Vicki L. Been is an American lawyer, public servant, and professor who served as the Deputy Mayor of New York City for Housing and Economic Development from April 2019 to December 2021.
She graduated from Colorado State University, after paying her entrance fees partially with a scholarship she won in a cooking competition.
[3] During her clerkship, she met her husband, Richard Revesz, who was clerking for Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall.
[4] After working for the Iran–Contra investigation and as an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton, Been began her academic career in 1988, joining the faculty of Rutgers–Newark School of Law, as an assistant professor.
[9] She began her academic career as one of the first law professors to address the area of environmental justice, focusing on equity considerations of the siting of undesirable land uses.
She later turned her focus to the study of takings and eminent domain, writing articles on Supreme Court cases Palazzolo v. Rhode Island and Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council.
In February 2016, Been defended a zoning proposal to allow taller buildings in exchange for more affordable housing units.
[21] In November 2016, her office initiated enforcement action seeking to make city landlords of affordable housing "play by the rules" or risk losing valuable tax exemptions.