NYC Housing Chief steps down

Rafael E. Cestero, the commissioner of New York City’s Department of Housing Prevention and Development, will step down in March to take a job in the private sector, The New York Times reported.

Cestero lives in Brooklyn during the week while his wife and three children live in Westfield, N.J. He will join L+M Development Partners partly so that he can spend more time with his family.

During his time as commissioner, Cestero worked to preserve rundown multifamily buildings that were abandoned during the housing crisis.

“I came to H.P.D. to help the agency figure out how to manage its way through the worst economy we’ve seen in a long time,” he said. “I feel like we’ve been enormously successful.”