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.

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.

Christine Billy (she/her) has devoted her career to developing and implementing laws and policies for a sustainable and equitable future. She is the Executive Director of the NYU Guarini Center on Environmental, Energy & Land Use Law and an adjunct professor of clinical law at NYU School of Law, and brings experience in climate and environmental law, food law, labor and employment law, human rights law, and local and state authority. Prior to joining the Center, Billy was a Senior Legal Fellow at the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at NYU School of Law, where she led research related to aging oil and gas infrastructure.

Billy previously served in New York City government in a variety of roles, including Senior Counsel at the NYC Law Department, Chief Legal Counsel for the NYC COVID-19 Food Czar, Senior Counsel at the NYC Department of Sanitation, and General Counsel and Deputy Executive Director of the 2018 NYC Charter Revision Commission. She has extensive experience drafting state and local legislation and advising elected officials and administrative agencies on a range of matters. She has worked on New York City’s air pollution control code, environmental justice framework, green buildings laws, stormwater management program, and recycling and organics program. She has advised City officials on local and state emergency powers during multiple emergencies, including Superstorm Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to government service, Billy practiced environmental law at Arnold & Porter LLP and clerked for the Honorable John T. Noonan in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Phil from the University of Dublin, Trinity College, and a B.A. cum laude from Yale University. Billy is co-author of Mariners at War: An Oral History of World War II, recipient of the John Lyman Book Award for maritime reference works and published primary sources, awarded by the North American Society for Oceanic History.