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09.05.2013
The Network says farewell to a board member, housing advocate and dear friend of the supportive housing community
It is with enormous sadness that we report the passing of Alan Epstein, a longtime pillar of New York's supportive and affordable housing community. Alan lost his battle with cancer early yesterday morning on September 4. He was 56 years old.
As a partner at Hirschen Singer & Epstein LLP, Alan devoted his professional life to helping supportive and affordable housing developers find new ways to build the homes needed to house the most vulnerable among us. In addition to his extraordinary legal work, Alan was Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Supportive Housing Network of New York, a mentor and a dear friend. It is difficult to express how much we will miss him.
Alan's innovative and energetic spirit often made it seem that anything was possible, that any residence could be built, despite the abundant challenges. His understanding of development law and finance helped ensure that supportive housing residences would be built with the resources and oversight that allowed them to become the much-admired housing model replicated across the country that supportive housing is today. Alan's guidance provided the foundation that allows New York now to build supportive housing on a scale that is finally beginning to approach the enormous need.
Alan's work dramatically improved the lives of thousands of New Yorkers. Just a few examples illustrate his considerable influence.
In his quiet, thoughtful way, Alan upended the traditional financing model at the NYS Office of Mental Health. He coaxed and coached us all on how to blend tax credits, bonds and OMH-funded debt service. He and his firm wrote the documents that are now so fundamental to these supportive housing developments; it's no exaggeration to say that Alan wrote the book on this stuff. As a result, the state saved, and continues to save, tens of millions of dollars that can instead be used to expand capital and service funding for supportive housing.
More importantly, however, Alan's work with OMH opened the door to both the NYS Housing Finance Agency and the NYC Housing Development Corporation to begin funding supportive housing. New York today would not be home to 46,000 units of supportive housing without Alan.
Alan was also present when the first integrated supportive housing residences were being conceived. This model, which enables families to live side-by-side with individuals with special needs, went from an ideal to a reality because of Alan's work. Now, more and more vulnerable New Yorkers live with the dignity of being just like everyone else who rents an apartment in New York, with the same benefits, obligations and day-to-day sense of normalcy.
When a new funding source became available, there was Alan, bending it, shaping it, twisting it to work for supportive housing. New Market Tax Credits, for example, weren't supposed to work with housing, let alone supportive housing. Now, as a result of Alan's work, supportive housing residences contain daycare centers, museums and nonprofit offices, all funded with these tax credits.
For his profound impact on our community, Alan received the Private Sector Partner of the Year award at the Supportive Housing Network's Awards Gala in 2008.
Prior to joining Hirschen Singer & Epstein, Alan was a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. He received his law degree from the NYU School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College. He also served on the board of directors of the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) and frequently lectured on supportive and affordable housing financing and tax credits. The strength of the team he leaves behind at Hirschen Singer & Epstein is a testament to his professionalism and effectiveness.
Alan is survived by his wife Rachel Miller and his daughters Marni and Tessa. We offer them our sincerest condolences. We encourage you to join Alan's family, friends and colleagues at a memorial service to be held this Sunday, September 8, at 10:30am at Trinity School, located at 101 West 91st Street in New York. In lieu of flowers, Alan's family has requested that donations be made to CASES or the Supportive Housing Network of New York.
Alan's family will also be home to receive visitors (shiva) on September 8 from 4-7pm and September 9 from 4-8pm. Please contact us if you'd like to receive the address.
The supportive housing community has lost a supremely smart, dedicated and invaluable friend. The Network has been so fortunate to have Alan in our leadership and as a member of our family. We mourn the loss of a good friend, and we celebrate all of the ways his life has remade our world for the better.