Leyla Arcasoy, Associate, Strategic Investments Group

How did your previous experiences lead you to NYCEDC?

My road to NYCEDC is rooted in a lifelong connection to New York City. I’m a proud native New Yorker and second-generation immigrant, who was raised in Brooklyn, went to school in Queens, and spent time at my mom and grandfather’s store in Kips Bay. I grew up with a deep appreciation for the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit that keeps not just the city at large, but local communities, thriving and growing. When I studied public policy in college, I focused my research on building equitable policies that would best serve diverse communities, knowing I wanted to bring those perspectives back home in the public sector. NYCEDC, especially the Incentives team, has been the perfect place to combine my lived experience and academic background, supporting projects that tangibly strengthen communities and local economies.

What’s your day-to-day role?

On the Incentives team, I manage projects through our three discretionary tax incentive programs: Build NYC, NYCIDA, and NYCNCC. I work with a variety of nonprofits and industrial and commercial businesses to support real estate projects that are vital to their operations and the communities they serve. During our project cycles, I engage multiple internal and external stakeholders to conduct thorough diligence on these projects, including environmental review, cost-benefit analyses, and review of the legal and financial frameworks of the transactions, which all culminate in presentations to our Board of Directors for approval and authorization.

What skills are essential for your current role?

A robust set of project management skills is key to successfully seeing a project through its lifecycle from inquiry to board approval, and finally, to closing. My role also requires a strong investigative mindset to uncover all necessary details since every project and organization I work with is different. And because the role is so external-facing, good customer service skills are definitely key to building the trust and rapport necessary to move those projects forward.

What's the most rewarding part of your job? And the most challenging?

Hands down, the most rewarding part of the job is being able to walk down a street, point to a building, and say, “I helped make that happen.” Knowing that a piece of my portfolio has had a tangible effect in a community is beyond exciting, and that feeling of pride is all the more fulfilling when I know that the particular project truly had an impact on the community, either by way of activating a site, or by supporting an organization that makes up the fabric of that community.

On the flip side, the most challenging part is having to communicate to an organization that their project isn’t a good fit for our programs. Because our programs are discretionary, there are a number of reasons why this might be the case, such as timing, location or project size.

How has working for NYCEDC changed your perspective on NYC?

There’s a map from the ‘70s that depicts NYC as the center of the world. Many consider it to be a playful jest on New Yorkers’ sense of self and pride for the city, but working for NYCEDC has, in some ways, brought that map to life for me. I’m mostly joking, but the sheer scale of NYCEDC’s company-wide portfolio is absolutely massive, and when you truly consider the breadth and depth of projects that NYCEDC works on, and the partners it takes to get there, it makes NYC feel even bigger, more complex, and more magical than I had ever considered before.

What’s something people might be surprised to learn about you?

If I weren’t on the path of public service, I’d probably be trying my hand in front of the camera. I joined Shelley Goldberg on NY1 for a segment of Recommended Reading as a kid, and I also share an IMDB acting credit with Brooke Shields.