Professional/Personal Overview
I'm an award-winning journalist who writes about real estate (The New York Times, Architectural Record, Habitat), health and the environment. Throw anything at me and I can turn around a fantastic, well-reported, accurate story.
Work Info
Expertise
Copywriter
4 Years
Reporter
11 Years
Writer
13 Years
Specialty
Family, Children & Teenagers
7 Years
Health
7 Years
Real Estate
11 Years
Total Media Industry Experience
13 Years
Media Client List (# assignments
last 2 yrs)
Thomson Reuters (11+), BrickUnderground.com (11+), 3x3 Magazine for Contemporary Illustration (11+), Habitat Magazine (11+), Momlogic.com (11+), New York Times (11+), Architectural Record (3-5), Babble.com (3-5), ParentDish.com (1-2), Parenting Magazine (1-2)
Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)
PennCMEBestPractice.org (6-10), Clinton Global Initiative (3-5), Eat Media (3-5), Designland (1-2), Robin Hood Foundation (1-2)
Other Work History
* Grey Advertising, creative assistant, 1999-2000
Computer Skills
MS Office, Quark, Mac, Windows, Facebook pages, Word, Excel
Technical Skills
SEO, social media, blogging, iPhone apps, Wordpress, Tumblr, MailChimp
Equipment
Laptop, Olympus digital voice recorder, digital camera, iPhone
Foreign Language Skills
Some Spanish
Work Permits & Visas
U.S. passport
References
Available upon request. Please visit rondakaysen.com.
Awards
* Best Feature Story, New York Press Association, 2006
Other
* University of California, Santa Cruz, BA, literature and creative writing, 1999
Freelancer Availability
I freelance full-time. I live near New York, NY. I am willing to travel anywhere. I have a driver's license. I have access to a car.
Work Samples
Real Estate
(New York Times , 2/27/2013)
Nearly half a century after a neighborhood of tenements on the Lower East Side was razed in the name of urban renewal, the area — which happens to be the largest undeveloped swath of city-owned land in Manhattan south of 96th Street — is finally poised for redevelopment. Last month, the city rel
(Architectural Record , 2/14/2013)
An urban farm on the rooftop of a David Adjaye–designed affordable-housing project in Harlem will provide fresh produce and income for the building sometime after construction has been completed in December. An $80 million development in the historic New York City neighborhood, Sugar Hill Housing
(Architectural Record , 12/17/2012)
From tiny New Jersey Shore bungalows to Manhattan high-rises, properties were caught unprepared for the might of Superstorm Sandy. Now architects are grappling with the stark reality that many structures were not designed to withstand a changing climate. As the rebuilding process begins, so do compl
(New York Times , 10/31/2012)
Sitting in his office, surrounded by Halloween kitsch and posters of building designs, the mayor of Harrison talks like a man who has been selling an idea for a long time. After 15 years, his vision to transform this long-forsaken industrial town into a bedroom community for single, young profession
(New York Times , 9/25/2012)
Many historic manufacturing buildings along Brooklyn's waterfront are antiquated and struggling to stay relevant. But the city and private developers are revamping these properties to appeal to a more nimble manufacturing tenant. And in doing so, the buildings are entering a new era.
(The New York Times , 8/22/2012)
In Newark’s Ironbound district, a developer broke ground last month on a $50 million warehouse without a committed tenant — a bold move and a sign of how much faith there is in the potential for growth in the state’s industrial sector and specifically in its ports.
(The New York Times , 7/11/2012)
Thousands of gas stations have closed in the last two decades, leaving many communities saddled with vacant or abandoned properties. Because gas stations are often built on busy street corners, boarded-up stations have marred the entrances to many bustling business districts in American towns and ci
(New York Times , 5/24/2012)
AS the standards for environmentally friendly construction rise, a Brooklyn developer has a new goal: renovate an apartment building so it generates as much energy as it uses.
(The New York Times , 3/28/2012)
The rise of artisanal food like small-batch pickles, basement-cured charcuterie and hand-churned ice cream has been a boon to Brooklyn’s image. Now those products are helping the borough revive its manufacturing base, in a former pharmaceutical factory in South Williamsburg.
(Habitat Magazine , 3/1/2012)
For this Habitat cover story, I wrote about an arcane and little known clause that makes refinancing a co-op mortgage a miserable and costly process. When co-op boards go to refinance, they are finding themselves at the forefront of another fallout of the mortgage crisis.
