Karen Hu leads a team of deeply experienced professionals on the whole range of affordable development deals—from ground up new construction to preservation of NYCHA projects.

Karen has successfully completed multiple high-profile projects throughout her decades long career. She got her start in real estate at HPD, as a City Planner in the Bronx Planning Unit. She then worked at Phipps Houses as a development project manager on new construction multi-family deals in the South Bronx and Harlem. While she was at The Hudson Companies, she was the project lead on One Clinton, the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Heights Library into a luxury condominium project with the largest branch in the Brooklyn Public Library system. Karen holds a B.A. in Art History from Williams College and M.S. in Real Estate Development and City Planning from M.I.T.

Seth Muraskin is the Chief Executive Officer of Housing Solutions of New York (HSNY), where he leads the organization’s mission to end homelessness through the development and operation of supportive, transitional, and affordable housing across New York City. He oversees all aspects of the organization’s strategy and operations, working closely with public and private partners to expand housing access and integrate services that promote long-term stability for individuals and families.

Seth brings extensive executive leadership experience across nonprofit and private sectors, with a background spanning human resources, administration, and organizational management. He also has a legal background, having practiced as an attorney and served as a prosecutor, and began his career as a special education teacher, shaping his commitment to equity and people-centered solutions.

Susan Connelly joined Housing Opportunities Unlimited in May 2020 as Chief Operating Officer and Principal. Working as part of HOU's executive team, HOU is growing nationally with an emphasis on New York City. Now, with 100 employees, HOU continues its 40-year commitment to diversity. Over 80% of HOU's 100-person team are BIPOC. Susan has over 35 years of experience in affordable and public housing. In her roles with private developers, Susan oversaw the permitting, design, finance, and construction of over 4,200 units of new and rehabilitated affordable housing in the greater Boston and Mid-Atlantic markets. She has worked with the multiple regulatory requirements of private, federal, and state finance resources, including HOPE VI, LIHTC, Historic Tax Credits, HOME, and Section 8. Before joining HOU, Susan was the Director of Community Assistance at the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), a quasi-public agency. For 16 years, Susan led and supported a team effort to seed affordable housing across the Commonwealth. She worked closely with the state's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) on several policy issues, including the effort to create a public finance product to leverage private capital to replace state public housing. Susan has supported community input processes as a representative of the state, as a developer, and as an affordable housing manager. She was first introduced to affordable housing in Boston in 1986 as a member of the HOU relocation team at Columbia Point, the first federal public housing development converted to mixed-income, mixed-finance, and privately managed. Today, Harbor Point is a 1,200-unit community, and HOU continues to provide resident services. Susan holds a degree in Economics from the University of Vermont. She is the Treasurer of the Board of Commissioners for the Cambridge Housing Authority, co-chair of the Real Estate Advisory Committee, the Urban Land Institute/Boston, and a founding member of the Women’s Development Collaborative based in San Francisco.

Matthew Rooney is Principal and Chief Executive Officer for MDG Design & Construction, a leading affordable housing-only contracting and development firm. Originally inspired by the stories of displaced New Yorkers, Matthew has dedicated his career to preserving and creating high-quality apartments that people are proud to call home. He is committed to economic diversity and housing equity across New York and beyond.

Matthew has overseen the closing of 11,100+ units—also with 3,700+ units currently in pre-development—and more than $4.3 billion in construction and development costs. His strategic vision and hands-on approach have helped to expand MDG’s footprint from New York City to the Capital Region, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and beyond, nearly doubling the company’s impact over the past decade.

From construction to development both in the office and in the field, Matthew is involved in every aspect of MDG’s work. He has helped to drive resident involvement at all stages of development, specifically through the creation of design studios at multiple Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) sites across the city, where residents can actively engage in the design process by previewing designs and renderings of various finishes, materials, and fixtures for their apartments and building common spaces. The close relationships Matthew has cultivated with residents, lenders, government agencies, consultants, and community stakeholders allow MDG to ensure timely closing and successful development projects.

Matthew received his B.S. in Finance and Marketing from the Stern School of Business at New York University with a concentration in Real Estate Finance.

