From the March issue: No one can say that MaryAnne Gilmartin isn’t battle-tested. For years, she has served as chief lieutenant to Bruce Ratner in the fight to develop Brooklyn’s controversial Atlantic Yards project, a clash marked by lawsuits, bad press and angry protesters. So when news broke in late January that Ratner was planning to step down as CEO of Forest City Ratner, the company he founded, sources pointed to Gilmartin as his most likely successor.
“When you have been through what they have together, when you face the opposition they have, either you end up with an unbreakable bond, or you end up never speaking with each other again,” said CBRE Group’s Tri-State CEO Mary Ann Tighe, who’s worked with both of them over the years. “There is a deep respect there.” [more]