Hudson River Park Trust
David A. Paterson, Governor
Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor
Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President

Board of Directors
Diana L. Taylor, Chair
Diana Taylor joined Wolfensohn & Co., an investment banking firm, as a Managing Director in April, 2007. She has more than 20 years of experience serving in both the public and private sectors. She started her career as an investment banker, working for Smith Barney, then Lehman Brothers, then Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette. She then held various positions in the State government, including Chief Financial Officer of the Long Island Power Authority, and Deputy Secretary to the Governor for Housing and Finance. From 2003 to 2007 she held the position of Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York, a post to which she was nominated by Governor George Pataki and confirmed by the State Senate.

Ms. Taylor serves on the Board of Directors of Sotheby’s and Brookfield Properties. In addition, she serves on several not for profit boards, including Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, the New York Women’s Foundation, the International Women’s Health Coalition, and ACCION International, and she chairs a commission for the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation concentrating on financially underserved communities. Ms. Taylor is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Daniel L. Doctoroff
Vice Chairman
Daniel L. Doctoroff became President of Bloomberg, LP, the leading global provider of financial data, analytics and news, in January 2008.
 
Prior to joining Bloomberg, Mr. Doctoroff was Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding for the City of New York .Under the leadership of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Mr. Doctoroff led one of the city’s most dramatic economic resurgences, spearheading the effort to reverse New York’s fiscal crisis after the attacks of 9/11 through a five-borough economic development strategy. This plan included the most ambitious land-use transformation in the city’s modern history; the largest affordable housing program ever launched by an American city; the formation of new Central Business Districts and Industrial Business Zones; and the creation of new, great destinations like the Harbor District, which will link together new parkland and miles of waterfront esplanades in Lower Manhattan, Governors Island, and Brooklyn.  All told, Mr. Doctoroff helped lead New York to its strongest economic position in decades. The city has achieved record levels of jobs, visitors, population, and the greatest number of housing starts since the 1960’s.

Mr. Doctoroff also led the creation of PlaNYC, the most extensive plan to strengthen an urban environment ever undertaken by an American city. The 127-point plan, designed to create the first environmentally sustainable 21st century city, focuses on every facet of New York’s physical environment – its transportation network, housing stock, land and park system, energy network, water supply and air quality – and sets the course for a 30% reduction in global warming emissions by 2030.

Prior to joining the Bloomberg administration, Mr. Doctoroff was Managing Partner of Oak Hill Capital Partners, a major private equity investment firm.  During his fourteen-year association with Oak Hill, Mr. Doctoroff led the purchases of companies in a wide variety of industries, including information services, insurance, thrifts, cable television, hotels and leasing. While at Oak Hill, Mr. Doctoroff founded NYC2012, the organization dedicated to bringing the Olympic Games to New York. He continued to oversee the New York’s bid as Deputy Mayor, ensuring that the Olympic effort spurred parks, housing, and economic development projects in all five boroughs.

Prior to joining Oak Hill, Mr. Doctoroff was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers. Doctoroff received a B.A. degree from Harvard College.  He received a J.D. degree from The Law School at the University of Chicago.  Before attending law school, Mr. Doctoroff was a political pollster.  He lives in New York City with his wife, Alisa, and their three children,  Jacob (20), Ariel (17), and Jenna (15).

Carol Ash
Commissioner, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation
Ms. Ash served as Executive Director of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission for seven years. Previously, Ms. Ash was State Director of the Nature Conservancy in New York from 1994 to 1999. From 1992 to 1994, she served as Director of the Office of Environmental Policy and Management for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Ms. Ash became Regional Director of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1985 and continued in this capacity until 1992. Prior to that, she served as a consultant from 1981 to 1984, a publisher at Soho News from 1979 to 1981, and the Director of Conservative Programs at the New York State Energy Office from 1975 to 1978.


Pete Grannis
Commissioner, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Pete Grannis was nominated by Governor Eliot Spitzer to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and began his tenure in April 2007. His appointment marks a return to the Department for Mr. Grannis, who began his career in public service at DEC in the early 1970's as a Compliance Counsel.

Mr. Grannis served as a member of the Assembly representing the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Roosevelt Island for more than 30 years. While in the Assembly, Mr. Grannis championed a wide range of environmental issues as a long-time member of its Environmental Conservation Committee, and played a key role in enacting laws addressing acid rain, clean air and water, fluorocarbons and recycling. He fought for the passage of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), the original Bottle Bill and the clean-up and revitalization of brownfields. Last year, legislation he sponsored was signed into law requiring heavy duty trucks utilized by state contractors to use the best available technology and low-sulfur diesel, making such equipment virtually emission free.

