Board

Cobble Hill Association Executive Board

The CHA Executive Board is comprised of volunteer community members who are elected by their neighbors.

Amanda Sue Nichols

President

Amanda and her husband Patrick moved to Cobble Hill in 2013 so Amanda (a lawyer) could walk to a job at the court. Nine years and three kids later, Amanda dedicates her time to her family and to Brooklyn. Amanda joined the CHA board as 2nd VP in 2018, and over the last four years has helped organize community events, served on the LICH Construction Task Force, and acted as a general resource to assist neighbors with quality of life issues. In addition to her work on the CHA, Amanda is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum and a member of the Brooklyn-focused giving circle AllinBklyn.

Daniel Carr

Vice President

Daniel Carr, a lifelong Brooklynite, grew up in Fort Greene, and lives in Cobble Hill with his wife and two children. He received a graduate degree in real estate development from Columbia and works for a private equity firm focusing on real estate investment and development. Growing up, he attended school in the Cobble Hill area where his mother had a medical practice on Atlantic Avenue. Dan’s interests lie in urban growth patterns and he serves on the Executive Committee of the Urban Land Institute of New York.

Jonathan Minkoff

Treasurer

Jonathan and his wife Alex have lived in Brooklyn since 2008. They moved to Cobble Hill in 2021 with their two young children. Jonathan is the co-founder and Chief Financial and Investment Officer of ASH NYC, which focuses on a creative perspective on space, design, and real estate, predominantly in hospitality. Jonathan and his family enjoy outdoor activities, concerts, museums, and touring the various playgrounds in the neighborhood and the city.

Bennette Kramer

Secretary

Bennette is a lawyer practicing civil commercial litigation who is mostly retired from Schlam Stone & Dolan, a Manhattan law firm. She has lived in Cobble Hill for 50 years and raised her daughter here. She has been on the Cobble Hill Association Board for 6 years, serving as Secretary and Vice President, and has been involved in the Construction Task Force related to the development of the former LICH property since its inception.

Louis Cox

Director

Louis Cox was born and raised in Cobble Hill. With a background in filmmaking and writing, Louis has always been passionate about the creative arts. He has worked as a teaching assistant for cinematography, lighting, and film production courses at The New School in Manhattan, and was the film shoot supervisor for pre-teens at the SOCAPA summer arts program. In addition to his creative pursuits, Louis is passionate about community service and local politics. He is a serving member of the Brooklyn Democratic County Committee and an elected Judicial Delegate. He is licensed by the NYC Parks Department to perform street tree maintenance and has also contributed his expertise as a Juror for the 76th Annual Wabash Valley Exhibition at The Swope Art Museum. As a member of the Cobble Hill Association board, Louis is committed to maintaining the neighborhood’s beauty and vitality. He believes in preserving the trees, park, and cleanliness of the streets, and is dedicated to organizing community events that bring neighbors together. When he’s not trimming trees, Louis is a writer and filmmaker. In 2021, his debut feature film, Now Again, was published by The New Yorker, and he is currently directing a film adaptation of Our Lady of Queens, a play written by the late Joe Beck, starring Austin Pendleton, which is set to be released in 2023. Louis lives in Cobble Hill with his wife Ashley and their two cats. They recently welcomed their first child, Fiona, in the spring.

Joe Finnerty

Director

Joe moved with his young family to Brooklyn Heights in 1990. After a few moves in the Heights, he settled in Cobble Hill in 2004. He has served for many years in leadership at his law firm and as a Trustee at the Brooklyn Museum. He hopes to add value to the CHA’s good work in guiding the life and growth of the neighborhood while preserving the many things that make it an extraordinary place to live.

Katharina Gadow

Director

Katharina Gadow has lived in NY for almost 11 years, originally from Minnesota. Living in Kensington before Cobble Hill, she has now lived in the area for about three years and would consider it a dream come true to get a Little Free Library in the neighborhood! Working in book publishing, Katharina is a graduate of UW Madison and has her masters from NYU. She is passionate about access to books, literacy, and eliminating book deserts. When she isn’t reading in any spare moment she has with a cup of tea and her rescue kitty, Matthew, you can find her browsing the stalls at the farmers market by Borough Hall, shopping at Books are Magic, or watching the sail boats at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Amanda Jack

Director

Amanda Jack has lived in NYC since 2008 and in Cobble Hill since 2017 when she and her husband moved across the river for more space as in anticipation of their first child. Since 2011 she has worked as a public defender, first in Brooklyn and for the last 4 years in Manhattan. Currently she is the state policy attorney for the Legal Aid Society, working on campaigns to shrink the carceral system and protect the civil rights of indigent communities. She and her husband Paul have two children; Avonel, a kindergartner at PS29. and Maeve, 2 years old. She is a graduate of Boston College and CUNY School of Law and before law school worked on migrant labor and criminal legal system issues in Texas and then human rights in Colombia. She loves being an active member of the Cobble Hill CSA and biking around the neighborhood and beyond with her family. She is interested in promoting the idea of public safety as a product of community ties, investments and caretaking.

Rebecca Johnson

Director

Rebecca is a magazine journalist, novelist, and editor. She has lived in Cobble Hill for 32 years and been active in the CHA for the last decade, mostly in communications. She and her husband have raised two children and two dogs in the neighborhood. She is interested in housing equity and sustainability.

Allie Peterson

Director

Allie has lived in Brooklyn for seven years, moving with her husband, and two children (and dog) from Brooklyn Heights to Cobble Hill in August of 2020. Allie is a marketing consultant on brand partnerships, having worked for companies across a variety of industries (CPG, tech, payments, transportation). Her main interests include historic preservation, increasing green spaces, and community outreach and she looks forward to finding ways to make Cobble Hill an even better place to live. In her free time, you can find Allie sitting on her stoop (or a neighbor's stoop) and spending time with her kids in Cobble Hill Park.

Nick Thoele

Director

Nick Thoele lives in Cobble Hill with his wife and 1-yr old daughter. He has lived in NYC since 2010 and moved to Cobble Hill in early 2021. Nick is a Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal, a global consulting firm, where he specializes in financial due diligence. Nick grew up in Dallas, Texas and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied accounting and finance. Nick and his family enjoy strolling around the neighborhood, going to parks, watching planes and helicopters on the promenade, and finding new (and exploring old favorite) restaurants. Nick looks forward to meeting others on the board and in the community, and is excited about working together to improve daily life in the neighborhood.