The Authority is governed by a board of seven directors, each appointed by the Governor, one each upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the State Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly and the State Comptroller. Four directors constitute a quorum for meetings of the directors of the Authority. The Governor also designates the chairperson and vice-chairperson from among the directors.

Adam L. Barsky - Chairman & Director

Mr. Barsky is an accomplished senior executive who brings more than 25 years of dedicated experience in management and public policy.

Mr. Barsky currently serves as Chief of Staff and Special Counselor at the Port Authority of NY and NJ. Prior to that Mr. Barsky served as Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of IDB bank NY from 2006 to the 2017 etc.
In that senior role, Mr. Barsky oversaw all aspects of risk management for the bank including credit, market and operational risk, and strategic and reputation risk.

Mr. Barsky has held numerous positions in state and local government including Deputy Secretary to the Governor for Public Authorities, Financing and Housing and New York City Issues under George Pataki.

Before that, Mr. Barsky served as Budget Director and Chief Financial Officer of the City of New York under Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations. Mr. Barsky also worked as Chairman of the New York City Employees Retirement System, Chairman of the New York City Transitional Finance Authority, Chairman of the NYC Municipal Water Finance Authority, Acting Commissioner of the New York City Department of Finance, and Chief Financial Officer of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Mr. Barsky graduated cum laude from the State University of New York, Albany with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Mr. Barsky is also a certified public accountant and has also completed Columbia Business School’s Risk Management Executive Education Program. Mr. Barsky was appointed as Chairman and a Director of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 1, 2016. His term expired on December 31, 2016 and he currently serves as a holdover.

Paul Annunziato - Director

Paul Annunziato is a First Vice President Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley in Jericho, New York. He has worked in The Financial Services Industry for more than 20 years. Working within the Private Client Division, Paul and his Team manage a Family Office offering Financial Planning solutions to high net worth families in the New York Area. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in July of 2008, Paul and his Team worked at Merrill Lynch for 15 years. In addition to his Federal Securities Licenses (series 7, 31, 63, 65) and state insurance licenses, Paul has obtained his CFP and CRPC designations from the College For Financial Planning, his CFM from the Donald T Regan School of Advanced Financial Management as well as his International Wealth Management Designation. Paul is a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.S. from College of Business. Paul also completed an International Business Degree from Sheffield Polytechnic in the United Kingdom.

Paul has previous served on the Nassau County Sewer and Storm Water Authority from 2003 - 2005. He remains active with the Nassau County Firefighter's Museum and Education Center as a Founding Trustee. Paul Annunziato remains committed to various local Charities and Organizations such as Chaminade High School, Boys and Girls Club, Knights of Columbus, Chamber Players International, Order Sons of Italy in America, Coast Guard Auxiliary, and The American Cancer Society to name a few.

Mr. Annunziato was appointed to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by Governor Andrew Cuomo on September 17, 2013. His term expired on December 31, 2014.

Paul J. Leventhal - Director

Paul Leventhal is President of the accounting firm of Leventhal and Company, CPAs PC. The firm represents Corporate and Individual clients in the areas of accounting, taxation, and management advisory services. The firm has offices in Roslyn, New York. Mr. Leventhal is Vice President of Leventhal Financial Services, Inc. which provides financial and management advisory services to clients in the entertainment, sports, and real estate industries.

Mr. Leventhal served previously as a member of the Board of Directors of the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (2006 to 2010) and Chairman of the Governance Committee (2008 to 2010).

Mr. Leventhal also served as:

Chairman of the Nassau County Comptroller’s Audit Advisory Committee (2010 to 2014);

Director, Board of Directors, Nassau Health & Hospital Corporation (2012 to 2014); Chairman Legal & Audit Committee (2012 to 2014); Chairman Finance Committee (2012 to 2014); Member, Presidential Search Committee (2013 to 2014).

Member of the Nassau Community College Board of Trustees from 1999 to 2006, as an officer of the Board from 2000 to 2006, as the vice chair of its Finance committee in 2006 and as the Chairman of its Enrollment committee in 2006.

Chairman, Zoning Board of Appeals of the Incorporated Village of Muttontown (2007 to 2018), Alternate Member (2006).

Mr. Leventhal graduated from Ithaca College in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science Magna cum Laude, and graduated from New York University Graduate School of Business Administration in 1973 with a Master of Science in Accounting. Mr. Leventhal is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and has been practicing Accounting for more than 40 years.

Mr. Leventhal was appointed to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by Governor Andrew Cuomo upon the recommendation of the Majority Leader of the Senate on January 31, 2014. His term expired on December 31, 2017 and he currently serves as a holdover.

Lester Petracca - Director

Lester Petracca founded Triangle Equities in 1986 and serves as President of the New York based real estate company. With over 35 years of industry experience and demonstrated expertise operating at the intersection of public and private enterprise, Mr. Petracca focuses his business, public and charitable work on creating positive changes in the New York metropolitan area. He has created a thriving, fullservice real estate company by coupling the building and management experience he first gained as a partner at a family operated construction firm, with the innovative, results-oriented and community-centric approach that has come to define Triangle’s work.

