People

Elizabeth Goldstein joined MAS as its President in February 2017. Elizabeth has an extensive background in parks and historic preservation advocacy and management. Throughout her career, Elizabeth has worked to insure transparent public engagement in civic decisions of consequence to public space and the heritage of key places across the United States. Prior to returning to her NYC roots, Elizabeth was most recently the President of the California State Parks Foundation from 2004 to 2016. Prior to that she was the General Manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (1999 to 2004), and the Western Director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (1994-1999). Her work in parks includes the New York City Regional Director of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (1989-1994), the Director of Planning for the New York City Park Department (1986-1989) and the Chief of Staff of the Manhattan Borough Office of NYC Parks. Elizabeth graduated from Beloit College. Elizabeth is a past co-chair of the City Parks Alliance and board member of numerous non-profit boards.

Stephen joined MAS in December 2018. Prior to MAS, he was an Urban Planning Analyst at Localize.city, where he helped launch the startup’s expansion into New York. He previously served as Senior Consultant at Appleseed, working on economic development and transportation planning projects across the city. He is a certified planner who holds a Master of City & Regional Planning degree from Rutgers University and B.S. in Development Sociology from Cornell University. He currently resides in Astoria.

Aisha came to MAS in 2013. She began her career at MAS as an Executive Assistant, then later became the Database Manager. She tackles a multitude of assignments daily, not to mention a heavy correspondence load! Outside of work, Aisha enjoys traveling and volunteering at her daughter’s school. Prior to MAS, Aisha worked at the Department of Commerce as an Assistant Manager of Administration. She is a native New Yorker, who received her degrees from Long Island University and John Jay College.

Erin Butler is manager of MAS’s publicly accessible Greenacre Reference Library and the MAS Archives, where she welcomes and assists researchers and visitors, sharing and developing MAS’s unique and growing collections exploring various aspects of our evolving city. Prior to joining MAS in 2011, she worked at Alliance for the Arts. Erin has been an ardent observer of New York City’s five boroughs and surrounding water since moving here from the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1970s. She is an alumna of the Art Students League of New York, Madison Area Technical College (Madison, WI), and Grays Harbor College (Aberdeen, WA). She maintains a painting studio at Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island.

Keri Butler joined MAS in 2022 as the Vice President of Planning and Policy, with oversight of the Planning and Advocacy Team at MAS and working with a broad range of citywide organizations on reforming urban planning and historic preservation policies and programs to make the city more equitable, resilient, and livable. Previously, Keri held numerous roles at the New York City Public Design Commission (PDC), most recently as executive director, where she oversaw the agency’s review of public art, monuments, and complex large-scale capital projects. At the PDC, Keri fostered collaborative partnerships to enhance the public realm, implemented research initiatives highlighting the role of design in supporting sustainable development and innovative streetscape ideas to improve public health, and managed projects celebrating women designers and Black history.

Al Castricone joined MAS in January 2001 and heads the Facilities and IT departments. Prior to coming to MAS, Al created the building maintenance department for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, a function that was previously outsourced. He worked for 18 years at Miller Freeman Inc., a publisher of business-to-business magazines, where he managed the Facilities, Maintenance and Security departments. Al lives in Brooklyn with his wife Pam and four children.

Sarah Celentano comes to MAS from the Brooklyn College Foundation (CUNY), where she revitalized alumni giving while managing the planned giving program. Sarah has an extensive professional history in academic institutions and cultural organizations that includes Fordham University; the City Reliquary, where she served as Assistant Director; and the New-York Historical Society, where she managed the Chairman’s Council. She now serves on the City Reliquary Board of Directors and is a volunteer mentor for Fordham University and the University of Texas at Austin, where she received her doctorate in Art & Art History. In addition to her work in non-profit administration, Sarah enjoys publishing and presenting her research. Born in Brooklyn and having grown up in Queens and Nassau County, she has an enduring fascination with the history of New York and the city’s role as an ever-changing cosmopolis. Sarah’s photo by Christopher Scalzi/Distilled Studio.

Phyllis Cohen has been Director of the Adopt-A-Monument and Adopt-A-Mural programs since their creation in 1987 and 1991, respectively. Prior to that she was at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, assistant to the curator of American Literature and Art and special archivist for ten years, enhancing her passion for art and paper conservation first studied at the Biblioteca Nazionale, Florence, Italy. Phyllis taught Art History on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College with an M.A. in Art History. She serves on the Conservation Advisory Group of the NYC Public Design Commission advising on the restoration of public artworks. She also administrates the Brendan Gill Prize.

