Executive Team

Raju Mann is an urban planner who has worked on planning, housing, parks, and infrastructure challenges for almost 20 years in New York City. He joins BPCA from design and engineering firm Arup, where he was an Associate Principal and the City Planning Leader for the East Coast working on transportation, housing policy, and climate adaptation projects. Prior to Arup, Raju was the Director of Land Use and Deputy Chief of Staff for the New York City Council, where he led a team of planners and lawyers working with Council Members, City agencies, and communities to develop planning strategies for neighborhoods across New York City.

Raju grew up in Morningside Heights and now lives in Brooklyn. He received his BA in Philosophy from Columbia University and his MA in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. He is a board member of MoMA PS1 and on the advisory board of the New York Housing Conference.

Ms. Frederick joined the Authority in November 2017 after 30 years in banking and finance. Her career includes expertise in commercial lending, project finance, interest rate derivatives, and investments, specializing in real estate and energy sectors. She has held investment banking, commercial banking, and private banking roles with Citigroup, GE Capital, Fieldstone Private Capital Group, Chase Manhattan Bank as well as The Overseas Private Investment Corporation, covering U.S., Canadian and international clients. Prior to her banking career, she worked in finance and logistics at Procter & Gamble. She holds Series 7 & 63 licenses and earned both an MBA in Finance and BA in Economics from the University of Michigan and studied at Hautes Etudes Commerciales in France. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Financial Women’s Association and the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund. Her prior public service includes serving as a Town Representative in Greenwich, CT, where she served as the Chair of the Finance Committee.

Eric Munson joined the Battery Park City Authority in 2018.  After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia, he served in communications, intergovernmental, operations, and management roles in the Bloomberg Administration for the City of New York.  He later joined Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty as its Chief of Staff, the 2016 Democratic National Convention as its Director of Hall Operations, the City of Philadelphia’s anti-poverty office as its Chief of Staff, and most recently, New York Cares as its Interim Chief Program Officer.

Mr. Beecham received his undergraduate degree from Franklin & Marshall College and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law. After graduating from law school, Mr. Beecham worked as an attorney in the NYC offices of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. In 2005, Mr. Beecham became Assistant General Counsel at the New York City Department of Buildings where he interpreted the building code and zoning resolution. Thereafter, Mr. Beecham joined Manhattan Capital, a private equity firm focused on real estate and professional sports markets, and served as General Counsel for nearly a decade. Mr. Beecham joined the Battery Park City Authority’s legal team in 2016.

Gwen Dawson began her professional career practicing law in Denver, Colorado, focusing on real estate and business law. She later transitioned to full-time real estate planning and development with a focus on large-scale public-private development projects in urban settings. Prior to joining Battery Park City Authority, Ms. Dawson worked with the Mayor’s Office of the City and County of Denver and the Colorado Community College System.

Mr. Sbordone joined the Battery Park City Authority in April 2016 after spending his career in New York City government across three mayoral administrations. He began his career in 2001 at the Mayor’s Office of Operations, where as a policy analyst he helped prepare the bi-annual Mayor’s Management Report. Moving to the Taxi & Limousine Commission he worked on a range of issues affecting the industry, including the sale of new medallions. Then, at the Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications he served as intergovernmental affairs director and spokesman and for the 311 non-emergency information and services hotline, for 911 system modernization, cable television and broadband, cybersecurity, and most recently, the City’s open data and LinkNYC/free citywide WiFi initiatives.

Meet our Team