Under Mr. Petracca’s leadership, Triangle is focused on creating value in communities by embracing the complexities inherent to responsible urban development and takes pride in working closely with the communities it develops in. Mr. Petracca has fostered a development strategy that joins the creativity, determination and skill of the first-rate team he has assembled, with the resources and amenities needed by each of the communities in which Triangle invests.

Mr. Petracca also devotes considerable time to public service and charitable work. Governor Andrew Cuomo appointed him to both the Battery Park City Authority and Nassau County Interim Finance Authority and he currently sits on both, serving as Chairman of the Battery Park City Investment Committee and Chairman of the Employment and Compensation Committee for the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority. He was also a member of the General Contractors Association of New York

Mr. Petracca graduated from the University of Dayton in 1977 with a B.S. in Finance and Management.

Mr. Petracca was appointed to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by Governor Andrew Cuomo on September 18, 2013. His term will expire on December 31, 2016.

Howard Weitzman - Director

Howard Weitzman has had a career spanning 49 years in Finance, Accounting, Healthcare and Government. Following their acquisition of his accounting firm in 1982, he served as a partner of the global accounting firm KPMG where he served as partner-in-charge of that firm’s regional healthcare accounting, consulting and tax services. Subsequently he founded and served as CEO of a publicly traded mail service pharmaceutical company and a private healthcare financial services company. Howard earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Accounting from Queens College and has undergone management training at Stanford University. He became a certified public accountant in New York in 1971.

Howard was first elected Mayor of the Village of Great Neck Estates in 1989 and served 6 years in that position following 6 years as a Village Trustee. He was appointed to the Nassau County Board of Assessors in 1995 by then County Executive Thomas Gulotta. Howard was elected Nassau County Comptroller in 2001 and served 2 terms in that position. He brought much needed structural and technical changes to that office and was part of the team that stabilized Nassau’s finances and restructured the finances of the Nassau University Medical Center. Howard was appointed by Governor Elliot Spitzer to serve on the NYS Commission on Government Efficiency and Consolidation in 2007. He also served as Chair of the NYS Association of Counties Committee on Taxation and Finance. He has served on the boards of charitable, civic, educational and business organizations, and has received many awards for his work in Government.

Mr. Weitzman was appointed to the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority by Governor Andrew Cuomo upon the recommendation of NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on August 26, 2016. He was reappointed, again upon the recommendation of Assembly Speaker Heastie on August 3, 2018. His term of office expires on December 31, 2021.

Christopher P. Wright - Director

Chris Wright, from Protiviti’s New York office, is the firm-wide Managing Director of the Business Performance Improvement solution, which includes the firm’s Public Company Transformation and Financial Reporting Remediation and Compliance groups. He has over thirty years of experience serving clients as an external auditor, including 6 years as a partner at two global accounting firms (Arthur Andersen and KPMG), and as an internal auditor and financial reporting risk consultant.

At Protiviti, Chris has provided internal audit out-sourcing and co-sourcing, Sarbanes-Oxley readiness and compliance services, and significant assistance to companies experiencing restatements, regulatory inquiries, stock compensation and other financial investigations and difficulties in implementing new accounting pronouncements, including revenue recognition and lease accounting. Chris earned his Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Accounting from Franciscan University and a Master of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from Quinnipiac University.

Chris serves on the boards of several charitable, civic, educational and business organizations. His work in Financial Reporting Remediation and Compliance has also involved a significant commitment to public speaking and the development and delivery of internal and external training.

Mr. Wright was appointed to the NIFA Board by Governor Spitzer upon the recommendation from NYS Comptroller DiNapoli on September 24, 2007. He was re-appointed, again on the recommendation of Comptroller DiNapoli, by Governor Paterson on June 15, 2010, and Governor Cuomo on January 29, 2015 and August 3, 2018. His term of office expires on December 31, 2021.

Evan Cohen - Executive Director

Evan Cohen serves as Executive Director. Mr. Cohen has approximately 25 years of financial management experience dealing with governments. He has worked for the Authority since 2000 and previously worked for the New York State Financial Control Board for the City of New York. Mr. Cohen earned a BE in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance.

Carl A. Dreyer - Treasurer

Carl Dreyer serves as Treasurer at NIFA. Carl has a Master's Degree in Finance and has been a Certified Public Accountant in New York State since 1982. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Chartered Global Managerial Accountants.

Kathleen Stella - Corporate Secretary & Chief Administrator

Kathleen Stella serves as Corporate Secretary and Chief Administrator. Ms. Stella's responsibilities include the organization of all meetings of the Directors as well as the preparation of numerous filings to fulfill State requirements. Prior to NIFA, Ms. Stella had 18 years' experience with the Long Island Power Authority as their Human Resources Coordinator and served as Board Secretary.

Jeremy Wise - General Counsel

Jeremy Wise serves as General Counsel and Chief Borrowing Officer. Mr. Wise has been admitted to the practice of law in New York State since 1978. The majority of his legal career has been spent working in the area of public finance.

Martha B. Worsham – Deputy Director

Martha Worsham serves as Deputy Director at NIFA. She has approximately 30 years of financial analysis experience in the private sector and government. Prior to joining NIFA, Mrs. Worsham worked for Nassau County as a Deputy Budget Director.