HR&A Advisors the “it” firm under de Blasio

Property consultancy's alums Carl Weisbrod, Shola Olatoye among those tapped for top posts

From left: Bill de Blasio with Alicia Glen, and de Blasio with Shola Olatoye (Credit: Ed Reed)
From left: Bill de Blasio with Alicia Glen, and de Blasio with Shola Olatoye (Credit: Ed Reed)

A quick look at the work histories of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent picks for top city positions shows that several were plucked from the real estate and policy advisory firm HR&A Advisors.

The 30-year-old consultancy, known for crunching numbers for non-real estate firms unfamiliar with New York City’s property game, has offered up such alums as Carl Weisbrod, the mayor’s pick for planning commissioner, and Shola Olatoye, whom De Blasio tapped for the top job at the New York City Housing Authority, Crain’s reported.

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Additionally, de Blasio’s new deputy mayor Alicia Glen, although not an alum, based her first speech on the job on numbers from the firm, according to Crain’s. The bigger picture shows the firm garnering roughly 30 percent of its business from government sources, the article said.

The firm has also handled business with Google, Citigroup and NBCUniversal, according to the article. [Crain’s]Angela Hunt