Kurt Steinhouse is an associate with the U.S. Planning and Zoning Practice in the firm’s New York office. He focuses his practice on all aspects of land use, zoning and real estate development in New York City.

Before joining the firm, Kurt served as general counsel to the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals. As such, he worked on numerous complex projects involving residential, commercial and community facility development and advised city agencies and the private sector on New York’s reticulated zoning, construction codes and environmental review requirements. He drafted hundreds of resolutions for board adoption, participated in public hearings, developed litigation strategy and oversaw outside counsel defending the city in litigation. Kurt also coordinated with governmental agencies and officials and represented the agency before the New York City Council.

Before joining the Board of Standards and Appeals in 2016, Kurt worked as an assistant general counsel with the New York City Department of Buildings, where he represented the agency in interpretive appeals before the Board of Standards and Appeals, and as a postgraduate fellow in the legal department of New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Kurt teaches planning law at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation as an adjunct professor, and he chairs the New York City Bar Association’s Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee.

Kurt received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and his B.A., summa cum laude, from The College of William and Mary, where he was a James Monroe Scholar.

REPRESENTATIVE REPORTED DECISIONS:

• AAG Mgt., Inc. v. New York State Urb. Dev. Corp., No. 159184/22, 2024 WL 5048880 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dept. Dec. 10, 2024)
• Penn Community Defend Fund v. New York State Urban Development Corp., Index No. 159154/2022; AAG Management, Inc. v. New York State Urban Development Corp., Index No. 159184/2022, 2023 WL 6126233 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County Sept. 19, 2023)