Our Team
Our Staff
Annemarie Gray
Executive Director
Annemarie Gray joined Open New York as Executive Director in Fall 2022, after serving New Yorkers for nearly three years as a Senior Policy Advisor in City Hall. She oversaw land use and housing policy, including the SoHo/NoHo and Gowanus rezonings and the Where We Live NYC fair housing plan, across two Mayoral administrations under Deputy Mayor Vicki Been and Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. She previously worked for the NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Cambridge Housing Authority in Cambridge, MA. In her spare time, Annemarie enjoys biking around the city, drawing, and swimming in lakes.
Asia Thomas
Director of Organizing
Asia is a seasoned advocate and organizer working to advance equity, address historic exclusion, and serve our communities' most basic needs. Previously, Asia worked to end homelessness in New York City, and increase educational opportunities for New Yorkers. While advocating to end homelessness, Asia helped educate over 2,000 New Yorkers on how ending homelessness is possible. Asia believes that more public education is needed in every advocacy fight. Asia and her family live in Staten Island and enjoy family game nights and helping out in their community.
Logan Phares
Political Director
Logan Phares joined Open New York as the Political Director in February 2022, after serving as the primary liaison between the de Blasio Administration and the City Council on all legislation and hearings related to worker protections, civil and human rights, consumer affairs, labor relations, and administrative trials and hearings as a Legislative Representative at the Mayor’s Office of City Legislative Affairs. During her time at City Hall, Logan led the negotiations on many pieces of legislation, including a minimum wage for delivery workers, just cause protections for fast food workers, and a domestic workers’ bill of rights. In her free time, she enjoys vintage shopping, live music, and hanging out with friends in Prospect Park.
Andrew Fine
Chief of Staff & Policy Director
Andrew joined Open New York in November 2022 after running fair housing policy at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD), where he helped shape Federal, State, and City legislation to advance equitable housing policy and played a central role in everything from the Where We Live NYC plan to the SoHo/NoHo rezoning. He also previously served as a judicial clerk in Albany and as an Assistant Corporation Counsel at the City’s Law Department. He and his husband live in Brooklyn, and in his free time he loves exploring every nook and cranny of the five boroughs, from South Beach in Staten Island to Wave Hill in the Bronx.
Samir Lavingia
Campaign Coordinator
Samir joined Open New York staff in February of 2023 after having been a longtime advocate in New York City working on transportation, traffic violence, and housing abundance (at Open New York!). Samir was a member of Open New York when it was a fully member-led organization with no staff, and has seen it grow as a member leader and become staff himself. Before working at Open New York, he was a Software Engineer at Google, where he improved Google Maps, and at Twitter, where he worked to stem the misinformation crisis by leveraging the voice of the Twitter community. Samir lives near Union Square Park and spends his time being active in the city playing badminton and pickleball, biking, and eating his way through all corners of our great city!
Nick Berkowitz
Director of Communications and Digital Strategy
Nick Berkowitz joined Open New York as the Director of Communications and Digital Strategy in October 2023. With over a decade of experience, Nick has led strategic communications for clients such as the City of Newark, Enterprise Community Partners, The National Council of State Housing Agencies, and Columbia University. He has also consulted on electoral and advocacy campaigns and serves on his local Community Board and Land Use committee, helping to approve over 1,000 units of housing.
A New Yorker born and raised, Nick is a proud product of NYC Public Schools and holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Hunter College.
Andrew Stern
Communications Coordinator
Andrew joined the Open New York staff in 2023, after joining as a member when it was an all-volunteer organization. Andrew believes New York can be a more affordable place, and he believes that walkable, mixed-use urbanism should be legal to build across New York. Before Open New York, Andrew was a producer with work in Rolling Stone and The Atlantic. Andrew lives in Manhattan and in his free time you can find him at a museum, Central Park, or anywhere a train from Grand Central goes.
Michael Spinelli
Director of Development
Michael Spinelli joined Open New York as the Director of Development in 2024. He comes to the work with over a decade of experience fundraising for organizations of all shapes and sizes, including the New York City Anti-Violence Project, Film @ Lincoln Center, and Housing Works. Michael thinks of fundraising as a form of advocacy and of donors as activists. A lifelong New Yorker who lives in Tudor City, he is intimately familiar with the challenges of finding affordable, accessible housing in New York and the impact of restrictive zoning on suburban families. In his free time, Michael loves to hike, play video games, and travel.
The Board
The board is responsible for coordinating Open New York’s mission as well as maintaining the organization’s financial health. Board elections occur once a year and all board members participate on a volunteer basis.
Michelle Kuppersmith
Ben Furnas
Sachi Takahashi-Rial