(Habitat Magazine , 2/1/2012)
Fannie Mae's new lending rules are affecting condos and co-ops. Sellers trying to unload their apartment are finding that problems with their building are making it hard for them to sell. The fallout from the mortgage crisis just keeps on going.
(The New York Times , 1/24/2012)
This story, about the rise of public-private partnerships in student housing, ran as the front page centerpiece in the New York Time business section.
(New York Times , 1/4/2012)
This story, about the resurrection of the Revel casino in Atlantic City, ran as the front page centerpiece in the New York Times business section.
(The New York Times , 11/1/2011)
The dazzling new hospital that will open here on Sunday looks more like a five-star resort than a medical center. It may also be the best hope for survival of its corporate parent, Capital Health, a nonprofit company that operates three health care facilities in New Jersey.
(New York Times , 8/23/2011)
When the housing market collapsed in 2008, construction of retirement and assisted-living housing ground to a halt, just as it did in most commercial real estate sectors, as access to capital evaporated. But a few companies kept their development teams intact in the recession, and are now building n
(New York Times , 6/14/2011)
A package arrived on a shabby north Philadelphia block in January 2010, wrapped in Tyvek and measuring 55 feet long and 16 feet wide. Inside was a kitchenette, a bathroom and two bedrooms. The only thing missing was the toilet bowl lid. Just six weeks and 88 packages later, the Modules at Templetow
(Architectural Record , 5/22/2007)
When the Biblioteca José Vasconcelos opened last May, the Alberto Kalach-designed campus was hailed as a cultural gem for Mexico City—and, at 500,000 square feet, it became the largest public library in Latin America. But one year later, the $100 million complex has shut its doors amid water leaks,
Parenting
(Chicago Tribune (via Reuters) , 2/17/2012)
Women are shunning academic careers in math-intensive fields because the lifestyle is incompatible with motherhood, researchers at Cornell University found in a study to be published next month in American Scientist Magazine.
(Parenting magazine , 9/1/2010)
The World Health Organization recommends nursing children up to age 2 and beyond. What they don't mention is how to actually go about weaning a willful, verbal nursling who can kick, hit, throw a tantrum, or pull up your shirt in public. Here are six ways you can make the transition easier.
(Momlogic.com , 2/9/2010)
Most nights, Matt Bullen's 7-year-old son sleeps at home with his mom and dad, except for the nights when he sleeps at his dad's girlfriend's house. The arrangement works well because his mom's boyfriend lives there, too. Actually, his mom's boyfriend is married to his dad's girlfriend. Confused? Do
(Momlogic.com , 12/8/2009)
From the start, Malinda Seymore suspected something was amiss about her adoptive daughter's birth story. The Chinese orphanage told her that Zoe was a foundling, left on a bridge on the day of her birth with a note written on red paper by her birth parents. Seymore suspected she wasn't getting the w
(Babble.com , 9/1/2009)
It's two in the morning and I'm on the toilet. This would be a mundane experience if it weren't for the toddler standing beside me nursing.
(New York Times , 7/15/2007)
Two weeks after my husband and I quit our jobs, gave up our Brooklyn apartment and moved to Mexico to travel and work as freelance reporters, I discovered I was pregnant. Among the subjects I hoped to write about in Mexico was its restrictive abortion laws. Now I was contemplating an abortion myself
(Washington Post , 10/10/2004)
If you're a parent, you know that sooner or later your child is going to ask for a pet. Of course you want to give in -- but how can you get a critter without taking on a whole new care-and-maintenence job? Try one of these easy-to-care for starter species.
Health
(New York Times , 12/12/2012)
A new health center in west Philadelphia is the latest in a nationwide trend to replace contaminated tracts in distressed neighborhoods with health centers, in essence taking a potential source of health problems for a community and turning it into a place for health care. In recent years, health ca
(The New York Times , 11/1/2011)
The dazzling new hospital that will open here on Sunday looks more like a five-star resort than a medical center. It may also be the best hope for survival of its corporate parent, Capital Health, a nonprofit company that operates three health care facilities in New Jersey.
(Thomson Reuters , 3/22/2011)
Medical marijuana will be available as early as this summer in New Jersey, where the nation's most restrictive law governing the practice could be a fresh model for states considering a similar route.