Genevieve DeLaurier joined MAS in 2022. Prior to MAS, Genevieve was Managing Director at Rooftop Films, a nonprofit that produces innovative site-specific outdoor film events throughout NYC. In her 14 years with Rooftop, she helped guide its transformation from a volunteer run local arts organization to an internationally recognized cultural institution. She started her career working in program development for a variety of nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions in Boston and NYC. Genevieve was raised in Ithaca, NY and has been a proud Brooklyn resident for over 20 years. She holds a B.A. in History from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a concentration in Culture, Race and Gender Studies and a minor in Dance.

Britt joined MAS in September 2017. Most recently, Britt was Director of Development at the Preservation League of New York State for five years. He previously led development efforts at the Garden Conservancy, World Monuments Fund, and was Director of Development and Public Affairs for the Trust for Public Land’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Office. A Massachusetts native, Britt fell in love with historic preservation after buying and restoring a 1863 bow front townhouse in Boston’s South End Landmark District, the largest intact Victorian row house district in the country. Moving to New York City, he began his work in the non-profit world as the first Executive Director of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. Britt is a member of the boards of Project Cicero and Save Harlem Now! He lives in Harlem.

Tom has served as Senior Director of Land Use and Planning at MAS since 2016. He is a certified planner and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accredited professional with 22 years of public and private sector city planning experience in New York. Tom heads MAS’ planning operations, initiatives, and research projects, and led two major groundbreaking studies on New York City’s Environmental Quality Review (CEQR). 2018’s Tale of Two Rezonings: Taking a Harder Look at CEQR examined development under the rezonings of Long Island City and Downtown Brooklyn. 2023’s Site x Site: A Look Back at Soft Site Development in New York City is an unprecedented analysis of citywide development that demonstrates the limitations of CEQR criteria in reliably estimating future development. Prior to his tenure at MAS, Tom led Langan Engineering’s environmental planning and wetland permitting practices, managing a wide range of projects including Franklin, D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island and the NYPD Training Academy in Queens.

Sean joined MAS as its webmaster near the end of 2016. Previously, he worked on the websites at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical College.

Aislinn joined MAS in 2022. Prior to MAS, Aislinn worked in several bookstores, in website and social media design, and at the U.S. Census. She has also interned at the Department of City Planning and the City Council. She completed her Master of Urban Studies degree in 2022 from the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. For her undergraduate degree, Aislinn holds a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from SUNY Geneseo. On weekends, Aislinn enjoys going to museums, parks, and photographing historic city architecture. Aislinn grew up in Manhattan, where she currently resides.

Robert Libbey has a Master of Science in Accounting from Baruch College of the City University of New York and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maine. Prior to coming to the Municipal Art Society, Robert worked at both the Alliance for the Arts and Central Conference of American Rabbis. He lives in New York City with his spouse and enjoys the opera, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the New York Mets.

Rebecca is an urban strategist and transdisciplinary designer committed to advancing the holistic, equitable, and resilient design of our built environment. Prior to joining MAS in fall 2023, Rebecca was the director of urban design & strategy at the NYC Public Design Commission, where she worked at the intersection of design and policy, overseeing the review of complex mixed-use capital projects with a focus on the provisioning of public space, housing, and urban systems. Leading a portfolio of the Commission’s collaborative cross-sector initiatives, Rebecca also oversaw interagency working groups for urban design and alternative project delivery. She is the managing editor of Designing New York: Quality Affordable Housing and co-author of Women-Designed NYC and Prefabrication in the Public Realm. As an Urban Design Forum Forefront Fellow for Turning the Heat, she researched the risks of extreme heat to advance public health equity and climate justice. Rebecca holds a MArch in Urban Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, and a BA in Architecture and Anthropology, with a minor in American Culture Studies, from Washington University in St. Louis. She currently serves on Urban Design Forum’s Forefront Fund Advisory Committee, is a mentor with ARCscholars, and is an Adjunct Associate Faculty at Columbia’s GSAPP. She has been a guest instructor, critic, and presented work at institutions nationally.

