Ross Sandler
To a packed house on Friday, August 28, 2015, at 8:30 a.m., Dean Anthony Crowell called to order the 127th CityLaw Breakfast. The morning’s speaker was Carl Weisbrod, Chairman of the City Planning Commission, and the topic was affordable housing. Friday mornings in late August are not ideal for a business breakfast. Nevertheless, more than 200 people attended. They enjoyed the coffee, fruit and muffins, but they came because CityLaw Breakfasts play a special role in the civic life of New York City.
For 21 years large audiences have gathered to hear political and governmental news at New York Law School’s CityLaw Breakfasts. The breakfast gatherings are an agora, a meeting place, a traditional assemblage. They are an antidote to the Internet. Attending and enjoying the Weisbrod breakfast were architects, engineers, lawyers, lobbyists, elected officials, community board members, City officials, civic activists, business people, academics, students and politicians. People came early and lingered late as they discussed housing policy, planning, politics and, of course, business.
There are many people responsible for creating and sustaining CityLaw Breakfasts.
First to thank are our longtime Founding CityLaw Breakfast sponsors: Consolidated Edison, Verizon and the law firm of Greenberg Traurig. Primarily responsible are Frances Resheske at Con Edison, Edward Wallace at Greenberg Traurig and Richard Windram at Verizon.
Special sponsors support individual breakfasts. For the Weisbrod Breakfast the law firms of Strook & Strook & Lavan, and Goldman Harris were special sponsors. We thank Ross Moskowitz and Howard Goldman for their leadership.
Name tags with gold stars marked breakfast attendees who voluntarily support each breakfast with a contribution. There were 60 gold stars given out at the Weisbrod Breakfast.
The staff of the Center for New York City Law, led by Brian Kaszuba, organizes the breakfasts, greets the guests as they arrive and is still working after they leave.
The New York Law School staff makes the Law School’s events center welcoming. These staff members include Kraig Beaudoin, Keyona Donaldson, and the events staff; Nancy Guida, Regina Chung, and the Marketing and Communications staff; Kevin Schroedel and the Dining Services staff; Shawn Giblock, Matt Mcooe, and the Audio Visual team; and Paul Repetto and the School facilities staff.
CityLaw Breakfasts, in Dean Crowell’s phrase, help make New York Law School New York’s Law School.
Ross Sandler