DOWNTOWN Magazine’s Women’s Edition 2025 is officially on shelves and available at Barnes & Noble, Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Casa Magazine!

This special issue celebrates the powerful and inspiring women leading today’s workforce around the globe. Inside, you’ll find the semifinalist chefs from the 2024 James Beard Foundation Awards, a full recap of BARKtoberfest 2024, a spotlight on luxury real estate by Quinta Properties Savills, a nostalgic dive into NYC’s Little Italy, a celebration of the Netherlands’ 80th year of independence, an exclusive inside peek into the life and leadership of Lisa Silverstein, CEO of Silverstein Properties, and a stunning fashion retrospective featuring highlights from Philippe Reynaud’s work with DOWNTOWN Magazine—plus so much more.

Keep scrolling for a few glimpses into the features inside.

 

 

Her Story  by Grace A. Capobianco, Linda Sheridan, Cade Callen, Sabrina Little, and Grace Bugin

GRACE MENG, NYC CONGRESSWOMAN REPRESENTING 6th DISTRICT has been a Congresswoman since 2013, serving New York’s Sixth Congressional District, which encompasses parts of western, central, and northeast Queens. She is the first and only Asian American Member of Congress from New York.

 

CHANDRIKA TANDON, PHILANTHROPIST, SINGER is an Indian-American philanthropist and musician. She recently won at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards last month in the category Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album, for her release, Triveni. She lives by the motto, “Love, Light, Laughter.”

 

BRIANNE MANZ, FOUNDER, STROLLERINTHECITY The former fashion showroom owner is now a mom blogger/influencer, with 185k followers on Instagram alone. She lives with her husband and three children.

 

BLANDINE PAIRET,  HEAD OF AMERBUSINESS, STRATEGY & OPERATIONS, YOUTUBE, previously held the position of Chief of Staff to the CFO at YouTube. Before joining YouTube, Blandine worked at Google, serving as the Strategy and Ops Lead/Chief of Staff to the EMEA VP of Google Customer Solutions.

 

 

Savior Fare  Taste Innovators by Linda Sheridan

Lola’s in NoMad is Chef Suzanne Cupps’ first independent venture. The restaurant’s name means grandmother in Tagalog- a way for Cupps to celebrate her Filipino grandmother’s family legacy.

 

Melissa Lopez is not only a nominated chef at Barra Santos in Los Angeles, but she is also a partner of the restaurant, which opened in March 2023 and specializes in Portuguese cuisine.

 

Brooklyn native Hillary Sterling is the Executive Chef at restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Ci Siamo in Hudson Yards, which specializes in Italian cuisine, with emphasis on live fire cooking.

 

Things are moving fast in a relatively short time for Kayla Pfeiffer, owner and chef at Bicyclette Cookshop in Naples, Florida. Since its opening in 2023, Pfeiffer has earned widespread acclaim for her ability to blend modern techniques with classic global flavors and is a semifinalist in the James Beard Awards “’ Emerging Chef” Category.

 

 

SHELTER  Quinta Properties Savills by Sabrina Little

QP Savills offers beautiful homes and properties in the picturesque Algarve region in Portugal. Owned by German/Swiss sisters Alison Buechner Hojbjerg and Kerstin Buechner, the power duo brings more than 25 years of combined experience. “We deal with some of the most spectacular properties in Portugal–I couldn’t imagine where I’d rather live,” says Buechner Hojbjerg.

 

 

REWIND  Little Italy by Cade Callen

Approximately 80% of the Italians who arrived in America between 1870 and 1924 were Southern Italians fleeing the consequences of Giuseppe Garibaldi’s unification of Italy in 1861. Suddenly, thousands of Italians, who were dependent on the Spanish Feudalists who ruled the region prior to unification for resources, had absolutely nothing to their names, and were facing high taxes and widespread disease. The result? In 1850, there were only 900 Italians in Little Italy, and by 1900, there were 100,000.

 

 

EN VOGUE  Philippe Reynaud by Grace A. Capobianco

What I allowed my imagination to conjure up, Philippe brought to reality, from a stunning shoot on a beautiful sailing yacht, the SeaGlass Carousel, to an all-live circus. Philippe has gained international recognition for his editorial work in American, European, and Latin American publications.

 

 

LISA SILVERSTEIN  Building on a Legacy by Grace A. Capobianco

In October 2023, Lisa Silverstein was appointed by her father, Larry Silverstein, to be the new CEO of Silverstein Properties. DOWNTOWN’s Publisher and CEO, Grace A. Capobianco, who has a longstanding relationship with the Silverstein organization, recently interviewed Lisa to discuss her new role at the company, putting family first, the importance of respecting your colleagues, current real estate developments, and more.

Grace A. Capobianco: What advice would you give young women aspiring to leadership roles in real estate?

Lisa Silverstein: Associate yourself with companies that have a good reputation. Listen and learn. Work hard, and note what could be done better. Be a problem solver and help others to be their best. Make yourself known to your co-workers and senior management. Support your colleagues and take on extra work. Give credit to others when they deserve it, and be a good team player. Always be respectful and kind. No one wants to work for a bad person.