Hey BK – The Brooklyn Podcast with Ofer Cohen

Host Ofer Cohen sits down with New York City mayoral candidate Kathryn Garcia, a Brooklynite with a fascinating story. Garcia got her start in the Bloomberg Administration, but more recently, served as sanitation commissioner and was appointed food czar for the City’s emergency food program during the pandemic. In our conversation, Garcia lays out her vision for the future and shares her experience as a working parent in New York –...

City Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr grew up in Bedford Stuyvesant and represents the neighborhood in the City Council's 36th District. In this podcast, Councilman Cornegy lays out his vision for the city, which includes sitting down with real estate developers, promoting public private partnerships, reforming the city's land use process, and more. Councilman Corne...

HeyBK is back at a time when Brooklyn, along with the rest of NYC, is trying to rebuild all that was lost during the pandemic. This season, Ofer Cohen talks to leaders and political candidates about their vision as the city reopens and rebuilds. In our first episode, Ofer sits down with Ray McGuire, the Wall Street executive running for New York City Mayor. Listen to the former head of Citigroup talk about his experience growing up...

In this episode, Ofer sits down with Sue Donoghue, President of the Prospect Park Alliance and the park administrator. 

At the nonprofit, Sue works closely with the City to help raise 11 million dollars annually and over 50 million dollars in capital funds to improve and operate Brooklyn’s 585 acre park. 

Seen as Brooklyn’s backyard, Prospect Park was built in 1867 by Central Park’s Frederick ...

Ofer sits down with Steve Hindy, co-founder and co-chairman of Brooklyn Brewery, one of the largest craft beer makers in the United States. Steve and his neighbor founded the company in 1988 following a dream to bring brewing back to Brooklyn. Always a pioneer and a risk-taker, Steve made a number of key decisions that helped make Brooklyn Brewery an international success story. As you’ll hear, Steve had faith in the Brooklyn brand...

In the first episode of the new year, Ofer Cohen sits down with Jill Eisenhard, the Founder and Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative (RHI). Jill has recently announced that she’s stepping down from the non-profit that she founded in Red Hook, Brooklyn, back in 2002. In their conversation, Jill looks back at her work to empower residents of the City's second largest public housing complex in one of Brooklyn's last industria...

Ofer Cohen sits down with New York City Councilmember Brad Lander. Brad’s district spans established neighborhoods including Park Slope and, the once mainly industrial area, Gowanus which is now on the verge of redevelopment. In their conversation, the Councilman talks about his journey as a suburban kid who became fascinated by cities. A progressive Democrat and urban planner, Lander has been a l...

In this episode, Ofer speaks with Carlo Scissura, President & CEO of the New York Building Congress. Carlo was recently appointed Chair of the NYC Mayor’s committee in charge of evaluating the plan to fix the crumbling BQE. He has been a key player during Brooklyn’s redevelopment and construction boom over the last two decades. Born and raised in Bensonhurst, Carlo is truly rooted in Brooklyn and his career has reflected so. From r...

Ofer meets with Jonathan Schnapp, founder of the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Gowanus. In 2011, Jonathan and his partner Ashley took a spontaneous trip to the Mirror Lake Shuffleboard Club in Florida and returned home inspired to bring the forgotten sport to Brooklyn. Much sooner than expected, they secured a warehouse space and began fundraising for an idea that, at first, not many people cou...

Ofer sits down with two of the Brooklyn restaurateurs breathing new life into the historic restaurant, Gage & Tollner. The restaurant first opened in Downtown Brooklyn in 1879 and shut its doors in 2004. The 125-year-old Brooklyn institution was known for its landmarked decor and impeccable service. In the 14 years since it closed, Downtown Brooklyn has transformed into a lively neighborhood with tens of thousands of new residents....

In this episode of HeyBK, Ofer sits down with Chad Dickerson, the former CEO of Etsy, a multibillion-dollar online marketplace for handcrafted goods based in DUMBO. Chad left Silicon Valley for the young startup in 2008 and led the company - through many hurtles - to become one of NYC’s greatest Tech success stories. Along the way, Chad, who’s originally from North Carolina, fell in love with Brooklyn and ...

On this episode of HeyBK, we journey to South Brooklyn to one of the most famous places in the world – Coney Island. Ofer Cohen speaks with Dick Zigun, the “unelected mayor” of Coney Island, a playwright, a circus fanatic, and the creator and leader of the annual Mermaid Parade. Dick tells us his story of growing up in a Connecticut town where PT Barnum was once the mayor, and how his love for the circus and the arts brought him to...

In this episode of HeyBK, Ofer sits down with Susan Feldman, the Artistic Director of St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The program’s trajectory is closely linked with Brooklyn’s resurgence. St. Ann’s relationship with Brooklyn as a place and Real Estate as a business is a great model for activating neighborhoods while supporting the arts.

As you will hear, the story began in 1979 in a very different Brooklyn. Susan, who...

HeyBK host Ofer Cohen speaks with Jared Della Valle & AJ Pires, the founders of Alloy, LLC, a DUMBO-based development and architecture firm. Jared and AJ explain how meeting through a mutual friend turned into a life-long friendship, successful business, and a true Brooklyn story. Their joint passion and ideas about responsible development, keen architecture, open lines of communication, and love for the neighborhood of DUMBO have ...

On this episode of HeyBK, Ofer speaks with Andrew Kimball, the CEO of Industry City. Since taking over in 2013, Andrew and his partners transformed the largest industrial complex in NYC into a renowned creativity and innovation hub. Andrew gives us the scoop on what it takes to run such a huge transformation project, how sometimes new opportunities take priority over initial strategic plans, the challenges...

On Season 2, Episode 5, Ofer sits down with Jed Walentas, the real estate developer behind the transformation of DUMBO, one of the most desirable neighborhoods in New York City. In the mid-90’s, Jed became involved in his family business, Two Trees, and spearheaded the transformation of the area. In their conversation, Jed talks about growing up in a grittier NYC where DUMBO was not merely as exciting as it is today, discovering wh...