Early in his career, Mr. Grannis chaired the Assembly's first Subcommittee on Toxic Wastes, sponsored legislation ensuring a worker's right to know about hazardous materials in the workplace, and worked to regulate the transport, storage and disposal of toxic wastes. Mr. Grannis's other environmental interests include preserving open spaces, reducing packaging waste, and preserving the beauty and irreplaceable resources of the Adirondacks. He has also advocated for funding for the complete and timely clean-up of Superfund sites. Mr. Grannis authored the state's rapid transit noise code and has been in the forefront of the fight to force the MTA to convert its polluting bus fleet to clean fuels.

Mr. Grannis is a three-time winner of the Legislator of the Year award from the Environmental Planning Lobby and was accorded similar honors by the Audubon Society, the Environmental Action Coalition and Environmental Advocates.

An avid outdoorsman and fly fisherman, Mr. Grannis lives with his family on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Theodore Roosevelt IV
Theodore Roosevelt IV is a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers and a member of the Firm’s senior client coverage group. An active conservationist, he is the former Chairman of the League of Conservation Voters and currently serves as a Trustee of the American Museum of Natural History, on the Governing Council of the Wilderness Society, as a Trustee of Trout Unlimited, and as a Director at the Institute for Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming, as well as many other environmental affiliations.

Paul A. Ullman
Paul A. Ullman is a member of the Highland Financial Holdings Group’s Board of Directors and serves as Chairman of the investment committee. He oversees all portfolio management duties firmwide and is Senior Portfolio Manager on the firm’s flagship fund. Prior to founding HFH Group, Mr. Ullman was co-founder of the MBS specialty investment management group at Alliance Capital Management where, as senior portfolio manager, he was responsible for the management of an investment business that grew during his tenure from $500 million in a single fund to $5 billion in multiple on-shore and off-shore investment vehicles and separate accounts. His management responsibilities included day-to-day decision making regarding sector and security selection, hedging and duration, credit and prepayment estimates used for the various Mortgage Assets in the portfolios, as well as the most cost-effective methodology to deploy leverage. Prior to Alliance, Mr. Ullman was a director and portfolio manager at Hyperion Capital Management where he had substantially similar duties to those at Alliance. Mr. Ullman helped create the short duration investment product that became one of the more successful investment products over the succeeding years. Mr. Ullman began his career at Salomon Brothers in 1982, where he had sales and trading responsibilities in New York and London. Mr. Ullman established Salomon’s mortgage trading capacity in London in 1987 and was a member of the team that brought the first series of securities backed by Sterling mortgages to the marketplace. Mr. Ullman received a BS/BA degree from Washington University.

Joseph B. Rose
Joseph B. Rose has been a leader in development efforts in both the public and private sectors.

Mr. Rose is a partner in The Georgetown Company, a privately held real estate development firm which has developed or overseen in excess of 15,000,000 square feet of office, residential, and recreational properties throughout the country, including the award-winning planned communities of Easton and New Albany in Columbus, Ohio. Among Mr. Rose’s current projects is a partnership with InterActiveCorp and Frank Gehry to develop InterActiveCorp’s striking new waterfront headquarters in Manhattan’s west Chelsea neighborhood.

Prior to joining Georgetown, Mr. Rose served for eight years as Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and Director of the Department of City Planning in the administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. As the official with primary responsibility for the physical redevelopment of New York City, Mr. Rose initiated a broad range of strategic initiatives including extensive rezonings throughout the city which spurred a tripling of the city’s annual housing production. Other major initiatives of his tenure included New York’s first regulations controlling the proliferation of Adult Uses and a comprehensive program for the protection and preservation of the Broadway Theaters. Mr. Rose was the principal public official responsible for the redevelopment of Columbus Circle, including the construction of the Time Warner Center, the establishment of the performance complex for Jazz at Lincoln Center and the reconfiguration and redesign of the circle itself. Among the other major projects in which Mr. Rose had a principal role are the establishment of the new Hudson River Park, the construction of the new Museum of Modern Art, the planning and construction of minor league baseball stadiums in Coney Island and Staten Island, the rescuing and rehabilitation of the Biltmore theater, and the creation of a permanent home for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company.

Before his tenure at City Planning, Mr. Rose was Executive Director of the Citizen’s Housing and Planning Council and Special Assistant for Urban Affairs to United States Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He also served as Chairman of the Community Board for Midtown Manhattan during which time he established the Midtown Children’s project for homeless families and was an active participant in the plans for the redevelopment of Times Square, the preservation the Broadway Theaters, and the retention of large scale lights and signage in the area.

Mr. Rose has held teaching positions at the Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and the Robert Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, and has lectured at the Harvard School of Design, the Yale University School of Architecture, Princeton University, NYU Law School, and the Urban Land Institute. His publications include articles in The Public Interest, The New York Times, The New Republic, The City Journal, and The Journal of the American Planning Association.

