David Rohde Appointed EVP for Legal Affairs & Interim General Counsel

Dear Colleagues,

On Monday, I was pleased to begin my new role as NYCHA’s Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO). I’m proud to be part of this next phase in the Authority’s transformation and look forward to working with you as we continue to strengthen this organization at every level.

Earlier this year, as part of NYCHA’s Transformation and Implementation Plans, the Board amended NYCHA’s by-laws to separate the roles of Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Directors. This leadership model is what we’ve been working toward the past three years and is consistent with the structure of public housing authorities across the nation.

Chair Russ will turn his attention to the Board. On behalf of NYCHA’s Executive Team, I would like to thank Greg for his service and leadership, as he has taken on important reforms and laid the groundwork for the Authority’s continued transformation.

While our HUD Agreement partners (HUD, SDNY, and the City of New York) work together to identify a new Chief Executive Officer, I am ready and deeply committed to be able to provide leadership continuity and guidance at this time and, as always, it is a pleasure to serve the City of New York. 

I’ve spent more than 25 years working in the public sector, including nearly three years as General Counsel here at NYCHA. From the beginning of my time at the Authority, I’ve been involved in all matters, including compliance with the HUD Agreement, our Transformation and Implementation Plans, as well as operations and administration.

As I step into the Interim CEO role, I’m happy to announce the appointment of David Rohde as Executive Vice President for Legal Affairs and Interim General Counsel. Mr. Rohde has substantial leadership experience in public and private law department management. For the past two years, he worked as Senior Vice President and Managing Attorney, where he worked with his Office of the General Counsel colleagues to successfully restructure NYCHA’s legal operations and drive overall organizational excellence by supporting and enhancing attorney and staff professionalism, building greater capacity and efficiency, reforming policies, and reducing case backlogs. Mr. Rohde has also been a leader in NYCHA’s efforts to reimagine and transform the ways it serves residents.

Previously, he led a high-level practice group as Senior Director of Consulting Services at Epiq, a global technology-enabled legal services provider, and worked at the New York City Law Department, where he was a litigator and a principal legal, policy, and management advisor on law and technology issues. Please join me in congratulating Mr. Rohde on his new role.

Our progress continues, and I will keep you updated as we move forward together. Thank you for partnership. 

Sincerely,

Lisa Bova-Hiatt
Interim CEO