On December 30, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced the appointment of Shampa Chanda as the new Chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) and Salvatore Scibetta as the new Vice Chair. The Board of Standards and Appeals hears individual applications for exceptions and changes to zoning regulations that may overly restrict specific properties where a broader change to the zoning text and map is unnecessary.
Both Chanda and Scibetta were current commissioners on the Board. Shampa Chanda joined the Board in 2015 and became Vice Chair in 2017. She was born in India and moved to New York as a teenager. She graduated from MIT and the City College of New York. She began her career in public service as an intern with the Department of City Planning in 1988. She grew her career within the agency, taking on a variety of projects including transportation, land use planning, neighborhood-based rezonings, and the citywide zoning text. Chanda also worked with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where she served as an assistant commissioner guiding development projects through the City’s land use process, and using zoning tools to create affordable housing where possible. She previously served on Queens Community Board 2.
Salvatore Scibetta is a first-generation New Yorker who graduated from Fordham University and Brooklyn Law School. He started his legal career at the City’s Administration for Children’s Services, and served as a partner at Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP. He serves as president of the Columbia Lawyers Association of Brooklyn and is on the board of the Staten Island Children’s Museum. He is an expert in real estate law and has served as a commissioner on the Board of Standards and Appeals since 2018.
Mayor Adams stated, “In their time as Board of Standards and Appeals commissioners, Shampa and Sal have demonstrated their expertise, their abilities, and their commitment to New Yorkers, and I know they will continue to serve the city faithfully in their new roles. Our administration is using our land use and zoning tools aggressively to build the housing New Yorkers need and to help our economy recover. We look forward to continuing that work with this team leading BSA.”
Incoming Chair Chanda stated, “I am honored and humbled to be named chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals. I thank Mayor Adams and Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer for having placed their faith in me. I have spent my career in city government service alongside dedicated professionals. It is exciting and a great privilege for me to be able to serve this city that has made me feel at home ever since I arrived here from India during my high school years. I look forward to representing the board, the city, and its diverse neighborhoods in the best possible manner in the coming years.”
Incoming Vice Chair Scibetta stated, “It has been a privilege to serve on the Board of Standards and Appeals for the last five years, and I am honored to be designated vice chair. I am a firm believer that New York City is the greatest city in the world, and I look forward to working with my fellow commissioners to uphold that benchmark of excellence.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)