Henry J. Stern
A native New Yorker, Henry J. Stern has served in various capacities in New York City government. In 1973, and again in 1977, he was elected to the City Council as a member-at-large from Manhattan, a position he held for nine years before being appointed commissioner of parks and recreation by Mayor Koch on February 14, 1983. He served seven years in the Koch administration, until the end of the mayor’s term, during which he founded the Natural Resources Group, an environmental watchdog for New York City. In 1994, he was re-appointed parks commissioner by Mayor Giuliani and served in that position until 2002.

As commissioner, Mr. Stern was credited with improving the cleanliness and safety of New York City’s 1,700 parks and playgrounds. Most notably, Central Park was largely restored, in partnership with the Central Park Conservancy. He also acquired several thousand acres of new parkland for the city, created over 2,000 "Greenstreets" at traffic intersections, erected 2,500 historic signs,and built over a billion dollars worth of park improvements as part of the capital construction program of Mayor Koch and Mayor Giuliani.

Mr. Stern has received numerous honors in recognition of his environmental protection efforts, including the National Audubon Society Lifetime Achievement Award and the City Club Earthling Award for Environmental Excellence. In February 2002, in an effort to improve the quality of life for New York City residents, Mr. Stern, along with Alan M. Moss, former first deputy parks commissioner, co-founded New York Civic.

Georgette Mosbacher
Georgette Mosbacher is an iconoclastic and successful leader of two international cosmetic companies, and a dynamic civic and charity fundraiser who continues to impress those within the corporate, political, and non-profit sectors. She has led an incredibly accomplished career in all three. With experience in business development, management, fundraising and public speaking, she is well known for her expertise in the areas of innovative and goal-orientated management, creative marketing, the development and leadership of motivated work teams, and most especially, turning around troubled companies in the branded consumer products area.

Mosbacher is the Chief Executive Officer of Borghese Incorporation. She is responsible for the reorganization and refocusing of this prestigious beauty company along with bringing it into global profitability. She is also Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Georgette Mosbacher Enterprises, Inc., an international entrepreneurial and consulting business in New York City. From 1987-1995, Mosbacher was Chief Executive Officer and Owner of LaPrairie, a leading, world-class prestige beauty company with a full line of successful cosmetics.

In addition to her corporate responsibilities, Mosbacher serves as the Republican National Committeewomen for the State of New York, and has served as a New York Delegate at the last three Republican National Conventions. Mosbacher’s involvement in the Republican Party, however, exceeds that of her political appointments and affiliations. In 1994, Mosbacher raised a record-breaking $15 million by orchestrating all facets in the planning, publicity, and organization of the 1994 Republican National Gala.

Mosbacher’s political appointments and accolades include, Member of the Advisory Board for Trade Policy and Negotiations (Presidential Appointment), Member of the Executive Advisory Cabinet of the Kellogg Family for Kids Crusade (Gubernatorial Appointment), New York State Advisory Board Member for The William B Hoyt Memorial Children and Family Trust (Gubernatorial Appointment), and the Hudson River Park Trust (Mayoral Appointment).

Mosbacher is affiliated with numerous charities and organizations. IN 1995, she founded The Children’s Advocacy Center of Manhattan (CAC) whose mission is to help children of abuse. Mosbacher serves as the National Chairperson for Community Development for Childhelp USA, as a Board Member of the United Negro College Fund and as a member of the National Women’s Economic Alliance, among many civic affiliations.

She authored 2 books, “Feminine Force” a practical and motivational guide for women to achieve their greatest potential, she also authored, “Its Takes Money, Honey”, a women’s “get smart” guide to total financial freedom.

Mosbacher holds a B.S in Business Management and Fine Arts and a Doctor of Business Administration Honorary Causa from Bryant College.

Adrian Benepe
Commissioner, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
Adrian Benepe has worked for the last twenty-five years protecting and enhancing New York City's natural and historic beauty. He continues this effort as Commissioner of the Department of Parks & Recreation, appointed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on January 25, 2002. In this role he has emphasized improving park facilities and programs for children, developing new waterfront parks and greenways, and making New York City bloom with millions of new flowers and hundred of gardens.

Benepe started his Parks & Recreation career in 1973 as a teenage seasonal helper in East River Park on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, picking up litter and mopping locker rooms. After graduating from Middlebury College (B.A. English Lit, 1979) in Vermont, Benepe became a member of the first corps of Parks & Recreation’s Urban Park Rangers in 1979. From 1979 to 1990, he served in a number of different capacities at Parks & Recreation. Following his time as a Ranger stationed in Central Park, he took on a variety of positions ranging from Director of Natural Resources & Horticulture (overseeing the protection and reiteration of the City’s wetlands and forests) to Director of Art & Antiquities (in charge of the City's conservation and interpretation of 1,300 statues and monuments and 20 historic house museums). During this latter assignment, he helped found the Historic House Trust, a not-for-profit organization created to preserve and promote the historic house museums located in New York City parks.

