In spring semester 1977, Carol Kostik, then a Williams College political economy major, got her first taste of New York.
"It was my first experience living in New York and I fell in love with the city," she said. "It just felt like a place, a city and a government where you can put ideas to work."
Moving to the city when she graduated two years later, Kostik began a long and distinguished career in banking and public finance. Now the city's deputy comptroller for public finance, Kostik is the 2015 public-sector winner of the annual Freda Johnson Award for Trailblazing Women in Public Finance.
Meghan Burke, the Boston-based head of public finance at law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC, is the private sector winner. Northeast Women in Public Finance will present the awards to Kostik and Burke at The Bond Buyer's 14th annual Deal of the Year ceremony in New York on Dec. 3.
The award is named for the longtime analyst and financial advisor who was the first woman to head the public finance department at Moody's Investors Service. Johnson is also a founding board member of Northeast Women in Public Finance.
This is the fifth year of the award and the second in which the organization is honoring two public finance professionals, one each from the public and private sectors. Previous winners were Connecticut Treasurer Denise Nappier; Rhode Island General Treasurer and now Gov. Gina Raimondo; and Philadelphia City Treasurer Nancy Winkler.
"It's such an incredible list of women," Kostik said in an interview at the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in lower Manhattan. "My first reaction is, why me?"
Since her initial appointment to the city comptroller's office in 2006, Kostik has managed the issuance of more than $90 billion of debt to fund capital projects and to refinance high interest rate bonds for budget savings.
Kostik has worked for three comptrollers, all with different styles: William Thompson, John Liu and, since early 2014, incumbent Scott Stringer.
"Carol has dedicated her career to public service, and that's what the Freda Johnson Award is all about," said Stringer. "Over the last decade, Carol has served the comptroller's office – and the people of New York – with distinction, and during that time her extensive knowledge, financial acumen and dedication to duty have earned her the unqualified respect of her co-workers, and the admiration of her peers.
"I am proud that The Bond Buyer and Northeast Women in Public Finance have recognized her hard work and exemplary service."
Of the deputy comptrollers now on staff, Kostik is the senior at her position. In addition, there are eight woman and three men at the deputy comptroller or equivalent level.
"It's exciting to have new people come in with a new framework," said Kostik, who has earned widespread praise among city officials and in the capital markets for her experience and savvy. "We have a collegial atmosphere here. We hash out issues and we work well together."
Kostik's career has spanned the city's early recovery from its mid-1970s brush with bankruptcy to the 2008 crisis. She helped the city's debt program weather the severe market stresses of 2008 and then capitalize on new financial instruments and historic low interest rates.
She is especially proud of the city's work during the 2008 crisis. The city went to the dried-up markets on Sept. 29 of that year -- amid an ugly stock-market fall -- and issued $300 million of new-money bonds.
"I felt like we got ahead of it," said Kostik. "We were able to read the tea leaves and protect bondholders. We kept the financing going, though not on the same scale.
"People didn't know AIG's balance sheet, but they knew New York City's."
Kostik also enjoyed working with the Build America Bonds program, and hopes for its revival.
"For New York City, it was a great product," she said.
Before joining the comptroller's office, she was senior vice president and chief financial officer of the New York City Housing Development Corp.
Previously, she was founding chief financial officer of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority, and oversight board, and a vice president in Merrill Lynch & Co.'s public finance department.
Kostik counts former Merrill Lynch managing directors Jeffrey Humber and Doreen Frasca among her most inspirational people. "I learned so much from them about debt coverage and how to handle situations of different types," she said.
She also enjoyed her working relationship with Robert Mulcahy, for 19 years the president of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which oversaw the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
"He was my client, and a man of great integrity," said Kostik. "He governed during a tough time. He always decided based on what was good for the authority, not him personally."
In addition to her bachelor's degree from Williams, Kostik holds a master's in business administration from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
The Municipal Forum of New York honored her with its public service award in 2010.
