Special Olympics – New York
Kasirer successfully positioned Special Olympics-New York, which currently serves more than 31,000 throughout the state, to forge a partnership with the City of New York’s public school system, leading to the introduction of new physical education and after-school sports programs for students with emotional challenges, autism, cognitive delays and other disabilities that require intensive support. Due to the partnership, children with significant disabilities will have more opportunities to play sports during the school day and participate on teams with nondisabled students. More than 1,700 students with disabilities will participate in track and field, volleyball and basketball during school hours through the initiative, while another 200 high school students with and without disabilities can join an after-school basketball team, and 200 middle school students can sign up for bocce.
Stony Brook University
Kasirer led the strategy for Stony Brook University’s bid to serve as the anchor institution for the development of a world-leading climate solutions center on Governors Island. Our team positioned Stony Brook for success through the Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) process in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, and the Request for Proposal (RFP) process in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, culminating in Mayor Adams and the Trust for Governor’s Island decision to select Stony Brook’s bid called the “The New York Climate Exchange,” which will be a first-of-its kind international center for developing and deploying dynamic solutions to the global climate crisis, while also acting as a hub for New Yorkers to benefit from the rapidly evolving green economy. This $700 million project will create thousands of jobs and generate over a billion in economic impact, serving thousands of students and workforce trainees annually, and up to 30 businesses through its incubator program on the Island.
Innovation Queens
Kasirer led the government and community relations for the Innovation Queens ULURP to secure the approval by the City Council for the largest rezoning in the history of Queens, spanning five-blocks and bringing an unprecedented level of affordable housing and public benefits to the neighborhood. In a complex political climate across the city, Kasirer team executed the strategy and guided the negotiations that resulted in the mayor’s administration, Queens Borough President, and local Council Member to support the proposal. This $2 billion project will generate 3,190 new homes, 1,436 set aside for low-and middle-income households, two acres of open space, dedicated space for entrepreneurs and nonprofits, and more to Astoria.
New York Blood Center
Kasirer led the campaign to rebuild the New York Blood Center—the largest independent, community-based nonprofit blood center in the nation that supplies nearly all of the blood to New York City’s hospitals with a for profit life sciences hub which conducts lifesaving research on diseases like Sickle Cell anemia and HIV that impact thousands of New Yorkers—and navigated through the most challenging political headwinds to achieve a historic 43-5 vote in support of the Blood Center at the full City Council.
Kasirer’s win was the first of its kind in more than a decade. By building a Citywide coalition of support for the Blood Center’s vital work with impacts far beyond the local community, we successfully negotiated wins for New Yorkers in the immediate area and the entire City, and reached a deal that brought together City officials around a future vision for New York City in the life sciences and the communities served that went far beyond the local official.
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NYCLASS
Kasirer guided New Yorkers for Clean, Livable, and Safe Streets (NYCLASS) through the City Council legislative process to successfully secure the overwhelming passage of landmark legislation that significantly expands the protections of the City’s carriage horses against the harshest summer heat. This legislation, which had been the focus of animal advocacy groups for years, will ensure that New York City remains a leader in the realm of animal welfare protections.
Ranked Choice Voting NYC
Kasirer worked with the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting NYC in a successful campaign to bring ranked choice voting (RCV) to NYC: on November 5th, 2019, NYC voters approved the ranked choice voting ballot unitive by nearly 75%. Thanks to these efforts, beginning in 2021, voters will have the option to rank up to five candidate choices in order of preference in NYC primary and special elections. RCV encourages candidates to reach out to all voters; allows for instant runoffs when there is no clear majority winner, saving the City millions of dollars; and helps voters make a choice when there is a crowded field of candidates, as is so often the case in local NYC elections.
One Vanderbilt
A Soaring New Skyscraper for Grand
Central and the City Adding an architectural icon to the Manhattan skyline—and revitalizing the Vanderbilt Corridor—Kasirer guided SL Green through the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for its 1.6 million-square-foot tower across from Grand Central Terminal. With One Vanderbilt, SL Green set a precedent for future development in east Midtown, and across the city, by committing to invest $220 million in mass transit and public realm infrastructure. The project received exceptional support and unanimous City Council approval.
80 Flatbush
Housing and Two New Public Schools for Downtown BrooklynBordering a brownstone block, this high-density, mixed-use development at the edge of downtown Brooklyn required extensive community and stakeholder engagement. Kasirer successfully led the client (who partnered with the Educational Construction Fund) through a contentious ULURP process to secure project approvals. We coordinated strategy among multiple consultants and built a coalition of supporters to counter local opposition. We engaged with the local Community Board, City Hall, the Department of City Planning, and the City Council to ensure the project’s benefits and diversity of uses remained intact. The project will deliver a new elementary school, a high school, 200 units of affordable on-site housing, market-rate housing, and much needed office space—along with public space improvements and the restoration of historical buildings—all on a single city block with no parking.
