Explore how Brooklyn's waterfront has evolved and what's next. Experts will discuss balancing maritime industry, climate resilience, ecological restoration, public access, and equitable growth through policy, investment, and community partnerships.

Brooklyn's waterfront has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last century, shaped by shifting industries, maritime commerce, environmental challenges, and community advocacy. Join a presentation by Dan Wiley, District Director for Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, followed by a conversation with key waterfront experts, urban planners, and advocates for a conversation on the policies, investments, and partnerships that have defined Brooklyn's shoreline and continue to influence its future.

 Drawing on decades of experience across government, economic development, maritime transportation, and environmental leadership, panelists will explore how Brooklyn can balance a thriving working waterfront with ecological restoration, climate resilience, public access, and equitable economic growth.

Date & Time: Wednesday, September 16, 2026, 6:00-8:30pm

1.5 CM Credits Pending

Speakers:  

Daniel Wiley, District Director for Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez

Eddie Bautista, Executive Director, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance

 Andrew Genn, Executive Director, Broadway Mall Association; and former Senior Vice President, NYCEDC, Ports and Transportation Department

Bonnie A. Harken, AIA, WEDG, President, Nautilus International Development Consulting, Inc.; and Co-chair, Waterfront Committee, American Planning Association NY Metro Chapter

Moderator: Julie Raskin, CEO/President, Waterfront Alliance

Registration: Click here for more details and to register

Co-Hosts:        American Planning Association NY Metro Chapter’s Environment and Waterfront Committees, Waterfront Alliance, Resilient Red Hook, and South Street Seaport Museum

Detailed Speaker Bios:

Eddie Bautista is the Executive Director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA), a network of community-based organizations of color advocating for the empowerment of environmentally overburdened neighborhoods. For over 30 years, NYC-EJA has been at the forefront of City and State campaigns to advance environmental and climate justice. Under Eddie’s leadership since 2010, NYC-EJA’s campaign accomplishments have come to define environmental/climate justice advocacy in New York – along with partners in Transform Don’t Trash NY, Fix the Subway Coalition, Climate Works for All and NY Renews, NYC-EJA have successfully fought for: NYC’s first “Waste Equity” law (which reduced permitted capacity for waste transfer stations in NYC’s most overburdened communities, and capped capacity for every NYC community board), Commercial Waste Zones (the most significant proposal to overhaul NYC’s commercial waste system in decades), Congestion Pricing for NYC’s central business district (the first by any North American city), the NYC Climate Mobilization Act (the most ambitious climate action plan by any U.S. city), and the NYS Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act, the most aggressive climate action law in the nation (mandating 100% net zero greenhouse gas emissions – economy-wide – by 2050. This law served as a model for many of President Biden’s climate policies, including Justice40). Previously, Eddie served as Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of City Legislative Affairs, where he spearheaded passage of several landmark laws, and Director of Community Planning for NY Lawyers for the Public Interest.

Andrew Genn, currently the Executive Director of the nonprofit Broadway Mall Association in Manhattan, is a veteran urban planner. He formerly worked at the NYC Economic Development Corporation where he was Senior Vice President of the Transportation Department for many years.  At NYCEDC he worked to reactivate or restore City-owned maritime and transportation assets throughout the city. Andrew has a degree in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University and a Masters in Public Policy from the City University Graduate Center. Andrew grew up in Queens and has lived on the Upper West Side with his wife and two children for 30 years. 

Bonnie A. Harken, AIA, WEDG is President of Nautilus International Development Consulting, Inc. and Co-chair of the Waterfront Committee, NY Metro Chapter, American Planning Association. Ms. Harken is an internationally-recognized expert in sustainable waterfront revitalization and downtown development with 40+ years’ experience in over 25 countries. Her work on the Brooklyn waterfront began in the early 1990s and has been committed to sharing international best practices. After 9/11, she helped lead an exchange of waterfront expertise with RPA between New York City and Amsterdam that explored the role of Red Hook, Sunset Park, and Governors Island in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan and the wider region. After the 2008-09 downturn Nautilus International, under her leadership, conducted a multi-year planning process on six miles of SW Brooklyn waterfront on behalf of the PANYNJ. The project kicked off with the Brooklyn-Rotterdam Waterfront Exchange co-hosted by the Port of Rotterdam and culminated in a vision for a “Green Tech Brooklyn” and a series of pilot projects on economic development and environmental sustainability with innovative industries and cutting-edge educational institutions. More recently, Nautilus provided urban design and sustainable waterfront development services for Battery Park City Authority on the South Battery Park Resiliency Project as part of a team headed by AECOM. Nautilus is currently working on waterfront redevelopment and resiliency for the Hunters Point North waterfront on the East River. Ms. Harken grew up in Asia and Latin America, studied environmental design at Parsons School of Design, real estate finance at NYU, and holds a Master of Architecture from Columbia University.

 Julie Raskin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Waterfront Alliance, leading the organization’s mission to create a waterfront that is resilient, accessible, climate-ready, and economically vibrant. With experience spanning the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, Julie is known for bringing together diverse stakeholders to achieve transformational change and advance initiatives that make New York City more a sustainable place to live and work.

 Previously, Julie served as Executive Director of the Sanitation Foundation, the nonprofit partner of the NYC Department of Sanitation, where she grew the organization from a small start-up into an independent, citywide nonprofit that connects New Yorkers to DSNY’s essential work. From launching Trash Academy and volunteer cleanups across all five boroughs, to supporting frontline Sanitation Workers through COVID and beyond, Julie helped transform the Foundation into a powerful platform for civic engagement and pride. Earlier in her career, Julie worked at American Express, where she led marketing and business development partnerships with major banks and retailers such as USAA, Citi, and Macy’s, and developed national programs that drove $100Ms in customer engagement. At the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, she advanced sustainability and green-jobs initiatives, including a $17 million public Wi-Fi installation in 52 parks, a Green Event certification program, and workforce-training programs that supported thousands of New Yorkers. Julie holds a B.A. in urban studies from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from NYU’s Stern School of Business, where she graduated with distinction. She serves as Vice Chair of the Fort Greene Park Conservancy and is a recipient of the Waste360 “40 Under 40” Award. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Dan Wiley is District Director for North Brooklyn and Western Queens in the office of Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez. For over two decades he covered the Southwest Brooklyn portion of her NY-7th Congressional District from the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Red Hook, Gowanus and Sunset Park. He currently covers the new areas of the NY-7th district from the Brooklyn Navy Yard north through Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Western Queens. He has also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Urban Design Fall Studio at Columbia University (GSAPP). He holds an MA in Urban Geography from Hunter College (see his master’s thesis: "Planning Brooklyn Bridge Park: The Political Economy of Place," 2007). He holds a BFA from Cooper Union and is a Whitney Museum Independent Study Program Fellow. His work can be found in "If You Lived Here: The City in Art, Theory, and Social Activism" (Seattle: Bay Press, 1991). He serves on the board of Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) and previously worked as Education Coordinator in the Built Environment at Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment.