Julie Menin
Encyclopedia
Julie Menin is the Chairperson of Community Board 1
in Lower Manhattan
, New York City
and a frequent writer
, blog
ger and television news commentator. A former regulatory attorney
with special interests in environmental
, FTC
and FDA
law, Menin was elected to CB1 in a 2005 special election and re-elected to three successive two-year terms in 2006, 2008 and 2010. As chair of CB1, Menin has worked on numerous land use
and zoning
issues, leading a successful campaign to build new schools in her district, including New York's first "green" school.
when she founded and became president of Wall Street Rising, a non-profit organization
created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks to restore "vibrancy and vitality" in Lower Manhattan.
In 2002, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointed Menin as a Redistricting Commissioner to help in redrawing the new boundaries of the NYC City Council
.
In 2003, she was appointed to serve on the jury for the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition
.
She currently serves on six government and civic boards including the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
, The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation
, Citizens Union
, The Downtown Alliance, The Municipal Art Society
, and The Women's Campaign Forum.
She is also host of the NBC
interview show Give and Take which is seen around the country on NBC's 24 hour cable channel and online at www.juliemenin.com. On the show, Julie speaks to newsmakers, politician
s and entertainers in candid conversations about their careers and the issues of the day. The show launched in the fall of 2009.
On January 16, 2010, She wrote an op-ed for the New York Times arguing that the trial of 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed should be moved out of Lower Manhattan.
She led the charge to move the trial out of New York City, resulting in the Obama Administration backing out of New York City
On May 25, 2010, the Lower Manhattan
Community Board 1, which she chaired, voted 29-to-1, with 10 abstentions in a non-binding advisory vote backed part of the plans for Cordoba House to be built on a site near Ground Zero. The endorsement related only to "the important community facilities [the project] will provide," and the resolution indicated that the board "takes no position regarding the religious aspects or any religious facilities associated with either the Cordoba Initiative or the Cordoba House Project." Menin supported deletion of references to the building as a mosque and interfaith center that were in an earlier draft of the resolution, saying: "I personally was uncomfortable with the language that talked about the religious institution. I believe it's not the purview of a city agency to be weighing in on the siting of any religious institution, be it a mosque, synagogue, or church." The vote did not have any binding effect.
On August 30, 2010, she wrote an op-ed for the New York Daily News suggesting that an interfaith, nondenominational center be built on two floors of the project. This would be modeled after the Pentagon Interfaith Chapel in order to bridge the divide.
She has been a frequent critic of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (on whose board she sits) and exposed that the agency was sitting on over $200 million.
She battled Con Edison in 2010, who tried to lay claim to the $200 million of LMDC funding when Con Ed threatened to raise all New Yorkers rates by $50 if she did not back down. Menin then wrote the Public Service Commission demanding that they investigate Con Ed for illegally threatening to raise rates. She prevailed and the $200 million was allocated to Lower Manhattan as she had advocated.
On October 26 2011, Menin led Community Board 1 to a 33-3 vote in favor of Occupy Wall Street's First Amendment right to protest, and opposed the use of force by the city of New York, and at the same time urged the city to address some of the quality of life issues for restaurants and small businesses adjacent to the site, saying "the two were not mutually exclusive." This approach was praised in a New York Times editorial as a "good approach."
, Gotham
, and Downtown Express. Menin has also been a frequent guest commentator on politics and law for CNN
, Fox National, CBS
, NBC, NPR and has appeared on CNN American Morning
, CNN Situation Room
, NBC Today Show, CBS Early Show, Larry King
, The O'Reilly Factor
, Hannity & Colmes
, and other shows.
In the fall of 2009, Menin recently launched her own talk show
, Give and Take, which airs on NBC's 24-hour cable network in major markets around the country.
Give and Take is an in-depth interview
program that explores current events and features prominent figures from a wide variety of fields including business
, law
, politics
, science
, medicine
, and the arts
. Through one-on-one interviews and panel discussions, the program also examines today’s major headlines and newsmakers.
Guests who have appeared on Give and Take include: MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski
, former New York Governors George Pataki
, Eliot Spitzer
and David Paterson
, Newark Mayor Cory Booker
, MSNBC hosts Ed Schultz
& Dylan Ratigan
, Dan Rather
, Reverend Al Sharpton, former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge
, Author and foreign correspondent David Rohde who was kidnapped and held by the Taliban, former New York Banking Superintendent Diana Taylor
, Lou Dobbs
, Paola Antonelli (curator of Architecture and Design for the Museum of Modern Art
), Marci Klein
(Producer of “Saturday Night Live
” and “30 Rock
”), entrepreneur Liz Lange (founder of Liz Lange Maternity), and “Today Show” nutrition expert Joy Bauer
.
where she received her BA in political science
, Menin received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law
before working as a Senior Regulatory Attorney at Colgate-Palmolive
and a regulatory attorney at Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington DC.
Community Service Award, The ACE Civic award, The Women's Club of NY "City Spirit Award", Manhattan Youth's Community Service award, and 2010 NY League of Conservation Voters, and others.