Cubic Transportation Systems
MTA Awards Cubic Contract to Replace and Modernize MetroCard System Kasirer successfully positioned Cubic Transportation Systems (Cubic) to win the nearly $1 billion Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) contract to replace the MetroCard with a next-generation fare payment system that will be installed in subways and buses Citywide and allow the system’s users to pay for rides with the waive of a cellphone or credit/debit card. Kasirer designed and implemented the strategic plan that aligned Cubic with key third party stakeholders and built a strong coalition in support of Cubic’s proposal that resulted in Cubic beating out four other major competitors.
110 East 16th Street
Transit-oriented Development to replace a Parking Garage Kasirer led Tishman Realty Corp through a 74-711 ULURP and successfully obtained approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Department of City Planning, and the City Council for replacing a ten-story parking garage with a contextual condo building. The complex deal required approvals of an air rights (TDR) transfer along with preservation of an individual landmark followed by a full ULURP.
Delta Terminals At JFK and LGA
The Airline Offers An Upgrade For the $1.4 billion Delta renovation of its state-of-the-art presence at John F. Kennedy International Airport Terminal 4, as well as the airline’s significant investment at LaGuardia, Kasirer managed all New York City government relations. The improvements have been hugely successful and well received on every scale, from local and federal aviation sectors to individual travelers (who appreciate the upgrade).
Cornell Tech Campus
“Another jewel in the crown of New York”
– Mayor Bill de Blasio When Mayor Michael Bloomberg put forward an unprecedented $100 million RFP to create a new tech center for the city, nearly every university in the country—including the usual Silicon Valley suspects—wanted in. Kasirer championed New York’s own Cornell University, the ultimate victors for the hotly contested opportunity on Roosevelt Island. Kasirer led Cornell through the ULURP and other land use approvals, including the acquisition of state land that carries tremendous potential to transform New York, new approaches to higher education and a new international nexus for the tech industry.
Public Art Fund
Bringing Ai Weiwei’s Good Fences Make Good Neighbors exhibit to New York City The Public Art Fund launched a city-wide art installation by renowned artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei. In order to move the project forward, the exhibit faced a final hurdle of approval from Community Board 2 for an installation at Washington Square Park. Kasirer was instrumental in leading the approval process on behalf of Public Art Fund, working to compile a group of both city-wide and local supporters for the project, including a diverse group of stakeholders, from local businesses, to influential immigration advocacy groups, to business alliances and chambers of commerce. With Kasirer’s help, the exhibit was able to launch here in New York City to city-wide acclaim, with over 300 locations dispersed throughout the five boroughs.
Smorgasburg
Bringing the well-known Brooklyn food market to Manhattan! For Smorgasburg — the largest weekly open-air food market in America — Kasirer led the effort to secure Community Board 2’s approval of Smorgasburg’s Liquor License Application for a currently vacant lot located at Canal and Varick Streets in downtown Manhattan. By developing local support and leading negotiations with community residents and the leadership of Community Board 2, Kasirer’s work on the ground was critical to success – securing a full, on-premises liquor license for Smorgasburg with overwhelming community board support. Smaller than the Brooklyn sites, this new location will bring a daily, year-long Smorgasburg set to open in the summer/fall of 2017 and sure to bring a placemaking experience that lives up to the Smorgasburg reputation!
Brookfield Place & Manhattan West
Developing New York Stories Brookfield real estate holdings include two of the most vital, most meaningful mixed-use development sites in New York—Brookfield Place, formerly known as the World Financial Center, and Manhattan West. Kasirer helped Brookfield navigate the ULURP, city government approvals and processes and community relations across their NYC portfolio.
TWA Flight Center Hotel
On behalf of the TWA Flight Center Hotel, Kasirer LLC led the government and community outreach effort which required working with and coordinating twenty-two government agencies. The $265 million-dollar rehabilitation of the iconic landmark Eero Saarinen Building at JFK includes restoring the building back to its 1962 condition, celebrating when the Jet Age came of age in New York City. The TWA Flight Center Hotel, union-built and union-operated, includes a 500 room hotel, a 40,000 square foot conference and event facility, a museum and a number of restaurants and will create an estimated 3,000 jobs. Kasirer’s work included garnering widespread support from stakeholders including preservation groups across the City and shepherding the project through the unanimous approvals of Queens Community Boards 10, 12, 13, the Queens Borough Board, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, the City Planning Commission and ultimately the New York City Council. In the final phase of approvals, Kasirer’s role included securing signatures to the Memorandum of Agreement from members of the Redevelopment Advisory Committee.
