves as the President of New York-based Nelson Management Group, Ltd. He is also one of the founding partners of the real estate investment firm, Global One Investments, LLC. During his 30 year career, Mr. Nelson has owned and managed more than 8,000 units of multifamily housing. He also has widespread experience in the field of real estate development and ground up construction, with his most recent work on the construction of two new mixed-income towers located along Story Ave encompassing 435 units of housing in the Soundview section of the Bronx.

In his tenure, Mr. Nelson formed the Global One Real Estate Fund in 2008, that purchased $210M of property and most recently launched Global One Real Estate Fund II targeting $450M. The fund primarily seeks to invest in additional apartment buildings to add to its portfolio. Mr. Nelson oversees the day-to-day management and asset management functions of over $600 million worth of multifamily properties owned by the firm and its affiliates.

In one of his acquisitions, Mr. Nelson won praise for spearheading a Mitchell-Lama apartment building conversion at a 309 unit Upper West Side property, known as Cathedral Parkway Towers, by devising a complex deal the New York Times called “unique in the annals of the housing program.” The New York Times said he had brought about a “singularly happy resolution to more than 25 years of feuding” between landlord and tenants. The state housing commissioner praised Mr. Nelson’s buyout scenario as “a new model to preserve affordable housing.” In addition to Cathedral Parkway Towers, other notable properties under the Nelson umbrella include the Lafayette Boynton complex in the Bronx, Atlantic Plaza Towers in Brooklyn, The Promenade Apartments in Marble Hill, and 275 South Street located downtown in Manhattan’s emerging Two Bridges neighborhood.

Mr. Nelson holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAF AH), two highly influential New York City-based landlord groups. He also holds the designation Registered Apartment Manager (RAM) from the National Association of Home Builders. Mr. Nelson’s hands-on commitment to the communities in which he works has earned him extensive industry recognition. In particular, he was voted “2005 Developer of the Year” by the Association of Builders and Owners of Greater New York City (ABO).

Daniel Parker is a Managing Director on the Hodges Ward Elliott (“HWE”) New York commercial investment sales team. Mr. Parker has spent over a decade working in both principal and advisory roles in the New York City commercial real estate market. Prior to joining HWE, Mr. Parker was a Vice President at The Related Companies, where he led a management team overseeing a 2,700 unit multifamily portfolio in New York City. Prior to working for Related, Mr. Parker worked in the Savills Studley Capital Transactions Group, working on a team that closed in excess of $2.2 billion in commercial real estate transactions including residential, office, retail and land. Mr. Parker started his real estate career working as a multifamily asset manager, overseeing 45 rent-regulated properties with 1,600 apartments and 78 retail spaces located in New York City for Prana Investments.

In addition to New York City office, retail and land transactions, Mr. Parker brokers multifamily properties in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Mr. Parker has represented institutional clients that include Related, Rockpoint, Carlyle, KBS, Westbrook and Normandy, as well as a number of private families and investors.

Mr. Parker recently brokered the sale of a $71 million workforce housing portfolio on behalf of Related to a partnership between Taconic Investment Partners and Clarion Partners. Other notable multifamily sales include the record-breaking $140 million sale of a 38 walk-up properties with nearly 1,000 units in the Bronx, 316 Bergen in Brooklyn, the Madison Belvedere at 10 East 29th Street in Manhattan, 442 Lorimer, 184 Havemeyer, 164 Havemeyer, the leasehold at 300 East 46th Street, and 111 Kent Avenue.

In 2005, the New York City Teaching Fellows program selected Mr. Parker for a one year public school assignment as a full-time English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher in Washington Heights at PS 5. From 2001-2003, Mr. Parker lived in Mexico City, where he offered service through his church and became fluent in Spanish. Mr. Parker is an Eagle Scout and remains an avid photographer, camper and hiker. He regularly spends time with his family at Candlewood Lake in New Milford, CT to enjoy the outdoors and water sports.

Mr. Parker received his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Utah and an MBA in Finance and Economics from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.