Julie Menin received the Citizens Union 2011 Civic Leadership Award. www.citizensunion.org
Community Boards of Manhattan
Community Boards of Manhattan are local government bodies in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which are appointed by the Borough President or City Council members. Each of the 12 Community Boards in Manhattan consists of up to 50 non-paid members. They do not have any administrative rights,...
in Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and a frequent writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger and television news commentator. A former regulatory attorney
Attorney at law
An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...
with special interests in environmental
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
, FTC
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
and FDA
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
law, Menin was elected to CB1 in a 2005 special election and re-elected to three successive two-year terms in 2006, 2008 and 2010. As chair of CB1, Menin has worked on numerous land use
Land use
Land use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...
and zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
issues, leading a successful campaign to build new schools in her district, including New York's first "green" school.
Political and Civic Work
Menin became active in New York City politicsPolitics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
when she founded and became president of Wall Street Rising, a non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks to restore "vibrancy and vitality" in Lower Manhattan.
In 2002, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointed Menin as a Redistricting Commissioner to help in redrawing the new boundaries of the NYC City Council
New York City Council
The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...
.
In 2003, she was appointed to serve on the jury for the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition
World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition
The World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition was an open, international memorial contest, initiated by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation , as per the specifications of architect Daniel Libeskind, to design a World Trade Center Site Memorial on a portion of the World Trade Center site...
.
She currently serves on six government and civic boards including the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed in July 2002, after the September 11 attacks to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan....
, The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation
World Trade Center Memorial
- Fundraising :The Foundation has fundraising responsibilities because of the tasks assigned to it by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation...
, Citizens Union
Citizens Union
Citizens Union is one of the United States' first good government groups. Founded in 1897 as a political party, the group was reconstituted in 1908 as a non-partisan member organization with the broad mission of serving "as a watchdog for the public interest and an advocate for the common...
, The Downtown Alliance, The Municipal Art Society
Municipal Art Society
The Municipal Art Society of New York, founded in 1893, is a non-profit membership organization that fights for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation through education, dialogue and advocacy in New York City....
, and The Women's Campaign Forum.
She is also host of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
interview show Give and Take which is seen around the country on NBC's 24 hour cable channel and online at www.juliemenin.com. On the show, Julie speaks to newsmakers, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
s and entertainers in candid conversations about their careers and the issues of the day. The show launched in the fall of 2009.
On January 16, 2010, She wrote an op-ed for the New York Times arguing that the trial of 9-11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed should be moved out of Lower Manhattan.
She led the charge to move the trial out of New York City, resulting in the Obama Administration backing out of New York City
On May 25, 2010, the Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
Community Board 1, which she chaired, voted 29-to-1, with 10 abstentions in a non-binding advisory vote backed part of the plans for Cordoba House to be built on a site near Ground Zero. The endorsement related only to "the important community facilities [the project] will provide," and the resolution indicated that the board "takes no position regarding the religious aspects or any religious facilities associated with either the Cordoba Initiative or the Cordoba House Project." Menin supported deletion of references to the building as a mosque and interfaith center that were in an earlier draft of the resolution, saying: "I personally was uncomfortable with the language that talked about the religious institution. I believe it's not the purview of a city agency to be weighing in on the siting of any religious institution, be it a mosque, synagogue, or church." The vote did not have any binding effect.
On August 30, 2010, she wrote an op-ed for the New York Daily News suggesting that an interfaith, nondenominational center be built on two floors of the project. This would be modeled after the Pentagon Interfaith Chapel in order to bridge the divide.
She has been a frequent critic of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (on whose board she sits) and exposed that the agency was sitting on over $200 million.
She battled Con Edison in 2010, who tried to lay claim to the $200 million of LMDC funding when Con Ed threatened to raise all New Yorkers rates by $50 if she did not back down. Menin then wrote the Public Service Commission demanding that they investigate Con Ed for illegally threatening to raise rates. She prevailed and the $200 million was allocated to Lower Manhattan as she had advocated.
On October 26 2011, Menin led Community Board 1 to a 33-3 vote in favor of Occupy Wall Street's First Amendment right to protest, and opposed the use of force by the city of New York, and at the same time urged the city to address some of the quality of life issues for restaurants and small businesses adjacent to the site, saying "the two were not mutually exclusive." This approach was praised in a New York Times editorial as a "good approach."
Media
A contributing blogger to the Huffington Post, Menin has also written op-ed pieces for the New York Daily NewsNew York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, Gotham
Gotham (magazine)
Gotham Magazine is a regional magazine published by Niche Media, LLC since 2001 and primarily targets New York's most affluent residents and visitors. According to a survey commissioned by the company, 56% of Gotham Magazine readers are male, with 51% married, and some two-thirds within the age...
