In City & State's new Brooklyn Power 50, Nets owner Tsai at #20; no one from Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park listed

Of course lists of "most powerful" people are arbitrary, but they set a general benchmark, so it's worth a look at City & State’s Brooklyn Power 50, which "recognizes the executives, advocates, health care officials and others who are moving the borough forward."

Notably, and debatably, Jed Walentas, CEO, Two Trees Management--owner of much of DUMBO and developer of the Domino complex and, likely, other Williamsburg sites--is listed as #1, far ahead of any other developer. 

Doug Steiner, Chair of Steiner Studios, was #16, while Andrew Kimball, CEO of Industry City, was #18. (Given that the Industry City rezoning has been pulled, that ranking might look different now.) Also, Carlo Scissura, President and CEO, New York Building Congress, was #11, while David Ehrenberg, President and CEO, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp., was #13.

Intriguingly, the lesser-known but surely powerful Frank Carone, Executive Partner, Abrams Fensterman, counsel to the Brooklyn Democratic Party and former president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, is #2. (Brooklyn Democratic Chair Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte is #8 on a separate list of elected officials.)

Then comes Regina Myer, President, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, at #3, followed by David Greenfield, CEO, Met Council; Javier Valdes & Deborah Axt, Co-Executive Directors, Make the Road New York; A.R. Bernard, Senior Pastor, Christian Cultural Center; Randy Peers; President and CEO, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce; David Niederman, Executive Director, United Jewish Organizations; Kenneth Gibbs, President and CEO, Maimonides Medical Center; and Gary Terrinoni, President and CEO, The Brooklyn Hospital Center.

A place for the Nets' owner

At #20 is Joseph Tsai, list as "Owner, Brooklyn Nets." (His BSE Global also owns the New York Liberty and the Barclays Center operating company.) The squib:

Taiwanese-born billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Joseph Tsai bought the Nets for $2.35 billion in 2019 and has made his opinions known ever since. He called Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrators a “separatist movement” during a clash between the NBA and China, and pledged $50 million six months later to improve Black economic mobility. The Nets, meanwhile, lost in the first round of the playoffs and hired Steve Nash as head coach.

Note that, in August 2019, before Tsai took over full ownership of the Nets and also bought the arena company, City & State's catch-all Brooklyn Power 100, including both elected and non-elected officials, ranked, at #40, Maureen Hanlon & Brett Yormark, President, Onexim Sports and Entertainment Holding USA Inc., and CEO of BSE Global, both under the ownership of Mikhail Prokhorov.

Atlantic Yards-adjacent, last year and now

Last year's list also included former Forest City New York CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin of L&L MAG, at #59, but omitted anyone from Greenland USA, the master developer of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park.

In the new list, there are two Atlantic Yards-adjacent personages. At #24 is Clinton Miller, Pastor, Brown Memorial Baptist Church, in Clinton Hill, a member of the 2019 City Charter Revision Commission whose bene a prominent voice during the coronavirus crisis. It's not mentioned in the squib, but he was a periodic critic of Atlantic Yards, and his church played an important role in the 2014 settlement that set a new 2025 date for the Atlantic Yards affordable housing.

Also, at #40 is Bertha Lewis, Founder and President, The Black Institute, cited for her role in the Black Lives Matter movement and police accountability. It's not mentioned in the squib, but Lewis negotiated the Atlantic Yards Affordable Housing Memorandum of Understanding and the Community Benefits Agreement, and spoke positively at groundbreakings for affordable housing at 461 Dean Street and 535 Carlton Avenue, but has been rather quiet since.

Two associated articles

Also see Brooklyn’s Top 10 Elected Officials, starting with Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic Caucus Chair, followed by Sen. Chuck Schumer, State Attorney General Letitia James, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Borough President Eric Adams.

There's also an article on Brooklyn Heroes, "Eight Brooklynites who came to the rescue in New York's darkest hour," including Jessica Santana, CEO and Co-Founder, America on Tech; Jelanie DeShong, Director of Government Relations, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University; and Andrew D’Amora, First Deputy Commissioner, New York City Emergency Management Department.