Policy

Susan is a seasoned senior level executive at Capalino Ventures with over 30 years’ experience in the fast- paced high level land use, real estate, related finance, and public policy realm. She has designed, managed, and built hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of complex projects often surpassing the desired goals.

Susan has an outstanding knowledge of government process and has been highly instrumental in saving time and money for real estate clients. Before joining Capalino, Susan spent 20 years in city and state government, most recently as the Vice Chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals. She served as Brooklyn Borough Commissioner for the NYC Department of Buildings and as Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Community Development for Sullivan County New York, As Capital Program Manager for the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs she over managed a $500M design and construction portfolio.

Recognized for her philanthropic work, Susan is a Trustee of New York Law School where there is a named scholarship in her honor. In addition to her role as Chair of the MAS Law Committee, she is also a Trustee of MAS, as well as Wave-Hill, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York. Susan graduated from Pratt Institute School of Architecture, and she holds both a JD and LLM from New York Law School.

Rebecca Bratspies is a Law Professor at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, where she is the founding Director of the Center for Urban Environmental Reform. She is an internationally recognized expert on environmental justice, the regulation of new agricultural technologies, and the human right to a healthy environment. Professor Bratspies has written scores of law review articles, op- eds, and other publications including four books. Her most recent book Environmental Justice: Law Policy and Regulation is used in schools across the country.

Professor Bratspies is a sought-after speaker who regularly lectures on environmental law, policy, and justice. She serves as an appointed member of the New York City’s Environmental Justice Advisory Panel, and EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee. Professor Bratspies also serves as a scholar with the Center for Progressive Reform, as a core member of the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment, and on the editorial board of the International Journal of Law in Context.

She is a past member of the ABA Standing Committee on Environmental Law, Past-President of the American Association of Law Schools Section on the Environment, and a former advisor to the Consultative Group on Agricultural Research. A former Luce Scholar and law clerk to US Court of Appeals Judge C. Arlen Beam, she is a graduate of Wesleyan University and holds a law degree cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

Sue Golden is Partner at Venable and focuses on civic, cultural, and economic development projects, representing public, not-for-profit, and private entities on matters involving real estate transactions, land use, zoning and other regulatory approvals, public and private funding, and governance matters. Sue has considerable experience with New York State and New York City land use and environmental quality reviews and government procurement and funding contract administration. Her approach reflects a commitment to collaboration, value, and responsiveness.

Sue has helped government, private, and not-for-profit entities with real estate development, rebuilding, renovations, and other improvements to or investments in real property. She counsels on compliance with zoning, landmarks, historic preservation, environmental review, and permitting requirements; public review and government approval of development proposals, including zoning changes, permits, and variances; negotiation of development, design, and construction contracts; and government grants, charitable funding, and donor agreements.

Sue also handles property acquisitions and conveyances, including deeds, easements, leases, and the transfer of development rights (so-called air rights), and the negotiation of mixed-use condominium structures. She advises on both community and regulatory matters — from public hearings to agency requirements — and translates for clients the fundamentals of the world of acronyms she works in, ULURP, SEQRA/CEQR, SHPO, BSA, PDC, CCG, PAAA/PARA, NEPA, FOIL, ACRIS, and others. When necessary she works with litigation counsel to defend project approvals.

Paul J. Proulx is Partner at Carter Ledyard. He represents clients on land use, zoning and urban development matters in New York City. His clients include both the City’s most respected developers and property owners with lower profiles. Paul’s practice is mainly transaction-based. He regularly assists clients in the transfer of development rights pursuant to New York City’s as-of-right framework. The rest of his practice involves providing land use counsel on the as-of-right solutions and the discretionary procedures necessary to entitle buildings under New York City’s Zoning Resolution and Administrative Code.

Paul represents purchasers and sellers of development rights in transactions between adjacent property owners. He adeptly handles complex development rights transactions for developers on large assemblages. When working for sellers, Paul takes a cooperative approach and uses his keen insight into the development process to find solutions to maximize value. He negotiates and draws up purchase and sale agreements, zoning lot development agreements (ZLDAs), declarations, licenses, and easements for such transactions.

On the regulatory side of his practice, Paul often plays a role in making changes to the New York City Zoning Resolution and other land use controls, which determine the shape and success of development projects. Paul is an advocate before New York City agencies, including the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), City Planning Commission (CPC), Economic Development Corporation (EDC), Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), Office of the Mayor, and New York City Council. Drawing on his background as an urban planner, Paul drafts and prosecutes land use applications and the restrictive declarations that accompany them. He plays a lead role on development teams seeking approvals in the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).

David Schnakenberg is Special Counsel in Real Estate at Fried Frank and represents clients in connection with real estate development, with an emphasis on development rights transactions and land use and zoning matters and related environmental issues.

Clients benefit from David’s significant experience in the prosecution of applications to the Board of Standards and Appeals, City Planning Commission, and Landmarks Preservation Commission, as well as the negotiation of real estate and development rights transactions and agreements. David regularly represents for-profit and non-profit owners, developers, and institutions; affordable housing developers; the owners of environmental legacy sites and brownfields; and solar and energy storage companies.

In 2008, David was the Menapace Fellow in Urban Land Use Law at the Municipal Art Society of New York, where he focused on policy issues related to zoning and land use, historic preservation, and municipal governance. After his fellowship, David taught the Law of Historic Preservation at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, and joined the litigation group of a leading New York City real estate firm, where he focused on commercial real estate disputes, administrative appeals (Article 78 proceedings), and zoning and land use matters.

In 2014, David joined the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals as Deputy Counsel and was promoted to General Counsel in 2015. At BSA, David advised the Chair, Commissioners, and staff on issues related to zoning, land use, and administrative law; reviewed applications for variances, special permits, and appeals; and wrote the BSA’s decisions. He also worked with the City’s Law Department in connection with lawsuits related to BSA determinations.

In 2017, David joined the Greenfield Environmental Trust Group, where he worked with state and local governments to remediate and revitalize superfund and brownfield sites around the country and worked on complex real estate transactions involving brownfields and superfund sites.

In 2019, David joined one of the city’s leading boutique zoning and land use firms, where he specialized in development rights transactions and applications before the Board of Standards and Appeals, City Planning Commission, and Landmarks Preservation Commission.