Mount Sinai Health System
Sustaining A Vital Care Network For the Mount Sinai Health System—a New York network that includes a medical school and seven hospital campuses—Kasirer has helped secure and access millions of dollars in capital and expense funding. Also on behalf of Mount Sinai, Kasirer has advocated on city legislative and policy initiatives; expedited the review and processing of Department of Building (DoB) and Department of Transportation (DoT) permits; and assured unimpeded access to and egress from the hospital campuses for patients, doctors and nurses.
300 Lafayette Street
“Most erudite and captivating”
— NYC LPC Toward realizing the acclaimed, environmentally-sustainable building (aiming for a LEED gold rating) at the corner of Houston and Lafayette Streets, Kasirer continually engaged the SoHo community and guided the second-generation NYC real estate firm LargaVista through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). Largely due to Kasirer engaging the community, the $200 million project received enthusiastic approval by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and near-unanimous support from local leadership.
New-York Historical Society
Making History Most Relevant Kasirer guided the esteemed keeper of city history—the oldest (1804) and one of the most dynamic, relevant museums in NYC—through a Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Certificate of Appropriateness (CofA) process. By creating and implementing a strategic government and community relations plan, Kasirer obtained approvals from Community Board 7 and the LPC for the museum to revitalize its storied space on Central Park West, which holds a world-class collection of more than 1.6 million works of art. Kasirer also collaborated with the N-YHS to set up Friends of the New-York Historical Society, initiating regular meetings with local block association leadership and other community stakeholders to fully engage the neighborhood in the N-YHS programs and mission—and vice versa. The cultural institution and the community worked together through construction progress and finding consensus on challenging issues around a documentarian of the past, present, future of the city.
The James New York
A Toast (And Three Liquor Licenses) to The Town Orchestrating the launch of The James in SoHo—the first New York location for the upscale boutique hotel—Kasirer developed relationships and led negotiations with neighbors of the future property and Community Board 2 from the planning stage forward. Kasirer, which specializes in government and community relations for New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) applications, secured The James three liquor licenses for its bars and restaurants, including the celebrated David Burke Kitchen and Jimmy rooftop lounge with its city-sweeping views, welcome new downtown gathering places for locals and guests.
American Cancer Society
Cancer Action Network
“One year after NYC’s smoke-free law
took effect [it had prevented] 45,000
premature deaths.” — ACS CAN On behalf of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Kasirer joined the fight to protect the public health of workers—and all other citizens exposed to second-hand smoke—in NYC. Kasirer organized and implemented the lobbying campaign that led to the 2002 enactment of the city’s smoking ban in bars and restaurants, parks and beaches. Most recently, tens of thousands of lives saved after the original law was put in place, Kasirer led the successful ACS CAN lobbying effort that enacted the city’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products.
Motion Picture Association
of America: Made in New York
Because New York City Has Always
Been A Movie Star Building a powerful entertainment industry coalition and campaign with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Kasirer secured key support for the New York State Film Production Tax Credit program and NYC’s
Made in New York incentive program. These legislative initiatives stimulated
production in New York, assuring its place as a competitive and unique location for film.
The Plaza Hotel
“Nothing unimportant ever happens
at The Plaza.” — said of the 1907 hotelTo both thoughtfully preserve and lead a lively revitalization of the quintessential New York hotel, Kasirer coordinated the lobbying and negotiating teams for Elad Properties. The complex conversion to a part residential, part retail, part hotel property included both Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) approval and a special permit process to improve the icon of Manhattan and global glamour.
Cemusa City Streets Project
—NYC Department of Transit For the international advertising conglomerate Cemusa, based in Spain, Kasirer won the largest contract ever awarded by NYC to a private firm: $1.3 billion over 20 years to design, install and maintain the city’s street furniture. By introducing the company’s bus shelters, newsstands and public toilets citywide, Kasirer raised the Cemusa corporate profile—and everyday conveniences for pedestrians and commuters.
Citymeals on Wheels
Delivering On A Mission:
No New Yorker Goes Hungry Longtime Kasirer client Citymeals on Wheels provides two million meals to elderly New Yorkers every year. Kasirer has secured millions of dollars in funding for the exceptional organization—of 31 community-based agencies that deliver weekend, holiday and emergency meals across the city to homebound seniors who aren’t able to shop or cook for themselves.