The Union Square Partnership, a combination of the 14th Street area’s Business Improvement District and Local Development Corporation, has a new executive director in Jennifer Falk, presently serving as Mayor Bloomberg’s first deputy press secretary. Bloomberg announced Falk’s move last week, saying in her nearly 10 years in city government she’s fostered “an open dialogue between the Administration, the media, and our many partners in both the public and private sectors,” and she was “a key player in many of our Administration’s most ambitious projects and important events, including coordinating the City’s annual commemoration ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.” The USP slot has been empty since Karen Shaw left this summer; Falk will take the reins Jan. 3.
Along with that goodbye, Bloomberg also said hello to Anthony Tassi, whom he appointed last month as director of the newly-created Office of Adult Education. The office aims to help adults build literacy skills. Tassi was serving as health policy advisor to Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis Walcott, a position now handled out of the office of Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs. Tassi also helped develop the City’s health literacy initiative, which has grown to include dozens of adult education programs and health care providers. The new office, also operating under Walcott, will receive $5 million in new federal funding to strengthen the city’s adult education system. Tassi began his public service career in the Washington office of U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.
Ingrid Floyd became executive director of Iris House last month. Floyd joined Iris House, which provides support to women, men and families impacted by HIV and AIDS, in May 2005 as the deputy executive director. She helped implement the Annual Summit on Women Living with HIV/AIDS, then served as interim executive director for 10 months following the departure of Marie Saint Cyr, Iris House’s founding executive director. Prior to joining Iris House, Floyd served as a senior manager at Deloitte Consulting.
After leading the New York Biotechnology Association for 12 years as executive director, Karin Duncker left last month to join the law firm of Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC, where she is an executive in their life science and biotech practice. During Duncker’s tenure at NYBA, the organization grew from 125 biotechnology companies to 250 member companies across the state. Duncker helped increase recognition of New York’s biotechnology industry through legislative and economic initiatives.
No stranger to the Department of City Planning’s Brooklyn office, former deputy director Purnima Kapur was named director of the office this month. Kapur previously managed a range of local, borough-wide and citywide initiatives in her role as director of the DCP’s Bronx office. In her new role, Kapur will lead the Brooklyn team in planning for the Gowanus Canal neighborhoods, revitalization of Coney Island and implementation of the Downtown Brooklyn and Greenpoint-Williamsburg plans. DCP is conducting a search for the Bronx position Kapur left.
Carol S. Kostik was appointed deputy comptroller for public finance in the city Office of the Comptroller, where she will lead efforts to review and implement the city’s debt program. Kostik will also be the representative on the New York City Transitional Finance Authority and the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority for Comptroller William C. Thompson. Kostik previously served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of the New York City Housing Development Corporation. She will replace Rita Sallis, who was named deputy comptroller/chief investment officer.
The After-School Corporation (TASC) announced two shifts in leadership on its board of directors: Robert D. Joffe was elected to chair the TASC board, and Pedro Noguera was elected to serve as secretary. Joffe, who is a presiding partner at the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, has served on the board since 2001 and previously served as TASC board secretary. Joffe replaces Robert K. Steel, who resigned from the TASC board upon being confirmed as the undersecretary for domestic finance for the U.S. Treasury Department. Noguera is executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education and a professor in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University. In other board news, Faye Wattleton, founder and president of the Center for Advancement for Women and past president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, has joined the board of trustees of New York Blood Center. She serves on a wide range of boards and was named by Businessweek as one of the ten best managers of non-profit organizations in America.
