Ken Fisher

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Bio

Former New York City Council Member Kenneth K. Fisher is a partner at the law firm of Wolf Block Schorr & Solis-Cohen, where he concentrates his practice on the civic fabric of New York City.

Ken served in the New York City Council 1991-2001, representing the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Greenpoint, Williamsburg, downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, and Boerum Hill. He was described by various newspapers as "one of the most talented members of the City Council, effective, hardworking, an original thinker, and progressive." A survey by the New York Daily News ranked him one of the five most effective members of the City Council. During his tenure, he chaired a Land Use Subcommittee of the Council, overseeing the approval of hundreds of millions of dollars of public works, and the Committee on Youth Services.

An advocate of historic preservations, he has presided over the designation of numerous historic districts and individual landmarks. Ken spearheaded the Council's hard hitting investigation and hearings on violence, corruption and waste at the Fulton Fish Market, and was the chief sponsor of the legislation to regulate the Market, the City's other wholesale food markets and the private garbage carting industry. He also conceived and secured funding for the City's Childhood Asthma Initiative, which has been credited with cutting the hospitalization rate for children with asthma by a third.

One singular honor received by Ken was a Certificate of Commendation from the New York City Police Department for his personal effort and bravery in diffusing a tense racial confrontation in Williamsburg over an eighteen hour period in October 1993. The certificate is the Police Department's highest civilian award, and was presented by Police Commissioner Bratton at a ceremony at Police Headquarters. Ken also received awards from the Historic Districts Council, the Landmarks Conservancy, American Lung Association and more than thirty other civic and neighborhood organizations.

Ken's articles on various aspects of public policy have been published in the New York Times, Crain's New York Business, New York Newsday, the New York Daily News, and the New York Law Journal. Ken has taught at Baruch College's School of Public Affairs, New York University, and has lectured at other colleges. He is chair of the Governor's Island Alliance, and a member of the boards of the Historic House Trust and the Transit Museum. Ken is a Fellow of the Institute for Urban Design and a member of the Zoning Advisor Council.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Ken graduated from Raymond College at the University of the Pacific, and the Syracuse University College of Law. Ken is married and lives with his wife Kirsten and their two children in Brooklyn Heights.

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