OUR STORY
The DUMBO Action Committee (DAC) got its start in November 2016 as a Facebook group where DUMBO residents could share information about local issues. Since then, we have hosted several standing-room only community meetings; successfully advocated for traffic and safety improvements and a moratorium on film shoots; increased funding for our local schools; and improved communications with local developers.
And we're just getting started!
​
We look forward to working collaboratively with our neighbors, local businesses, government officials, and other community organizations to continue to affect positive change in DUMBO.
CO-CHAIRS
Mallory and Melissa met the New York way -- on the subway taking their children to preschool. During those rides, they discussed their concerns about their neighborhood, the country and the world. A year or so later, in November 2016, Melissa started a Facebook group for DUMBO residents and soon thereafter Mallory organized a standing-room only "Community Meeting" for the neighborhood. In August 2018, they sat around Mallory's kitchen table and the DUMBO Action Committee, as we now know it, was born.
MALLORY KASDAN
Mallory Kasdan is a writer, voice actor and podcast host. She’s the author of ELLA, a book for kids, essays about parenting and culture, and records the MILK Podcast: Moms I’d Like to Know from her home studio in DUMBO.
Mallory is married to Evan Benjamin, and their kids are Zoe and Miles. Mallory loves DUMBO, though it can drive her crazy.
MELISSA PROBER
Melissa is an attorney who provides practical legal advice to small business and non-profit organizations. Previously, she was in-house counsel at The Jed Foundation, the New York Genome Center, and the Clinton Foundation and also practiced at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Melissa got her start working in the West Wing of the Clinton White House from 1997 through 2000 and was part of the team that defended President Clinton during Impeachment and the subsequent Senate trial.
Melissa lives in DUMBO with her husband and children.
STEERING COMMITTEE
CALLIE KATT
Callie is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of TACK Ventures, an early stage venture fund focused on consumer facing companies in the sports, media, and lifestyle industries.
Callie lives in DUMBO with her husband, Tim, and their children.
ELIZABETH (BETSY) JOHNSON
Elizabeth (Betsy) Lind Johnson is a fifth generation New Yorker who grew up in Manhattan in the 1980s and ‘90s.
Betsy has been a residential real estate agent since 2011. She is currently an agent with Compass, which she joined in 2017, after six years at Brown Harris Stevens. Prior to her career in real estate, Betsy spent a decade working in the art world at several Manhattan fine art galleries, as well as in fundraising and event planning for non-profit arts organizations.
Betsy has been a resident of DUMBO since 2009, where she lives with her husband Jason and son Nicholas.
SUZANNE QUINT
Following leadership roles at Time Inc, Disney and Rokt, Suzanne is currently a recruiter in the Media, Digital Marketing and AdTech space.
Suzanne's belief in the power of positive activism was rekindled as the founder of Love Our Pool: Families United for a Pool in Brooklyn Bridge Park. She is a founding member of the Friends Group for our neighborhood park (Dr. Susan Park next to York Street) and recently completed a 5 year term on Community Board 2.
Suzanne, and her twins, Sabrina and Leo, took this photo as a joke gift for her husband Joe, who finds Washington Street photo ops maddening.
GEOFF SALVATORE
Geoffrey is an Architect and Senior Associate at the design firm, Gensler, where he focuses on corporate workplace projects for the Consumer Goods industry.
Originally from Lawrence, Kansas, Geoffrey holds an BA from Washington University in Saint Louis and Masters in Architecture from the University of Michigan.
You may see Geoffrey in DUMBO with his partner, Dan Meek, and their French Bulldog, Charlie.
NICK DESANTIS
Nick is a computer programmer working in the Financial Industry.
He is a lifetime New Yorker and has lived in Brooklyn for over 20 years. He is not related to the Governor of Florida.
Nick met his wife, Christine, while volunteering for American Ballet Theatre as a computer geek.
She worked in the Development office and he was doing work for her and her colleagues.
They have been living in DUMBO for 15 years with their two boys, Peter and Harry.
Nick has always enjoyed photography
(https://notsocommonphotography.com/).
For the last few years, he has been learning to play drums — the electronic kind — so the neighbors (and his wife) will remain on good terms with him.
Aaron Kominos-Smith
Aaron Kominos-Smith is a standup comedian and former architect. He has called Dumbo home for 15 years while touring across the country. You can watch some of Aaron’s comedy and check his tour schedule on his website (www.funnyaaron.com). Aaron’s favorite spot in Dumbo is the old truck hidden in the trees on Plymouth Street near the Navy Yard.
Jimmy Ng
Jimmy is a New Yorker to his soul: impatient, loud, and hungry all the time. He grew up on the Lower East Side, and has lived in DUMBO for 10 years with his partner Kelly, 5lb Maltipoo, and new baby Emily!
His happy places are the water (NYC Parks & Recreation Dept lifeguard for 7 years), classical music (LaGuardia High School Class of '03), and doing new projects with his Raspberry Pi (twitter.com/howbusyisdumbo).
Jimmy works in the technology industry and is currently brainstorming side/fun projects that involve opendata.cityofnewyork.us. His favorite DUMBO activity is watching the water splash up into Emily Roebling Plaza from the East River during high tide.