Brett J. Gottlieb is partner in Herrick's Real Estate Department where he represents real estate owners, lessees and developers in the application process for New York City’s real property tax incentives including 421-a, ICIP/ICAP and FRESH. Brett counsels clients regarding their property tax benefit applications with respect to project eligibility, benefit calculation, benefit planning and implementation of the exemption or abatement of real property tax in the City of New York.

For the Industrial Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP), Brett counsels owners, developers, architects and contractors on the ICAP Rules and Law pertaining to applications submitted to the New York City Department of Finance. Additionally, he advises on the Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority/Women Business Owned Enterprise (M/WBE) requirements included within Executive Order 50 of 1980, Executive Order 94 of 1986, Local Law 67 of 2008 and Local Law 102 of 2018 as they pertain to ICAP project before the Department of Small Business Services, Division of Labor Services.

Brett's experience with the 421-a Partial Tax Exemption Program and its successor Affordable New York (421-a(16)) includes counseling clients on project eligibility, rent stabilization, dwelling unit stacking, affordable unit proportionality, building measurement, benefit planning and calculation. Brett assists owners and managing agents with the submission of initial and annual rent registrations to the Division of Homes & Community Renewal (DHCR).

For the FRESH Program, he counsels clients on the tax incentive benefit, core application submission, benefit calculations and various program requirements and restrictions.

Brett also prepares attorney opinion letters including tax projections for ICAP, 421-a and FRESH. He also counsels lenders and purchasers as part of the due diligence and underwriting and underwriting requirements. He counsels both landlords and tenants with regards to property tax incentive clauses in leases.

Before joining Herrick, Brett was a partner at Tuchman, Weiss, Liebman & Lindemann, LLP.

As Vice President of New York Operations, Dave oversees quality, adherence to budgets, and customer satisfaction for the Tri-State region. Dave is responsible for managing Callahan’s resources to develop successful projects for new and existing clients from the early phases of preconstruction through project completion.

Dave earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering technology from Central New England College. He holds a Construction Supervisor License from the state of Massachusetts, has completed OSHA safety training and is certified by the Red Cross in Adult First Aid/CPR/AED.

David Quart, AICP, is the Northeast Markets Development Lead at VHB, where he drives strategic focus across public and private markets throughout the region. He works closely with public agencies, developers, and community partners to advance complex real estate and infrastructure initiatives, with a strong emphasis on affordable and mixed-income housing, and projects that unlock new housing supply.

David brings nearly 25 years of experience spanning both government and private industry. He previously served as Deputy Commissioner for Strategy, Research, and Communications and Chief of Staff at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where he helped shape the Housing New York plan and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. As Senior Vice President at NYCEDC, he led major development projects, including Essex Crossing, Willets Point, and key waterfront improvements.

David serves on the ULI New York Advisory Board and is an adjunct professor at NYU Wagner.

Anita Laremont advises clients on various land use, zoning, and development

matters.

Anita has worked with numerous large-scale economic development and land-use

projects in New York City and throughout the state.

Prior to joining Fried Frank, Anita was the Chair of the New York City Planning

Commission and Director of the Department of City Planning, having previously served

as its general counsel and executive director. She also served for many years as

general counsel of Empire State Development Corporation.

Anita received her JD from New York University School of Law in 1979 and her

BA, magna cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College in 1976. She is admitted to

practice in New York.

Alecia Hill is a Vice President and Assistant Portfolio Manager at FCP, a privately held real

estate investment company headquartered in Washington, DC. With expertise in workforce and

affordable housing, Alecia is responsible for overseeing all aspects of portfolio construction and

investment management for FCP’s Housing Preservation strategy, as well as the expansion of

broader firmwide multifamily impact investing initiatives. Prior to joining FCP, Alecia was a

member of the Impact Investing team at Enterprise Community Partners, where she focused on

Opportunity Zone Fund development, transaction underwriting, and new product development

within affordable and workforce housing.

