November 27, 2019

Dear Partners:

I hope you are all preparing for an enjoyable Thanksgiving with your friends and families. I am thankful to all of you for the many accomplishments we continue to achieve together.  As we push forward with the agency's work, I am also pleased to share with you several important new promotions at HPD.

 

Baaba Halm will take on a new role as Executive Deputy Commissioner of Operations. For the past five years, Baaba has held critical leadership positions and has worked with all arms of the agency, first as Assistant Commissioner for Governmental Relations and Regulatory Compliance, and more recently as Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Economic Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance, while also serving as the agency’s M/WBE Officer. Before joining the agency, Baaba held several roles for the New York City Council’s legislative division and served as Counsel for the Committee on Housing and Buildings and Public Housing, as a staff attorney for Housing Works, Inc. and as the coordinator of Legal and Professional Services at Covenant House New Jersey. Baaba received her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and her B.A. from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. As EDC, Baaba will oversee our appeal teams and lead the efforts of our Asset and Property Management, Economic Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance, HPD Tech, Human Resources, and Facilities Divisions, and look to foster and strengthen synergies between these critically important areas and the rest of the agency.

 

Brendan McLaughlin is now our Deputy Commissioner for Policy and Strategy. Brendan joined HPD as a Senior Underwriter in 2015, and most recently has served as Executive Director of Credit & Special Underwriting in the Office of Development. Brendan serves as the Chair of HPD’s Credit Committee and represents the agency on the New York City Acquisition Loan Fund and Down Payment Assistance Credit Committees. Previously, Brendan served as a Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and prior to that was an Assistant Vice President of Investor Relations at Citigroup. He started his career as an Equity Research Analyst at Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup. Brendan received his undergraduate degree in Finance from James Madison University and holds a M.Sc. in Real Estate Development from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP). Brendan also currently serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at both Columbia GSAPP and the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.

 

Emily Osgood has been appointed Assistant Commissioner for APM Strategic Initiatives, a newly created division within the Office of Asset and Property Management. For the past four years, Emily has served as Director of Operations for Housing Opportunity & Program Services (previously known as Policy & Operations) and has helped to shape the vision for and growth of the division. In her new role, Emily will oversee the Office’s Strategic Program Development, Data & Business Services, and Finance teams, groups that provide centralized, skilled technical services to all of APM’s 20+ program areas. Emily started at HPD in 2012, in the Division of Strategic Planning and previously worked at NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy. Emily received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a Masters in Urban Planning from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.

 

After serving in an acting capacity for several months, Libby Rohlfing is now officially my Chief of Staff and will also lead our external affairs efforts, including both communications and governmental affairs. Libby joined HPD in 2015 as Assistant Commissioner of Communications, and in that role has developed and overseen the implementation of a comprehensive communications strategy for both HPD and HDC. Libby has helped to shape the agency’s message internally and externally and played an instrumental role in strategic initiatives like Housing New York 2.0. Before coming to HPD, Libby was Assistant Dean of Planning and Chief of Staff for the Dean of NYU School of Law. Libby has a BA from DePaul University, a Master of Urban Planning from the NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, and a Master of Business Administration from the NYU Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

As many of you know, Libby started maternity leave this month, and our colleague Jim Quinlivan at the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has graciously agreed to serve as my Acting Chief of Staff during her leave. Jim has been at HDC for more than 20 years in positions of escalating responsibility after starting his career at HUD while completing his degree at NYU. I am extremely grateful to Jim and to HDC President Eric Enderlin for agreeing to help over the next few months.    

 

Finally, Leah Reiss will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff. Leah joined HPD in 2017 as a Legislative Analyst in the Office of Government Affairs, responsible for managing the agency’s State legislative affairs. In that role, Leah has been instrumental in shepherding through critical legislative changes from rent regulation reform to stronger protections against source of income discrimination. Prior to joining HPD, Leah was Legislative Director for former New York City Council Member Dan Garodnick. She graduated from Barnard College with a B.A. in Political Science.

Please join me in congratulating Baaba, Brendan, Emily, Libby and Leah on their new roles, and thanking Jim for his service! And please accept my very best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

Louise Carroll
HPD Commissioner