DHCR Commissioner/RIOC Chairperson VanAmerongen Resigns To Take Position With Affordable Housing Law Firm – What Does This Mean For Roosevelt Island?

Image of Deborah VanAmerongen From DHCR
A reader sent in this link to a New York Observer artcle reporting that Deborah VanAmerongen , the Commissioner of New York State’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal ( DHCR ) has resigned to take a job with the Nixon Peabody law firm. In her capacity as Commissioner of DHCR, Ms VanAmerongen was also the Chairperson of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corportation’s Board of Directors ( RIOC ). According to the NY Observer:

… Ms. VanAmerongen is jumping to the private sector ship, joining a firm that has an active affordable housing group and one that does significant work with Ms. VanAmerongen’s agency, the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, including deals this year. Of course this public sector-to-private sector shift is not all that uncommonCity Council Land Use Chairwoman Melinda Katz, for instance, is headed to the law firm Greenberg Traurig, which represents developers before the Council. A spokeswoman for the DHCR said Ms. VanAmerongen recused herself from decisions with the potential for conflict of interest.

Steve Wallace, a partner who heads Nixon Peabody’s affordable housing group, said Ms. VanAmerongen, who is not an attorney, will be a “strategic policy adviser,” offering guidance on affordable housing issues in New York and nationally…

There are currently and will continue to be affordable housing issues for Roosevelt Island particularly in regard to the ongoing privatization efforts at the Mitchell Lama Rivercross, Island House and Westview buildings. Be interesting to see what role, if any, Ms. VanAmerongen and Nixon Peabody have in the future for Roosevelt Island Affordable Housing. 1/6/10 – More here.