Alecia has been a featured facilitator on community development finance structuring and

housing policy with HUD and the EPA. She has been a guest lecturer on private markets,

affordable housing, and sustainable investing at Southern Methodist University, Columbia

Business School, and New York University. Alecia holds an MPA in Management and Finance

from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BA from Columbia

University.

Alecia is Chair of Smart Growth America’s LOCUS Coalition for inclusive, transit-oriented

development, a member of the National Housing Crisis Task Force, and a member of the

Advisory Committee for the BILT Foundation. She currently serves as Chair of the National

Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) Workforce Housing Committee and is Vice Chair of the

NMHC Emerging Leaders Committee. Alecia is currently a Young Leaders Fellow with Columbia

University’s Sustainable Investing Research Initiative.

Adam Sussi is a Managing Partner at Tredway, responsible for the acquisition and development of affordable and mixed income housing across the U.S. Before joining Tredway Adam was a Managing Partner at TerreAlto, a privately owned investment firm focused on the acquisition and preservation of affordable housing throughout New York City.

Prior to TerreAlto, Adam was a Vice President of acquisitions and asset management at Fairstead. Before joining Fairstead, Adam was with Jamestown Properties where he was the Director of Asset Management of Industry City, a six million square foot adaptive re-use project on the South Brooklyn waterfront. Over the course of his career, Adam spearheaded the acquisition of over $700M in assets and has overseen a portfolio of more than 6,000 units.

Adam holds a BBA in Finance, Investment and Banking from the Wisconsin School of Business and a MS in Real Estate Finance and Investment from New York University.

He is a board member of the New York State Association For Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) Policy Committee.

Russell A. Kivler is a partner in the law firm of Hirschen Singer & Epstein LLP. He joined the firm in 2004 and became a partner in 2010. Mr. Kivler practices in the area of real estate, representing developers, owners and equity investors in connection with acquisitions and dispositions, financings, joint ventures, development and construction and commercial leasing. He has developed extensive experience in commercial and public finance, federal, state and local housing programs and tax incentives. Mr. Kivler regularly represents clients in large scale affordable housing and mixed use development projects that are financed with municipal bonds and tax credit equity.

Mr. Kivler is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey and received his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in economics and business management, with a concentration in finance, in 1999 from Gettysburg College and his law degree magna cum laude in 2002 from American University, Washington College of Law.

Harshad is a Director in the architecture studio at Fogarty Finger and a seasoned professional with a decade dedicated to the growth of the firm. Leading a dynamic team of twenty architects, he specializes in the conceptualization and execution of large-scale projects in the multifamily, commercial, and adaptive reuse sectors in New York and Jersey City.

Harshad’s portfolio covers 4 million square feet of multi-family residential projects and 1 million square feet of Class A commercial projects. Currently Harshad’s team is overseeing construction of 2 million square feet of mixed-use projects including 1,300 residential units across five projects in the recently rezoned Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn. Among these projects is Nevins Landing, a 600-unit waterfront development on a two-acre lot designed as part of the Waterfront Access Plan.

Other notable current projects include two 35-story mixed-use towers in Long Island City and Downtown Brooklyn; Astoria Cove, a 490-unit 600,000 square foot mixed-use waterfront project; and an adaptive reuse luxury condominium building in the theater district of Manhattan. Recently completed projects include The Dime in Williamsburg, an iconic 345,000 square foot mixed-use project and NOVA, an 85-unit condominium project in Long Island City.

Harshad is a member of REBNY's Zoning and Design Committee and Urban Design Forum's Global Circle.

Daniel Cohen brings nearly 15 years of engineering and strategic leadership to the forefront of New York City’s evolving urban landscape. As a Principal at Stantec, Daniel has become a leading authority on New York City’s Zoning for Accessibility (ZFA) and Transit Zoning Bonus frameworks, helping developers unlock significant value while delivering essential public infrastructure upgrades.

Daniel specializes in the complex intersection of private development and public transit and is known for his ability to solve intricate technical and regulatory puzzles. Daniel has directed the design of dozens of developer-funded transit improvements, navigating the challenging phasing and demolition requirements necessary to maintain continuous public operations during major construction.

