A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(March 2022) |
Kai Falkenberg is an American lawyer, law professor and media executive, currently the general counsel at G/O Media. [1] Previously, she served as Acting Commissioner and First Deputy Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment in New York City and was the editorial counsel at Forbes and a media and entertainment lawyer in private practice. She is a lecturer in law at Columbia Law School where she created and teaches the nation's first class on the Law and Regulation of Social Media. [2]
Falkenberg grew up in Chappaqua, New York and graduated from Dartmouth College where she was a competitive ski racer, a pentathlete and a writer for the college's alumni magazine. [3] She received a J.D. degree from Columbia Law School where she was an editor of the Law Review and a Kent Scholar. [4]
Falkenberg clerked on the federal appellate court in the District of Columbia and began her legal career at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. She then worked at Davis Wright Tremaine where she specialized in First Amendment litigation and counseled media and entertainment clients including Wenner Media, A&E, Warner Bros., the BBC and the New York Times. [5]
From 2007 to 2014, Falkenberg was the editorial counsel at Forbes, advising on legal issues relating to its print and online content, including its transformation from a traditional publisher to an online contributor platform. She also represented the company in a libel suit brought by Prince Alwaleed regarding his ranking on the Forbes's "Billionaires List" and its reporting that his net worth was inflated. [6]
Falkenberg joined the de Blasio Administration in 2015, first as a senior lawyer for the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs focusing on online consumer fraud. In 2016 she was named the first Deputy Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment, leading a 120-person agency that supports NYC's creative sectors and runs NYC Media, the city's network of television and radio stations. In that role, Falkenberg launched initiatives including the Freelancer's Hub, a center providing free resources for independent workers, and One Book One New York, the country's largest community read program, in addition to overseeing the development of programming for NYC Life, the organization's flagship television channel (which has been nominated for 160 New York Emmy Awards, winning 42). Falkenberg also negotiated the deal to bring the Grammys back to New York City after fifteen years. [7]
Falkenberg left the Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment in 2018 to return to practicing media and entertainment law. [8] [9] In 2019 she joined G/O Media as general counsel. In that position she is the top lawyer for online publications including The Onion, Gizmodo, Jezebel, The Root and Deadspin. [10]
Falkenberg served as President of the board of directors for The Jewish Week . [11] She currently serves on the boards of the Craig Newmark School of Journalism at CUNY and New York City's Open Data Advisory Council, as well as The Gotham Film & Media Institute (formerly the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP)), the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, and 70 Faces Media. [12]
Falkenberg lives in New York City and is married to former U.S. Secret Service agent Christopher Falkenberg, whom she met while giving blood while both were students at Columbia Law School. [13]
The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.
John Purroy Mitchel was the 95th mayor of New York, from 1914 to 1917. At 34, he was the second-youngest mayor of the city, and was sometimes referred to as the "Boy Mayor of New York." Mitchel won the 1913 mayoral election in a landslide, but lost the Republican primary in 1917 and came in second place in the general election as an independent. He is remembered for his short career as leader of anti-Tammany Hall reform politics in New York, as well as for his early death as an Army Air Service officer during World War I. Mitchel's staunchly Catholic New York family had been founded by his paternal grandfather and namesake, John Mitchel, an Ulster Presbyterian Young Irelander who became a renowned writer and leader in the Irish nationalist movement and a staunch supporter of the Confederacy.
Arthur Garfield Hays was an American lawyer and champion of civil liberties issues, best known as a co-founder and general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union and for participating in notable cases including the Sacco and Vanzetti trial. He was a member of the Committee of 48 and a contributor to The New Republic. In 1937, he headed an independent investigation of an incident in which 19 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Ponce, Puerto Rico, when police fired at them. His commission concluded the police had behaved as a mob and committed a massacre.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is the department of the government of New York City responsible for public health along with issuing birth certificates, dog licenses, and conducting restaurant inspection and enforcement. The New York City Board of Health is part of the department. Its regulations are compiled in title 24 of the New York City Rules. Since March 2022, the commissioner has been Ashwin Vasan.
Joel Irwin Klein is an American lawyer and school superintendent. He was the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, the largest public school system in the United States, serving more than 1.1 million students in more than 1,600 schools. He was succeeded by Cathie Black in January 2011.
Julie Menin is a member of the New York City Council from District 5. Before she was elected to this position, she served as an American attorney, civil servant, non-profit executive, professor and small business owner. In January 2019, she was appointed Director of the Census for NYC and Executive Assistant Corporation Counsel for Strategic Advocacy. Previously, she had worked as the Commissioner of the New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and Commissioner of New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs.
Peter O. Price is chairman and chief executive of Premiere Previews, which invests in new media ventures. Price began his media career as a summer intern at The Wall Street Journal while attending Princeton University, where he graduated with honors in 1962. He subsequently graduated from Yale Law School, and then served as an officer in the United States Air Force before joining New York City government as counsel to the Taxi Commission, when he was also counsel to the New York Council on Child Psychiatry.
The New York City Law Department, also known as the Office of the Corporation Counsel, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for most of the city's legal affairs. The department is headed by the Corporation Counsel, most recently Sylvia Hinds-Radix, the 81st official to hold this position, who resigned on June 1, 2024.
Katherine Oliver is an American media and entertainment executive based in New York City. Oliver is currently a Principal at Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy firm founded by Michael Bloomberg to provide advice and long-term solutions to cities worldwide. She also oversees film, television and digital media projects for Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable foundation of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Christopher Falkenberg is a security expert and the founder and president of Insite Security, a risk management firm. He is a former Special Agent for the United States Secret Service and litigator at Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Edward Alexander Mermelstein is New York City’s Commissioner for International Affairs. He is also an attorney, financial investment advisor, media pundit and real estate developer.
Louis Melville Loeb was a New York City lawyer, general counsel for The New York Times, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.
Rachel Haot is an American businesswoman. She is currently Chief of Staff at Bedrock_(investment firm). Prior to this, she was executive director of the Transit Innovation Partnership, a public-private initiative of the Partnership for New York City and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Haot was previously the Chief Digital Officer and Deputy Secretary for Technology of New York State for two years. Prior to this role, Rachel was Chief Digital Officer for the City of New York from January 2011 to December 2013. She co-founded and ran GroundReport between 2006 and 2010.
Ida Klaus (1905–1999) was an American labor lawyer, known by the press in the 1950s and 1960s as the woman "who thinks with a man’s brain."
Maya D. Wiley is an American lawyer, professor, and civil rights activist. She has served as president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights since May 2022. Wiley served as counsel to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. She chaired the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) from 2016 to 2017. She was an MSNBC legal analyst from August 2018 to January 2021. Wiley ran in the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, placing third.
The 2021 New York City mayoral election was held on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election.
Sheena Wright is an American nonprofit executive and civil servant. She is the First Deputy Mayor of New York City and formerly the president of the United Way of New York City. In August 2021, she was chosen as the chair of New York City mayor-elect Eric Adams's transition team. Wright was named deputy mayor for Strategic Initiatives by Adams on December 6, 2022 and began in January 2023.
Adolph Lewis Sanger was a Jewish-American lawyer from New York.
Anne Williams-Isom is an American government official, academic, lawyer, and former nonprofit executive. She is the New York City deputy mayor for Health and Human Services. Williams-Isom holds the James R. Dumpson chair of child welfare studies at Fordham Graduate School of Social Service. She was the chief operating officer and later the chief executive officer of the Harlem Children's Zone.