2024 NY Land Bank Champion Awards were presented on July 12, 2024 to Wade Beltramo and Adam Zaranko.

When Adam Zaranko joined our association as ED of the Albany Land Bank, it was obvious that he was going to be a rising star. Not long after, he took the reins as President of the NYLBA knowing he had "big shoes to fill" following our founding President Katelyn. He proved his mettle and his value as he assisted his fellow land banks as he navigated the halls of state, led our advocacy efforts with poise  and proficiency, and helped us all navigate the uncertain times we faced through the pandemic and after. Adam helped led our efforts in the State Legislature to be recognized as leaders in the field of housing and worthy of annual financial support from the state. He also achieved much success with his own land bank in Albany, initiating programs and partnerships to incentivize investment in distressed neighborhoods, create equitable housing opportunities for first time homeowners, and nurture beneficial relationships in new housing development.

Wade Beltramo, General Counsel for the New York Conference of Mayors, helped lobby for passage of the 2011 NY Land Bank Act before most of us got involved in this work. Once land banks were established, Wade took us under his wing and taught us how to go about lobbying in Albany for legislative changes that have saved land banks significant amounts of money on transaction and carrying costs each year and for inclusion of land bank funding in the NY State budget. He has kept our finger on the pulse of vacant and abandoned property-related legislative movements in Albany and connected us with allied groups we should know and collaborate with. Most recently, he made sure that land banks had a seat at the table as RPTL amendments were being hashed out after the Tyler v. Hennepin County SCOTUS ruling. Perhaps most importantly, his infectious optimism has kept many of us going when we might otherwise get bogged down with day-to-day challenges. He’s not one to complain about how hard it is to get things done in NY, but he is quick suggest improvements to the system and lobby for their adoption, providing an example for us all to follow.

2023 NY Land Bank Champion Awards were presented September 18, 2023 to Jonathan Link Logan and Tarik Abdelazim.

Jonathan Link Logan is the Senior Manager of Neighborhood Development for CenterState CEO. For the previous five years he served as the Director of Northside UP, where he was Program Manager for nine years prior. While in grad school, he worked for the National Vacant Properties Campaign, now known as the Center for Community Progress. He worked with CenterState CEO, funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation, to advocate for the passage of the NY Land Bank Act and provide assistance to the NY Land Bank Association as it took shape in 2012 and 2013. Once the Syracuse Land Bank was established, he served on its Land Bank Citizens Advisory Board, playing a significant role in crafting the Syracuse Land Bank’s policies on disposition and maintenance of properties. For for the past three years, he has served on the Greater Syracuse Land Bank’s board of directors. For the last ~4 years the NYLBA has contracted with CenterState for staff support; under this contract Jonathan has provided indispensable support, patiently keeping this otherwise all-volunteer (read: often chaotic and disorganized) organization on track, making us more effective advocates for state and federal funding and legislative reform. 

Tarik Abdelazim is the Director of National Technical Assistance for the Center for Community Progress. Prior to this, he served for nearly four years as the Director of Planning, Housing and Community Development for the City of Binghamton, NY. Prior to that, he served as the Deputy Mayor for four years. During his time with the City of Binghamton, he was involved in the creation of the Broome County Land Bank; he now serves on their board of directors. Tarik has consistently made himself available to land banks across NY as a sounding board, connecting us to best practices and allied organizations, and has served as our best historian and storyteller, writing our 5- and 10-year reports on the state of land banking in NY and holding NY success stories up for a national audience. 

Presenting these awards, NYLBA Treasurer, Katelyn Wright, noted, “Tarik and Jonathan could both be called patron saints of NY land banks. They are both experts on land banking, but being one step removed from day-to-day operations they are able to see the bigger patterns and guide land banks and the association in ways that keep us true to our ideals and focused on the reasons we started land banks in the first place - to make communities plagued with vacant and abandoned properties safer, healthier, more equitable places for the people who live there. And they both really live these ideals - Jonathan living on Lilac Street and renovating the vacant home next door to his and Tarik using his expertise to fight for equity and justice in local government. Both are a consistent inspiration to us all to do our work better. We are lucky to have them as part of our land banking family.” 

Our first annual NY Land Bank Champion Awards were presented in June 2022 to Katelyn Wright and John Sidd.

Katelyn Wright is the founding executive director of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank - one of the first five land banks established in NYS in 2012. She was the founding president of the NY Land Bank Association, serving from 2013-2018, served as the treasurer 2018-2024, and was re-elected president in January 2024. The Greater Syracuse Land Bank’s policies and procedures have served as templates for other land banks across NY to adapt to their needs. With the largest inventory and most proactive acquisition strategies of any NY land bank, they have provided a model others have used to make the case for land banking in their communities. 

John Sidd is the general counsel to the NY Land Bank Association and the Greater Syracuse Land Bank and numerous other NY land banks. He has authored numerous amendments to the NY Land Bank Act. These amendments save land banks across New York State hundreds of thousands of dollars in recording fees, property disposition expenses, real property taxes, special assessments, special ad valorem levies and user fees.

Katelyn and John have given generously of their time to assist other land banks across NY as they start-up and expand their operations, present their work at conferences and trainings, and advocate for legislative reforms that benefit all NY land banks.