Daniel is dedicated to driving innovative, accessible, and resilient urban design that balances developer objectives with community needs. He is a licensed Structural Engineer with an M.S. in Structural Engineering from NYU Tandon and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University.

Alvin Schein is a Co-Chair of the NYC Real Estate Estate Tax & Zoning Incentives Practice at Adler & Stachenfeld LLP. A recognized expert in cooperative and condominium law and affordable housing law, Mr. Schein has filed or supervised the filing of more than 200 inclusionary housing plans with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (“HPD”), in both onsite and offsite contexts. He is one of the few attorneys in New York whose practice includes representing sellers and purchasers of inclusionary air rights.

Mr. Schein has prepared hundreds of cooperative and condominium offering plans and condominium declarations, including those for affordable home ownership and the first-ever condominium and cooperative offering plans for inclusionary housing home ownership. He regularly interfaces with HPD, the NYS Attorney General’s office, the NYC Industrial Development Agency, the NYS Housing Finance Agency, the NYC Housing Development Corporation, and the NYC Department of City Planning, as well as New York City Council members and local community boards.

Before joining Adler & Stachenfeld in 2025, Mr. Schein was affiliated with Seiden & Schein, P.C., a law firm he co-founded in 1996. Seiden & Schein was well regarded as a firm with extensive knowledge of the critical areas of real estate tax incentive programs, condominium development, and inclusionary housing with attorneys possessing the ability to counsel clients through highly complex real estate transactions.

Mr. Schein is admitted to practice law in New York.

Kenny Burgos serves as CEO of the New York Apartment Association, representing the housing providers who own and manage hundreds of thousands of rent-stabilized homes across New York City. A former Assembly Member from the Bronx, Kenny led major housing initiatives in Albany and previously worked in the City Council shaping budgets that supported affordable housing and renters. Today, he leads NYAA’s work to strengthen the city’s affordable housing system, tackle rising operating costs, and advance policies that keep homes stable and livable. He lives in the Bronx with his wife, son, and two dogs.

As First Deputy Commissioner, Adam Phillips oversees several divisions across HPD, supervising more than 400 staff members across multiple offices, including Finance and Administration, Compliance and Risk Management, Asset Management, and Housing Access and Stability. He works closely with the HPD Commissioner in fulfilling the agency's mission to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to safe and affordable housing.

Adam brings more than a decade of experience in affordable housing preservation, finance, and organizational leadership to HPD. He most recently served as Director at Strada Ventures where he managed complex affordable housing transactions and guided projects through City, State, and Federal approvals.

Adam has deep institutional knowledge and a commitment to operational excellence. Prior to his time in the private sector, he previously held multiple roles at HPD, including Deputy Director of the Green Housing Preservation Program and the Multifamily Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program, Senior Project Manager for Special Initiatives in Preservation Finance, and Project Manager in the Participation Loan Program.

Daniel M. Bernstein joined Rosenberg & Estis, P.C. in 2017 and is a Member and Leader of the firm’s Tax Incentives & Affordable Housing Department. Bernstein’s practice involves affordable housing and urban development issues in New York, obtaining property tax exemptions and abatements (485-x / ANNY for new development; 467-m / AHCC for commercial conversions; new and old 421-a including requests for extension of 421-a(16) Completion Date, ICAP/ICIP, 420-c, 420-a, J-51, Article XI, etc.), development rights bonuses and incentives / zoning requirements (Voluntary and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, FRESH program, Zoning for Quality and Affordability) for New York City projects. Bernstein is experienced in the assessment and taxation of real property in New York, as well as acquisition, financing, leasing, Declarations of Condominium, and condominium offering plans. Bernstein also has extensive experience helping real estate developers obtain economic incentives for their residential, commercial, or mixed-use projects. Bernstein also performs diligence on such matters for lenders and purchasers of such NYC properties.

Prior to joining Rosenberg & Estis, Bernstein spent over a decade at two New York City real estate law firms representing some of the city’s major residential, commercial, and mixed-use real estate developers. Bernstein began his career working on immigration, healthcare, and public benefit issues at a major New York labor union and for New York not-for-profit organizations, where he handled litigation in U.S. District and Circuit Courts.