James S Rubin

In May 2015, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the appointment of James (Jamie) Rubin as Commissioner of NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), the agency charged with carrying out the Governor’s $1 billion House NY plan and financing the development and preservation of affordable housing statewide. HCR’s portfolio includes issuing billions of dollars in bonds, providing grants, loans and bonding authority to local municipalities, and awarding low income housing tax credits and mortgages for thousands of low- and moderate-income homebuyers. In New York City and adjacent counties, HCR also oversees rent regulation and works on behalf of tenants facing landlord harassment or rent overcharges. Jamie comes to HCR from the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) where he served as the Executive Director, overseeing and creating programs to disburse $4.4 billion in disaster recovery funds allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). GOSR assists homeowners, small businesses and entire communities in building back from damage caused by Hurricanes Sandy and Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, emphasizing the State’s commitment to long-term resiliency and growth. Under his leadership, GOSR has grown to a full-time staff of 135, hundreds of contractors, and offices across the state. Prior to being tapped to lead GOSR, Jamie was New York Director of the President’s Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Rebuilding Task Force and a Senior Advisor to then-HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. Jamie was previously a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program, working with cities including Buffalo and Detroit to identify and implement innovative economic development strategies. Until May 2012, he was a Senior Partner with BC Partners (BCP), a global private equity fund managing over $17 billion across two funds. He joined BCP in May 2008 to establish the firm’s first US office and subsequently built a team and directed over $1 billion of direct investment in the US. Before BCP, Jamie was a Partner with One Equity Partners, JP Morgan’s private equity fund, where he was one of the founding partners in 2001. Jamie has served as the Chairman of the Board of Common Ground Communities, the country’s largest developer and manager of supportive housing for the formerly homeless. In 2008 he co-founded Greater New York in an effort to prevent the economic crisis from destroying New York’s most promising community organizations. He holds a law degree from Yale University and an undergraduate degree from Harvard University. He is a born and raised New Yorker who resides in New York City with his wife and two daughters.