Dan is responsible for asset management, construction, and development projects, which include project management, design development, contract negotiations, portfolio strategy, marketing, leasing, and sales. Before joining Taconic in 2009, he worked at Georgia Malone & Co. where he was responsible for underwriting and marketing residential and commercial assets with a focus on the New York market. From 2005 to 2007, he was an assistant vice president at Related Capital where he underwrote debt and equity transactions for multifamily properties throughout the United States and began his real estate career in 2001 at Houlihan Parnes. Dan earned his Master of Science in real estate with a concentration in finance and investment from New York University and received his Bachelor of Arts in communication from the University of Scranton.

Paul Hoffmann is SVP of HAKS and Department Head of Special Inspections & Material Testing, overseeing Special and Progress inspections, Material Testing, building compliance, and construction monitoring. He established HAKS’ reputation as a major firm of choice in the area of Special Inspections for developers and owners, which has become the firm’s fastest-growing sector and is now the world’s largest Special Inspection Agency. His group serves clients in every market sector, private and public--residential, commercial office towers, hospitality, healthcare, schools, police and emergency stations, higher education, cultural centers, waterfronts, parking facilities, security centers, airports, transportation, power centers, public housing, disaster recovery, parks, bridges, public water and more. Since joining HAKS in 2009, Mr. Hoffmann has developed and won award contracts with representative construction values of over $10 billion, and developed a team nearing 200 highly trained professionals: inspectors project managers, lab services, administrative and support staff.

Daren is the Managing Partner of HCP and has over 20 years of real estate experience and a diverse background as a real estate broker, telecommunications entrepreneur and as a real estate investor & developer. Prior to HCP, he was the Senior Vice President and Principal of Metropolitan Realty Associates where he was responsible for acquisitions and development projects. Prior to MRA, Mr. Hornig managed all investment and development activities in the Northeastern United States for SAXA and directed all acquisitions, developments, sales & marketing initiatives. He was also previously the President and CEO of The Quest Group, a New York based real estate services firm. Mr. Hornig is a 1989 graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park with a Bachelors degree in Business Marketing. He is married with twins and resides in Roslyn, New York.

Mr. Farrell is a Managing Director at Savanna where he is a member of the investment committee and is responsible for acquisition sourcing, underwriting and structuring as well as asset and project management. In addition, Mr. Farrell coordinates Savanna’s fundraising efforts and oversees ongoing communications with Savanna’s institutional investor base. Mr. Farrell joined Savanna in 2008 following four years as an Associate at K. Backus & Associates (KBA), a real estate development consulting firm in New York City. Prior to KBA, Mr. Farrell spent two years at the Mayor of the City of New York’s Office of Operations. Mr. Farrell received a BA in Political Science from McGill University and an MS in Real Estate Finance from New York University, where he graduated with honors.

In her 30 year career, Ellen Israel has worked for some of the largest institutional and entrepreneurial real estate organizations, and has sat on every side of a negotiating table.

Ms. Israel launched her career in 1980 at N.Peter Burton, where she worked with and learned the business from her father, George Israel, a respected and accomplished 50-year veteran of the industry. She immediately gained the notice of the industry when she successfully sold a 1-million-sq.ft. building for the owner, Ford Motor Development (currently known as the BMW Building), to two leading New York landlords (George Kaufman and Aaron Gural) for $40 million.

In the years since, Ms. Israel has executed transactions totaling over 25 million square feet of sales and leasing on behalf of owners, investors and tenants.

Jason Gold is a Director in the Investment Sales Division of Ariel Property Advisors. In addition to originating and executing exclusive listing sales, he is responsible for leading business development and networking initiatives in the Bronx submarket.

Mr. Gold has executed deals involving various property types including multifamily, mixed-use, commercial and development sites throughout the Bronx. Since joining the firm, he has transacted over 50 deals with a gross consideration of more than $500 million in the Bronx. His insights about the Bronx real estate market have been featured in publications such as The Commercial Observer, Crain's, Real Estate Weekly, The Real Deal, New York YIMBY and The Bronx Times.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Gold worked as an Associate Director at Murray Hill Properties LLC with a concentration on landlord and tenant representation throughout Manhattan.

Mr. Gold is involved in various charities and organizations both in conjunction with the company and in his personal life. Among those he is involved with are The Jewish National Fund, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Bronx-Manhattan North Association of Realtors (BMAR), and SoBRO.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

Mr. Gold lives on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and can be reached at 212.544.9500 ext. 22 or via email at jgold@arielpa.com.