Jahmel Martin joined MAS as the Ralph C. Menapace Fellow in September 2022. Jahmel graduated from Rutgers Law School in May 2022. For his undergraduate studies, he acquired a full-tuition leadership scholarship as a Posse Scholar to attend Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from a four-year program at Dickinson College. During law school, Jahmel was a Property Law Teaching Fellow for first year students and interned at Rutgers’ Civil Justice Clinic, the Center for Constitutional Rights as an Ella Baker intern, and the National Labor Relations Board.

Tina joined MAS in April 2021. Prior to that, she worked in several different nonprofit spaces. She was a Development and Outreach intern at Democracy Now!, and the Development Assistant at IndyKids, an NYC-based social justice newspaper made by kids for kids. She graduated from Fordham University with a degree in English Literature. Tina is passionate about supporting MAS’s efforts for a more equitable New York. She currently resides in Brooklyn with her cat, Parsnip.

Ted joined MAS in March 2016 after three years as Director of Programs at Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. He has worked in non-profit management for more than 20 years and enjoys living in New York City very much. Ted is an advocate of volunteer work and has been a volunteer with Center for Architecture, City Reliquary Museum, God’s Love We Deliver, Loft Opera, and Gotham Chamber Opera. A 10-time marathoner (New York 4 times) and licensed tour guide, he takes advantage of what New York has to offer to fill up his nights and weekends with movies, concerts, theatre, museums, Mets games, and more. Many Friday nights in the summer you’ll find him on the boardwalk at Coney Island for the free fireworks.

Maia Mordana has been with MAS since 1990. In 2008, she expanded her activities to become an assistant in the Development Department, as well as taking over tour/program registrations, while continuing to welcome callers to the MAS. Maia is a graduate of Traphagan School of Design, a fashion design and illustration school in Manhattan. A native New Yorker, she resides in Westchester County.

Deborah joined MAS in 2019. A resident of West Harlem, she realized after joining MAS that she is indeed an urbanist at heart. She loves walking because New York City is walkable and there is so much to take in. She especially loves Neo-Gothic-style structures and notable landmarks, like St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Grant’s Tomb, which add such beauty to the cityscape and are worth every ounce of effort at preserving for generations to come.

Before joining MAS, she had a stint as Executive Coordinator at a nonprofit called The Opportunity Agenda which reignited her desire for advocacy work. Prior to OA, she had worked for several top Fortune 500 companies. Among them were asset manager, AllianceBernstein (AB), where she worked in investor relations, and at an investment bank, Société Générale, in the global structured finance department. These are corporations where multi-million dollar transactions occur on a daily basis, so one has to be poised and ready at taking on high priority projects. She quickly learned how valuable initiative, collaboration, and teamwork were in setting the right pace, working together in a global setting, and adapting to change, in order to effectively get things done.

Deborah holds a B.A. in Communications from The City College of New York (CCNY). She has a certificate in Investor Relations from the University of Connecticut (UConn), and studied French language and culture at the Institut Catholique de Paris (ILCF), in France.

Kade is a student at NYU, where he is currently pursuing a B.S. in Sustainable Urban Environments and an accelerated Masters in Urban Planning. He grew up in Iowa, where he became interested in sustainable land use and transportation, and now resides in Brooklyn. Kade also spent a year studying in Paris and Madrid, where he conducted research on the intersection of gender and urban planning. He is currently trying to walk every street in New York City.

Genevieve joined MAS in August 2021 after graduating from The Ohio State University in May 2021. Prior to MAS, she held internship positions at Ohio State’s Urban Arts Space, the Wexner Center for the Arts, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa). A practicing artist, Genevieve combines her passion for historic preservation and built environments with her love of printmaking to make interactive prints and zines. She currently resides in Brooklyn.

Rawnak (Ranna) Zaman joined MAS in October 2021. Prior to MAS, Ranna worked at the American Museum of Natural History as an analyst in the Operational Planning and Capital Budget office, where she tracked attendance trends, helped to assess operational needs, and compiled data for reporting across the Museum. She has also interned with local economic development and community organizations in Downtown Brooklyn and the Lower East Side as a student. Ranna holds a B.A. in Economics and Environmental Studies from NYU and completed her M.S. in Urban Planning in 2020 from Columbia University GSAPP. Ranna grew up in Queens, where she also currently resides.