Building on his horticulture experience, from 1990 to 1993 Benepe was the Director of the Annual Fund & Major Gifts for the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. From 1993 to 1995, he served as Vice President for Issues & Public Affairs for the Municipal Art Society. In that role, Benepe managed public relations and developed strategies for public advocacy efforts in city planning, historic preservation, and public art. After five years in the non-profit sector, he returned to Parks & Recreation in January 1996 as the Manhattan Borough Commissioner, managing Manhattan’s green infrastructure of more than 300 parks, playgrounds, and malls. He served in that position until he was appointed Commissioner of Parks & Recreation, where he now oversees the operation of more than 28,800 acres and nearly 4,000 properties including almost 1,000 playgrounds, 600 ballfields, 550 tennis courts, 53 swimming pools, 35 recreation centers, 14 miles of beach, four major stadiums, and 2.5 million street and park trees. The facilities are maintained, programmed, and secured by almost 9,000 parks workers, of which 3,000 are full-time and 6,000 seasonal and part-time. He oversees an expense budget of $270 million and a capital construction budget of $552,285,000. Under Commissioner Benepe’s direction, the Parks Department works in partnership with over 1000 volunteer groups, comprising almost 70,000 citizen volunteers. Twelve of these groups raise $60 million in private donations to help restore and manage parks and enhance park programs.

Adrian Benepe also earned a Master's Degree in Journalism at Columbia University, where he was awarded a Pulitzer Fellowship. In 1987, he participated in the Mayor's Top 40 Program, and in 1992 he was selected to participate in Leadership New York, a program of the Coro Foundation. Although born in New Rochelle, NY, he has lived in New York City since 1959. He lives with his wife and two sons on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where he grew up. He likes to run, walk, and bicycle in Central and Riverside Parks and throughout the City’s park system.

Julie Nadel
Julie has worked on waterfront issues in Manhattan for the past 20 years, first as chief of staff to Assemblymember Richard N. Gottfired, and later as a member of the board of the North River Historic Ship Society. She is a board member of the Lilac Preservation Project (preserving the 1933 steamship Lilac docked at Pier 40), and serves on the boards of both the environmental sloop Clearwater and the National Arts Club. Working as a political consultant to District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, Julie lives in Tribeca with her husband, Judge Michael Nadel and daughter, Kate. Her son, Max Greis, is an artist in Manhattan.

Lawrence B. Goldberg, Esq.
Lawrence B. Goldberg is in the general practice of law in New York City. He is admitted in the New York State courts, in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. His practice specialties include business law, real estate, environmental and regulatory law, and land use. In addition, he has served as a court appointed mediator, receiver and guardian.

In the litigation aspect of his practice, Mr. Goldberg has represented clients in civil RICO and CERCLA actions, environmental and land use cases, and in contracts and business claims.

Mr. Goldberg has represented his Greenwich Village community in a variety of matters including the preservation Washington Square Park and Poe House issues. He is President of Friends of LaGuardia Place (which preserves and maintains a statute of LaGuardia and a Park) and he has assisted in having the Bob Bolles sculptures returned to Triangle Park in SOHO. He also is a member of Community Board 2 in Manhattan, where he has served on the Institutions, Zoning and Waterfront Committees. Formerly he was a member of and prior chairperson of the Advisory Council to the Hudson River Park Trust, and was active in both the Pier 40 and Pier 57 issues. Mr. Goldberg has also served as counsel to District One of B’nai B’rth. He is a member of the Association of the Bar where he has served on various committees and he has participated for many years as a moot court judge of New York Law School in its Wagner Competition.

Mr. Goldberg’s professional experience includes being an Examining Attorney with the NYC Department of Investigation, the Law Secretary of Justice Samuel J. Silverman of the New York State Supreme Court, and the Director of Distribution for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

He is a graduate of St. Johns Law School and holds an undergraduate degree from the State University at Buffalo. He resides in Greenwich Village and has his law office in Manhattan.


Franz Leichter, Esq.
Franz S. Leichter graduated from Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA in 1952, served two years in the Army and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1957.

Leichter, since August 2000, is serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Housing Finance Board pursuant to an appointment by President Clinton.

In 1968 Leichter was first elected to the New York State Legislature as a member of the Assembly. He was elected to the Senate in 1974. His Senatorial District encompassed portions of Chelsea, Clinton, West Side, Northern Manhattan and the Northwest Bronx. He retired from the New York State Senate December 31, 1998.

Leichter investigated the practices of banks of delaying for many days the crediting of depositors’ accounts when a check is deposited. The investigation concluded that the crediting delays were unjustifiable. Hearings Leichter held led to legislation and ultimately to the nation’s first law limiting how long banks can delay clearing checks.