(Momlogic.com , 1/4/2010)
It took Shannon Nelson eight years to get a proper diagnosis for her son Gavin. Along the way, he was thrown out of preschool, kicked out of football and soccer, wrongly diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, medicated, attempted suicide when he was 8, and institutionalized. Finally, a psychiatr
(Momlogic.com , 11/24/2009)
Janet knew from the start that her pregnancy was doomed. First there was the news that she was carrying twins and the ultrasound that showed warning signs of birth defects. A few weeks later, one of the twins "disappeared" in what is known as vanishing twin syndrome. By 18 weeks, she learned that th
(HuffingtonPost.com , 6/11/2007)
When I tell my friends in America that I'm having a baby in Mexico City, they often gasp with contained horror. What they don't realize is that as the Democratic candidates line up with vague plans about how to fix America's broken managed care system, in Mexico they already have a private system th
New Jersey
(New York Times , 7/5/2011)
Newark has been experiencing something of a building boom in the midst of the recession, with more than $700 million in new projects underway this year alone. The charismatic mayor Cory Booker has tied his fate to Newark: if this city of 280,000 can come back from a steep decline, he could claim a p
(Thomson Reuters , 7/2/2011)
Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara is looking deep in a New Jersey silt mine for the exact moment, 65 million years ago, when all dinosaurs perished.
That secret could be harder to uncover if the fossils here can no longer be unearthed after a housing and retail development is built on this open pit
(Thomson Reuters , 5/9/2011)
The Department of Justice announced it was investigating the Newark police department, the state's largest, after receiving civil rights complaints and claims of excessive force tied to seven deaths.
(Thomson Reuters , 3/22/2011)
The parents of a college student who killed himself after his sexual encounter was shown online do not hold his former roommate criminally responsible for the death but do want him prosecuted for invading their son's privacy, their attorney said.
Education
(Thomson Reuters , 11/11/2011)
A first-grade teacher in New Jersey who described her students as "future criminals" on Facebook could be fired under a judge's decision issued this week after parents complained her remarks were offensive.
(Thomson Reuters , 5/27/2011)
School districts from coast to coast are weighing the elimination of homework on weekends and holidays, part of a move by educators to rein in student workloads.
(ParentDish.com (Now HuffPost Parents) , 9/8/2010)
Earning a spot on the Little League roster is no longer enough. Parents are now investing in personal trainers to make sure their kid becomes the star player, sacrificing savings and sometimes their child's health in the process.
Environment
(Architectural Record , 12/17/2012)
From tiny New Jersey Shore bungalows to Manhattan high-rises, properties were caught unprepared for the might of Superstorm Sandy. Now architects are grappling with the stark reality that many structures were not designed to withstand a changing climate. As the rebuilding process begins, so do compl
(New York Times , 12/12/2012)
A new health center in Philadelphia is the latest in a nationwide trend to replace contaminated tracts in distressed neighborhoods with health centers, in essence taking a potential source of health problems for a community and turning it into a place for health care. In recent years, health care fa
(The New York Times , 7/12/2012)
Thousands of gas stations have closed in the last two decades, leaving many communities saddled with vacant or abandoned properties. Because gas stations are often built on busy street corners, boarded-up stations have marred the entrances to many bustling business districts in American towns and ci
(Habitat Magazine , 6/1/2012)
New York City avoided a catastrophe when Hurricane Irene failed to deliver the punch forecasters predicted last summer. But with sea levels rising from climate change and storms increasing in strength and frequency, it is only a matter of time before a major storm wreaks havoc on the city.
(The New York Times , 5/24/2012)
As the standards for environmentally friendly construction rise, a Brooklyn developer has a new goal: renovate an apartment building so it generates as much energy as it uses.
(Thomson Reuters , 11/18/2011)
Drivers of plug-in electric vehicles will soon find it easier than ever to charge up in New Jersey, which is at the center of a regional plan to install charging stations across the eastern seaboard.
(Thomson Reuters , 5/13/2011)
New Jersey, home to more industrial waste clean-up sites than any other state, is poised to become an exemplar of U.S. solar power usage -- though not everyone is happy about it.
(New York Times , 10/5/2010)
Faced with the prospect that New Jersey's buildable open space could be gone by midcentury, developers are turning to projects that tap into existing infrastructure, use vacant buildings and emphasize the vertical over the horizontal.
(Architectural Record , 9/11/2007)
When KMD Architects was recently tapped to design a new ecofriendly headquarters for the Cinepolis cinema chain in Morelia, Mexico, the San Francisco-based firm joined a growing number of architects making their green mark south of the border.
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June 4, 2013 | San Francisco
