As reported earlier this week, the first item on the Agenda of May 14 Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Board of Directors meeting was the appointment of Lance Polivy as the new RIOC General Counsel. When I asked RIOC if Lance Polivy has a family relationship with RIOC Director Howard Polivy, RIOC replied:
… While he shares a last name and a very distant family connection with Howard Polivy, they are not considered “relatives” under the Public Officers Law and do not have a personal relationship….
In an unscheduled and highly unusual move, a few seconds before the Agenda Item seeking approval by the RIOC Board for the appointment of Mr Polivy as General Counsel was to be discussed, RIOC Chairperson Meghan Anderson called for the Board to go into Executive session, which means that the public is excluded from the meeting. (Ms Anderson is the designee of NY State Division of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR) Commissioner Ruthanne Visnauskas who is the RIOC Chairperson).
Before the Executive Session was to begin, RIOC Board Director Melissa Wade announced that she wished to make a statement to the public.
According to Ms Wade:
This is regarding new business one, the proposed appointment of Lance Polivy. I want to speak to three issues regarding the proposed appointment of General Counsel.
The first is that in my best estimation, the proper protocols were not followed. In the RIOC bylaws. Article 4 section 1B states that the board hires officers including the General Counsel upon the recommendation of the CEO. Article four Section 4A states that the CEO does not hire officers.
The first time I was notified of Lance Polivy was after he emerged as the sole candidate based on the process I am unaware of but believe did not use the search firm that was approved for use by the board. Additionally, we were told that his name had already been passed to chambers {referring to the Governor’s Office} and a background check was started all before the Board was even alerted to his existence. To me that is out of alignment with the spirit if not the letter of the bylaws.
The second is Mr. Lance Polivy’s qualifications. While he possesses a solid resume, I do not believe he has the requisite experience for what RIOC and Roosevelt Island are currently facing and will be facing in the near future. The proposed demolition of the steam plant, discussions around the future of Coler Hospital, lease negotiations with the island buildings, including his cousin’s building, possible future development, not to mention what might ensue from the multiple recent fires in our largest housing development.
Lastly, the conflict of interest. The American Bar Association tells us that there are around 100,000 attorneys in the New York City metro area. And while I understand the general counsel and real estate development are specialized, I find it difficult to believe that the best candidate for the job is a relative of a current long-term board member. Even if one disagrees that there’s a conflict, at minimum, we have the appearance of impropriety, one that RIOC, given its history of graft corruption and ineptitude, cannot afford, especially not with all that we have on the horizon.
When I was asked to consider joining the Board, I was very reticent because of the reputation of RIOC. But I believed that RIOC was headed in a new and better direction and that I could be part of that. This action feels like textbook old school RIOC behavior and we ought to be running from this as fast and far as we can.
Changes to the enabling legislation requiring more resident board members was hard won and it was done because in theory those who live here have more of an interest in ensuring a well-run corporation. What good are those changes if resident board members act no differently than overseers from off island? I am not sure how a person with integrity facilitates this action or votes for it. While I’m sure that Mr. Lance Polivy is a great person and probably a very good lawyer, for the aforementioned reasons, I cannot vote to confirm him to this office and I encourage others to consider these issues as well. Thank you.
The Executive Session lasted approximately two and a half hours. When the RIOC Board came back into public session, with almost all of the public gone, RIOC President B.J. Jones said (as prepared for delivery):
RIOC has been without a General Counsel for over two years.
On September 18, 2025, the organization posted for the position. Over 500 resumes were received and reviewed. Of those, 43 applicants had at least one interview. A second round of interviews were conducted for 9 applicants. Lance was interviewed by the Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Deputy General Counsel, Assistant General Counsel, HR Director, and HR Assistant Director, all of whom rated him favorably. After being interviewed by the President & CEO, the office of the Counsel to the Governor – including the Counsel to the Governor, Lance was selected.
Lance has valuable experience, serving as an agency General Counsel, Senior Counsel and Parliamentarian for the City Council, an Associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and a prestigious clerkship in the Southern District for the Honorable Robert Sweet. He received his Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law and is admitted to the New York State Bar. He will bolster RIOC’s professional capacity immensely. I’m excited to leverage his experience with New York City government, capital projects, regulatory compliance, conflicts of interest, real estate, litigation, and grantmaking, among other policy and legal matters.
For the avoidance of doubt, though Lance has the same last name as one of RIOC’s Board members, Howard Polivy, his hiring is permissible under NYS Public Officers Law (“POL”) which establishes mandatory ethical standards, conflict-of-interest rules, and business restrictions for state employees, officers, and board members to ensure integrity and prevent corruption.
Lance will be a tremendous asset to Roosevelt Island, bringing experience and expertise at a time when our team at RIOC can really use it. The process to select him admittedly took time and was appropriately rigorous, but I think it led to our finding an outstanding candidate.
The RIOC Board then voted to approve the appointment of Lance Polivy as the new RIOC General Counsel by a vote of 6 in favor, 2 opposed and 1 abstention. Those voting in favor were the Chair Meghan Anderson, Division of Budget Morris Peters, and Roosevelt Island resident directors Howard Polivy, Marc Jonas Block, Fay Christian and Conway Ekpo. RIOC resident Directors Melissa Wade and Dr. Michal Melamed voted opposed and RIOC resident Director Lydia Tang abstained.
I did not make it back to the meeting after the 2 and one half hour RIOC Board Executive Session so do not have video of the Public Session
The video will eventually be here on the RIOC website.
Same old shenanigans. Even Jones acknowledges, however awkwardly and evasively, that the governor had veto power. That’s unethical, plain and simple, but also standard operating procedure with RIOC. Thanks for the overtime work, Rick. Obviously, RIOC and the governor wanted to slide this one through with as little interference or transparency as possible.
One thing to add. Talk about balls, Howard Polivy didn’t even have the ethics to recuse himself, which could’ve increased the credibility of this hire. In your face again, Roosevelt Islanders!
It seems that two things need to happen. First , Howard Polivy should have recused himself from participating in this process.
Secondly, term limits need to be applied to board members.
David Stone’s comments represent the convergence of the far right and the far left. Both unable to trust government and authority. To assume that Howard Polivy is somehow corrupt is simply unfair. He said that although he has the same last name, he does not have any relationship with Lance Polivy. Maybe you can get off your high horse and give the benefit of the doubt.