Division of Housing & Community Renewal

Brian E. Lawlor was appointed Commissioner of DHCR and CEO and President of 'nyhomes' in April 2010. Throughout his extensive career in the affordable housing field, he has served in a number of high-level, policy-making positions, including Assistant Secretary to the Governor for Housing and Counsel to the State Director of Housing.

In 2007, he was appointed DHCR's Executive Deputy Commissioner and in that position was responsible for overseeing all the agency's departments and working with the Commissioner and Governor's staff to develop and implement new policies and initiatives.

As Executive Deputy Commissioner, Lawlor was instrumental in the administration of more than $700 million in stimulus funds in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, including the largest allocation of Weatherization funds in the nation and more than $260 million in Tax Credit Assistance Program resources and State CDBG funds.

Lawlor also serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Housing Trust Fund Corporation and chair of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. He also sits on boards of New York State Housing Finance Agency, State of New York Mortgage Agency, the Affordable Housing Corporation, the Homeless Housing Assistance Corporation and the Harlem Community Development Corporation.

Lawlor was the co-founder of the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Low Income and Affordable Housing and its first Upstate Co-Chair and was named Advocate of the Year in 2005 by the New York State Association of Affordable Housing.

Lawlor received a Bachelor of Arts from Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York and a Juris Doctor from New York Law School, New York, New York.

While serving as Executive Deputy Commissioner of DHCR, Lawlor was profiled in the Troy Record.

Last updated on 04/09/10