Habitat House Party 2019 - Habitat NYC and Westchester

Celebrating 35 Years in New York City

Tuesday, October 29th, 2019 | 6 PM – 10 PM | Guastavino's, 409 E 59th Street

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On October 29, Habitat for Humanity New York City celebrated 35 years of building and preserving affordable homes in NYC. Through ticket sales, an incredible auction and the generosity of our supporters, we raised over $900,000!

The evening began with Emmy Award winning journalist Nicole Suárez giving a sneak peek, behind-the-scenes look to all our Facebook fans. DJ Treblemonsters wowed the crowd during the cocktail hour and then Triad Brass took over for the dinner and program portion. Even better, the daughter of one of Habitat NYC’s future homeowners joined the ensemble for her vocal debut!

We also premiered our 35 year anniversary video, a retrospective of all we have achieved combined with our vision for our future. That vision will be attained through the help of our Honorees: Sonny Kalsi, President, BentallGreenOak, The Honorable Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Council Member for the 31^st District in Brooklyn, and Matt Galligan, Vice Chair of Real Estate Finance, CIT Group. The dedication of this group has enabled us to move closer to our mission of 2,021 families served by the year 2021.

Our Habby Award recipients and Habitat homeowners and homebuyers received a well-deserved standing ovation, and our most recent homeowners Juan and Maria told their story of volunteering on Habitat projects with their church and not even thinking of applying themselves until someone from our outreach team suggested it!

We welcomed back auctioneer Harry Santa-Olalla, who led a rousing, incredibly fun bidding extravaganza to help us fill a funding gap, bolster our preservation services, and get people to join us on our next Global Village Build trip to the Dominican Republic.

And finally, we tried something new: an official After Party, where NYC up-and-comers got to raise a glass and mingle with some major movers-and-shakers. We closed the night feeling good and energized. Thank you to all who came out, and we hope to see you next year!

See Photos from 2019

For information about sponsoring the 2020 Habitat House Party, contact Julia Diegel, Vice President of Resource Development at (646) 808-0129 or by email at jdiegel@habitatnyc.org.

2019 Honorees

Sonny Kalsi

President, BentallGreenOak

Sonny Kalsi is the President of BentallGreenOak (BGO). BGO is a global real estate investment and management platform with approximately $50BN under management, 22 offices worldwide and over 1,200 employees. Sonny co-founded GreenOak Real Estate in 2010. He is also a board member of Oberoi Realty, a member of the Young Presidents Organization and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University in the Master of Real Estate Program.

Matthew Galligan

Vice Chairman of Real Estate Finance, CIT Group

Matthew (Matt) Galligan is Vice Chairman of Real Estate Finance for CIT Group. His team provides stabilized, value-add and construction loans between $25 million and $50 million to highly experienced and well-capitalized developers in the office, retail, industrial and multi-family rental sectors with a $7.4 billion portfolio concentrated in the Boston-Washington corridor and southern California. Every year since 2013, Galligan has been named by the Commercial Observer to its “Power 50” list of the most important figures in real estate finance. Galligan is a member of the Board of Directors for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Alicka Ampry-Samuel

Council Member for the 41st District, New York

Behind her signature glasses and smile rests Alicka Ampry-Samuel’s grit and empathy, both forged from her upbringing in Brownsville. She received a Psychology degree from North Carolina A&T State University and went on to earn a Juris Doctor degree from CUNY School of Law. Alicka worked in various capacities with City and State legislators and spent years sharpening her servant leadership and perspective concerning marginalized individuals and their plights; locally and internationally. She worked as a community organizer in Brooklyn, and as a Child Protective Specialist with the NYC Administration for Children Services, prior to bringing her influences to Accra, Ghana – managing a Human Rights and Community Development portfolio under the auspices of US Embassy Accra. Upon returning to the US, she served as Chief of Staff to her State Assemblywoman and later served as a Senior Advisor for the New York City Housing Authority – Community Engagement & Partnerships Division. She now serves the people of the 41^st City Council District as their Council Member.