Vicki Been

Vicki L. Been (born August 10, 1956) is the commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. She is a law professor at the New York University School of Law and has served as director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. She is one of the nation's leading experts on property law, land use, and housing law.

Early Life and Education

Born in Naturita, Colorado, Been graduated from Colorado State University. After working for Consumers Union, she received a law degree from the New York University School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden scholar.^[1] Upon graduation, she clerked, first for judge Edward Weinfeld of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and then for U.S. Supreme Court associate justice Harry Blackmun, during which time, she met her husband, Richard Revesz,^[2] who was also clerking at the Supreme Court, for Justice Thurgood Marshall.^[3]

Academic career

After working for the Iran-Contra investigation and as an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton, Been began her academic career in 1988, joining the faculty of Rutgers-Newark School of Law, as an assistant professor. In 1990, she moved to the NYU law school, where she achieved tenure, in 1994 and serves as the Boxer Family professor of law. In 2004, she was named director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. In 2008, she was named an affiliated professor of public policy at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Scholarship

Been began her academic career as one of the first law professors to address the area of environmental justice, focusing on equity considerations of the siting of undesirable land uses. She later turned her focus to the study of takings and eminent domain, writing articles on Supreme Court cases Palazzolo v. Rhode Island and Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council. As Director of the Furman Center, she has written extensively on New York City housing issues, publishing an annual State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods. She has also written on impact fees, foreclosures, community benefits agreements, parking requirements, inclusionary zoning, second liens, and assessing the impact of Superstorm Sandy on New York City neighborhoods.

Public Service

Been has served on the boards of the Municipal Art Society, Next City, the Center for New York City Neighborhoods, and the Pratt Center for Community Economic Development.

Housing Preservation and Development commissioner

On February 8, 2014, New York mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Been would serve as the next commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. She succeeded RuthAnne Visnaukas in that role.^[4]

Personal

Been lives with her husband, a former dean of the NYU School of Law, Richard Revesz, and their two children, in New York City.

References