April Forum: Bronx Green Building

The Green Building Forum is held on the third Wednesday of each month (except December) at 6:30 PM and features presentations by green building practitioners followed by discussion. The events are always free and open to the general public. Attendance is limited to 40 guests this month, due to the space constraints of the venue. Please RSVP below!

• When: Wed. April 15 from 6:30 – 8 pm
• Where: Green Depot (222 Bowery at Prince St.)

The April session of the monthly Green Building Forum will set the stage for the May tour of the green buildings in the Bronx. Speakers representing Bronx housing & community development organizations will talk about where the Bronx was before the recent rebirth, how so much of the redevelopment of the Bronx came to embrace green building, and how the current economic environment is expected to affect the future development of the Bronx. Speakers:

• Keith Fairey, Enterprise Community Partners (Moderator)
• John M. Reilly, Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation
• Peter Magistro, Bronx Pro Real Estate Management
• Jim Buckley, University Neighborhood Housing Program

Speaker bios and RSVP after the jump! Moderator: Keith Fairey is the Acting New York Director and Regional Operating Officer, Eastern Region for Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit that provides expertise for affordable housing and sustainable communities. Keith is responsible for growing Enterprise’s key Eastern region impact markets, which include Washington, D.C., Baltimore, the Gulf Coast, Ohio and New York. Since joining Enterprise in 2005, he has helped guide Enterprise New York’s Housing and Finance team through record-breaking years of investment in affordable housing and led the expansion of Enterprise’s Green Communities initiative throughout New York State. Previously, he served as chief operating officer of the Mount Hope Housing Company, Inc. and as the assistant director of Community Pride, the community-building program of the Harlem Children Zone. Keith holds a BA in History Education from the University of Delaware, and received a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in public finance and financial management from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. Speakers (Invited) John M. Reilly has worked on neighborhood and housing issues since 1975, first with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition as a community organizer and for the last 29 years as the Executive Director of the Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation in the Bronx. The Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation was established by local tenant and neighborhood leaders from their Northwest Bronx community in 1980 to prevent housing deterioration and abandonment. Today the Housing Corporation provides management and oversight for 95 community-controlled apartment buildings with more than 2700 apartments and conducts housing renovation and new construction. Mr. Reilly is a graduate of Manhattan College and a lifetime resident of the Bronx in New York City. He resides in the Bedford Park section with his wife and has two daughters. Peter Magistro, the President and Founder of Bronx Pro Real Estate Management, holds a master’s degree in finance from Fordham University. Peter began his real estate career in 1972 buying properties in the Bronx and Long Island while pursuing a career at Citibank. After attaining the title of Vice President at Citibank, Peter decided to pursue real estate full time. Peter is also active in community affairs, sponsoring the education of needy children and working with homeless prevention agencies. In addition, he is a member of the 197-A Housing Committee of Bronx Community Board 5, serves on the Enterprise NY Advisory Board, and is a 7a Administrator. Jim Buckley is the Executive Director of University Neighborhood Housing Program (UNHP), a non-profit, Bronx-based community organization that is the result of a collaboration between Fordham University and the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. UNHP’s mission is to create and preserve affordable housing. To accomplish that goal, UNHP administers several loan funds, provides technical assistance and training to community and tenant organizations operating affordable housing, and develops research on issues affecting affordable housing.