On April 4 New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Vicki Been ’83, NYU Law’s Boxer Family Professor of Law and director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, will serve as the city’s Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development.
From 2014 to 2017, Been was New York City’s Commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). “That appointment, as well as the current one, offers testament to her deep expertise and experience in the areas of land use, urban policy, and affordable housing,” said Dean Trevor Morrison in an email to the Law School community.
“New Yorkers are lucky to have Vicki on their side,” de Blasio said in a tweet announcing her appointment.
Been will take a leave from the Law School on May 6 to begin her service as deputy mayor. The Furman Center will be led by Professors Ingrid Gould Ellen and Katherine O’Regan from NYU Wagner, who have been co-directors with Been, and by Mark Willis, the Center’s Senior Policy Fellow.
Under Been’s leadership, the Furman Center has become the nation’s leading academic research center devoted to the public policy aspects of land use, real estate, and housing development, and was a recipient of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2012.
As HPD Commissioner, Been oversaw the design of a comprehensive strategy for addressing New York’s critical need for affordable housing. Initiatives included financing the preservation or new construction of 62,500 affordable homes in just three years and securing passage of a rigorous yet flexible mandatory inclusionary housing program.
Posted April 4, 2019