30. MaryAnne Gilmartin – CEO, MAG Partners

2017 RANK: 11

CORPORATE ASSETS Worth $800 million

IMPACT Gilmartin is chairwoman emeritus of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, an executive committee member of BAM, a board member of New York Public Radio and an executive committee and board member of the Real Estate Board of New York.

ONCE, TWICE, four times a CEO.

At 56, MaryAnne Gilmartin has already been at the helm of four high-profile development firms in the city. She bought out her partners at L+L MAG to start MAG Partners in 2019. The company now controls a pipeline of three residential ground-up developments, as well as one commercial, in New York City.

While working on the new company, she was tapped to serve as the interim chief executive of New Jersey–based real estate investment trust Mack-Cali after investment group Bow Street partners ousted its previous leader, Michael DeMarco. Gilmartin has since relinquished the role and is back at her firm.

When she served as chief executive of Forest City Ratner Cos., she was a driving force behind some of the city’s most important developments including the Barclays Center and Pacific Park, which transformed Brooklyn, as well as the New York Times Building.

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MaryAnne Gilmartin – Founder and CEO at MAG Partners

How much longer can this go on?

It has already gone on longer than anyone predicted so I don’t pretend to know, but I am optimistic about our resilience no matter how long it takes to beat this. Shows have resumed at Barclays Center, subways are filling up, Google just doubled down on Hudson Square, demand for apartment rentals are off the charts again, and I am betting on New York City.

What does normal look like?

A major blessing of this period is the general recognition that “normal” can look different for everyone. As a tired working mom, I’m grateful that workforce flexibility is mainstream. I’m in no way surprised that one of the keys to greater productivity and better work-life balance is rooted in workplace flexibility. This will be part of the new normal and that’s something to celebrate.

If you could go back in time to March of 2020, what’s the first thing you would do?

Invest in Zoom.

What do you do now that you never did before 2020?

Wear Supergas to business meetings. And my feet are thanking me.

What’s the biggest threat to the return to normal?

People prioritizing themselves over the bigger community. As New Yorkers, I think, for the most part, we all understand our fate is tied to others since we live and work in such a dense environment. Unfortunately, this is not the case everywhere.

Is now the time to buy or sell?

Depends on the asset type.

Lightning round

Eric Adams or Curtis Sliwa?

Eric.

Last time you got on an airplane, what was your destination?

New Orleans in August, bringing my son back to college.

What vax did you get? 

Pfizer.

Your go-to takeout?

Sushi from Katsuei in Park Slope.

Where does your patience wear thinnest — evictions or anti-vaxxers?

People forgetting to mute on Zoom.

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