, and Downtown Express. Menin has also been a frequent guest commentator on politics and law for CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox National, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, NBC, NPR and has appeared on CNN American Morning
American Morning
American Morning is the morning television show on CNN. It premiered in 2001.-About the show:American Morning is hosted by Ashleigh Banfield, Zoraida Sambolin & Soledad O'Brien. Others who appear regularly are Rob Marciano with the weather, Sunny Hostin on legal news, and CNN senior medical...
, CNN Situation Room
The Situation Room
The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer is an afternoon/early evening newscast on CNN and CNN International hosted by Wolf Blitzer that first aired on August 8, 2005. The show replaces three politics and hard news programs: Judy Woodruff's Inside Politics, Crossfire and Wolf Blitzer Reports.At first,...
, NBC Today Show, CBS Early Show, Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
, The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
, Hannity & Colmes
Hannity & Colmes
Hannity & Colmes was a live television show on Fox News Channel in the United States, hosted by Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes, who respectively presented a conservative and liberal perspective. The series premiered on October 6, 1996, and the final episode aired on January 9, 2009. It was the...
, and other shows.
In the fall of 2009, Menin recently launched her own talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
, Give and Take, which airs on NBC's 24-hour cable network in major markets around the country.
Give and Take is an in-depth interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
program that explores current events and features prominent figures from a wide variety of fields including business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
, law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, and the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
. Through one-on-one interviews and panel discussions, the program also examines today’s major headlines and newsmakers.
Guests who have appeared on Give and Take include: MSNBC "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski
Mika Brzezinski
Mika Emilie Leonia Brzezinski is an American television news journalist at MSNBC. Brzezinski is co-host of MSNBC's weekday morning program Morning Joe, where she provides regular commentary and reads the news headlines for the program...
, former New York Governors George Pataki
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
, Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Spitzer
Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
and David Paterson
David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...
, Newark Mayor Cory Booker
Cory Booker
Cory Anthony Booker is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Booker is a former Newark City Councilman...
, MSNBC hosts Ed Schultz
Ed Schultz
Edward Andrew "Ed" Schultz Is an American television and radio host and a liberal political commentator . He is the host of The Ed Show, a daily news talk program on MSNBC, and The Ed Schultz Show, a talk radio show, nationally syndicated by Dial Global, promising "straight talk."-Early...
& Dylan Ratigan
Dylan Ratigan
Dylan Jason Ratigan is an American television host primarily covering financial markets, the global economy, and politics. He is host of The Dylan Ratigan Show which airs weekday afternoons on MSNBC. He is also a frequent contributor on The Huffington Post.- Early life :Ratigan was born in the...
, Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
, Reverend Al Sharpton, former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge
Tom Ridge
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge is an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives , the 43rd Governor of Pennsylvania , Assistant to the President for Homeland Security , and the first United States Secretary of Homeland Security...
, Author and foreign correspondent David Rohde who was kidnapped and held by the Taliban, former New York Banking Superintendent Diana Taylor
Diana Taylor
Diana Taylor is the former New York State Superintendent of Banks. She lives with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.-Early life:...
, Lou Dobbs
Lou Dobbs
Louis Carl "Lou" Dobbs is an American journalist, radio host, television host on the Fox Business Network, and author. He anchored CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight until November 2009 when he announced on the air that he would leave the 24-hour cable news television network.He was born in Texas and lived...
, Paola Antonelli (curator of Architecture and Design for the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
), Marci Klein
Marci Klein
Marci Klein is a four-time Emmy Award-winning American television producer who is best known for her work on 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live...
(Producer of “Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
” and “30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
”), entrepreneur Liz Lange (founder of Liz Lange Maternity), and “Today Show” nutrition expert Joy Bauer
Joy Bauer
Joy L. Bauer, MS, RD, is the founder of Joy Bauer Nutrition Centers and the nutrition expert on the Today Show.- Books and Publications :Bauer is the author of a number of cookbooks and books about diet including:...
.
Legal career
A magna cum laude graduate of Columbia College, Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
where she received her BA in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
, Menin received her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law
Northwestern University School of Law
The Northwestern University School of Law is a private American law school in Chicago, Illinois. The law school was founded in 1859 as the Union College of Law of the Old University of Chicago. The first law school established in Chicago, it became jointly controlled by Northwestern University in...
before working as a Senior Regulatory Attorney at Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive
Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products . Under its "Hill's" brand, it is also a manufacturer of...
and a regulatory attorney at Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington DC.
Awards
Menin was recently named by City Hall newspaper as one of the "40 Under 40" political stars in New York politics, and was named by the New York Resident as one of the "Top 100 New Yorkers" and received the Women's Campaign Forum's "Rising Star" Award. She has received the National Association of Women Business OwnersNational Association of Women Business Owners
The National Association of Women Business Owners is an organization in the United States founded in 1975 that has the purpose of networking the approximately 10.6 million women-owned businesses so as to provide mutual support, share resources, and provide a single voice to help shape economic and...
Community Service Award, The ACE Civic award, The Women's Club of NY "City Spirit Award", Manhattan Youth's Community Service award, and 2010 NY League of Conservation Voters, and others.
Julie Menin received the Citizens Union 2011 Civic Leadership Award. www.citizensunion.org