Joseph Sitt is the chairman of Thor Equities, the privately held development and ownership firm he founded in 1986. He is one of the more active developers in New York City. He is also CEO of Thor Retail Advisors.

Sitt is perhaps best known for his long-term redevelopment of much of the Coney Island, Brooklyn, waterfront (he grew up nearby). That effort started in 2001, when Sitt began buying up more than 10 acres, much of it rundown, with the idea of rebuilding it as a Vegas-style resort complete with new condos, hotels and a water park. The Bloomberg administration, however, opposed the rezoning for Sitt's plans, and he sold most of his Coney Island holdings in late 2009.

Sitt owns several other properties in Brooklyn, including the Livingston Shoppes mall, and in Manhattan, where he developed the 457-unit Greenwich Club condo building in the Financial District.

Sitt, who was born in 1964, got his business start with the Ashley Stewart clothing chain, which he sold in 2000.