A Note to Our Community: Black Lives Matter. Black Voices Matter. Black Businesses Matter.

A Note to Our Community: Black Lives Matter. Black voices matter. Black businesses matter.

Over the past couple weeks, we as a company have witnessed—like all of you—the powerful movement happening in our country following the tragic deaths of George Lloyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery among so many others. We are heartbroken and outraged and want to be part of creating the systemic change we as a city and as a country so desperately need. But first, we need to have a hard, honest conversation with ourselves and recognize where we have contributed to—and benefited from—systemic racism.  

As we grow in self-awareness and look to make meaningful change, we want to make it clear where we stand: Black lives matter. Black voices matter. Black businesses matter. We recognize that what matters most is what we do about that every day going forward. We plan to hold ourselves accountable and ask you to hold us accountable to taking meaningful action.

For each Vicus team member, taking meaningful action means many different things. As a company, taking meaningful action includes using our voices as NYC tenant representatives to further the footprint of black-owned and minority-owned businesses, which have declined by 30% in a 5 year period even before being hit disproportionately hard by COVID-19; re-committing ourselves to hire, mentor, and promote black professionals in a notoriously homogenous industry; and doing more to support the black-owned businesses and black leaders we represent beyond the realm of real estate.

We have a long way to go, and invite you to reach out to us for an open dialogue on resources we’ve been learning from and listening to, which impactful organizations we’re supporting, and actionable ways we can bring about change both in our company and throughout New York’s commercial real estate community.

In Commitment,
Bert Rosenblatt and Andrew Stein
Founders, Vicus Partners