2018 Annual Conference Program Overview
8AM – 8:45AM | Registration
Attendees should register at Columbia University, Lerner Hall between 8 and 8:45AM.
Click here to preregister on-line (the registration form is at the bottom of the page).
8:45 AM – 10:15 AM
Welcome Remarks
- Kovid Saxena, AICP, Conference Chair
- Max Sokol, AICP, President APA NY Metro Chapter
Reflections from the Chapter’s 2018 Inductees to the AICP College of Fellows
- Jan Degenshein, FAICP
- Maxine F. Griffith, FAICP
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM Plenary Session
Columbia’s Manhattanville: A Mosaic of Commitment and Community Engagement
(CM Credit 1.25)
In 1968, efforts by Columbia University to construct a gymnasium in Morningside Park, without notice to their neighbors, resulted in community protests, a campus takeover and the ultimate defeat of the project. Fifty years later, Columbia’s vision to enhance the academic environment through a new urban campus in Manhattanville is underway. Columbia’s new urban campus is transforming 17 acres in West Harlem. A mosaic of stakeholders, planning practice, commitment, collaborations and genuine community engagement on many levels has been essential to move this vision forward.
Speakers:
Anthony Borelli, Vice President of Planning and Development, Edison Properties; Flores Forbes, Associate Vice President for Strategic Policy and Implementation, Columbia University; Victoria Mason-Ailey, Associate Vice President for Planning and Community Affairs, Columbia University; Rev. Georgiette Morgan-Thomas, Former Chair, Manhattan CB9; Donald Notice, Executive Director, West Harlem Group Assistance
12:00 -1:00 PM Awards/Lunch
Provided by Columbia University and included in registration.
1:15 PM – 2:30 PM: Breakout Sessions 1-4
Breakout Session 1: Half Century of Planning Perspectives
(CM Credit 1.5 Ethics)
The article “Up Close and Personal” is part of a series the Journal of the APA (JAPA) initiated a few years ago and it is designed to reflect on the changes in planning theory and practice that we have experienced over the decades of our careers. Dr. Floyd Lapp, FAICP will be highlighting this article, with a special focus on ethics and equity.
Speaker: Dr. Floyd Lapp, FAICP
Breakout Session 2: 10 Years of Select Bus Service & Looking to the Future
(CM Credit 1.25)
Ten years ago, NYCDOT and MTA NYCT launched the first Select Bus Service route, along with an era of cooperation between the two agencies. Today, SBS brings faster and more reliable bus service to over 300,000 transit-dependent New Yorkers every day. The next 10 years will dramatically change the landscape of transit in NYC, with additional SBS routes and full bus network redesigns, challenging the agencies and advocates, alike.
Speakers: Sarah Wyss, AICP, Deputy Chief of Bus Planning, MTA NYCT; Janet Jenkins, AICP, Senior Director of Transit Development, NYCDOT; Tabitha Decker, Deputy Executive Director, Transit Center
Breakout Session 3: Rough Waters or Smooth Sailing: PPP for a Waterfront Park
(CM Credit 1.25)
Public parks are leveraging private donors to build, program, and maintain parkland. Learn about a new waterfront park, Pier 55, using a Public-Private Partnership model and how this collaboration fits your community.
Moderator: Signe Nielsen, FASLA, Principal, Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects (MNLA)
Speakers: Madelyn Wils, President and CEO, Hudson River Park Trust; Celine Armstrong, Executive Project Manager, Pier55; Trish Santini, Executive Director, Pier55
Breakout Session 4: School Oriented Development: Creating Building Blocks for Communities and Social Equity
(CM Credit 1.25)
School zones and new school development often determine the nature of NYC neighborhoods and their level of inclusivity, and in the NY metro area, school needs are frequently the biggest impediment to achieving density. New approaches are addressing these issues.
Moderator: Adam Lubinsky, Managing Principal, WXY Studio
Speakers: Raju Mann, Director of Land Use, NYC City Council; Josh Wallack, Deputy Chancellor, NYC Department of Education; Melanie La Rocca, Vice President of Operations, NYC School Construction Authority; Luiz Aragon, Commissioner of Development, City of New Rochelle
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Breakout Sessions 5-8
Breakout Session 5: Changing the Process for Rezoning and Planning Approvals
(CM Credit 1.5 Law)
Earlier this year, the Mayor and the City Council established separate Commissions to recommend revisions to the City Charter. The recommendations will be subject to public approval in a City-wide referendum. The Mayoral Commission is narrowly focused and, in terms of land use, will address the Community Boards. The Council Commission has a much broader mandate and is expected to address all aspects of land use, including the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. This session will review the City’s existing land use process, the role of planners in the process, and potential changes resulting from Charter revision.
Speakers: Howard Goldman, Esq., and Caroline G. Harris, Esq., co-founders of GoldmanHarris LLC
Breakout Session 6: Commuter Van Networks in the Context of Microtransit
(CM Credit 1.25)
The New York City Department of Transportation embarked on a comprehensive study of the commuter van industry in order to better understand its impact on the transportation landscape of the City and develop improved oversight policies. Learn about the commuter van and microtransit industry, the City’s regulatory powers over the industries, and emerging policy and regulation in the field of microtransit from NYC and other cities around the world.
Speakers: Alexander Keating, Director of Special Projects, NYCDOT; Christina Blackston, Project Manager, Special Projects, NYCDOT; Chris Henry, Mobility Service Line Leader, Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc.; Stuart Geltman, Senior Transportation Planner, AECOM; Su Sanni, Founder, Dollaride.
Breakout Session 7: Supporting the City’s Commercial Corridors through Public-Private Partnership
(CM Credit 1.25)
This facilitated dialogue brings together key public, private, and non-profit partners to an innovative commercial corridor revitalization model developed by the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) in partnership with Citi Community Development and the New York City Department of Small Business Services. The Commercial #CorridorChallenge is a replicable model of data-driven planning and implementation that has funded high-impact, low cost catalytic investments within three neighborhoods facing rapid neighborhood change.
Speakers: Larisa Ortiz, Principal, Larisa Ortiz Associates; Colleen Galvin, Senior Vice President, Citi Community Development; Blaise Backer, Deputy Commissioner, NYC Department of Small Business Services; Eva Alligood, Deputy Director, LISC NYC; Raquel Olivares, Program Director, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation
Breakout Session 8: Urban Cultural Policy: Making Space for Community-Owned Creative Economies
(CM Credit 1.25)
Investing in arts and cultural assets of urban neighborhoods can improve their self-reliance, resilience, and local economies by creating jobs, developing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and facilitating market opportunities for women and under-represented groups. Furthermore, if designed properly, they can improve the urban environment and quality of public spaces. The session investigates the role of arts and cultural assets in economic and social development.
Moderator: Joshua David, President/CEO of World Monuments Fund
Speakers: Ben Stone, Director of Arts and Culture, Smart Growth America; Nisha Baliga, Deputy Director, Hester Street Collaborative; Rana Amirtahmasebi, Principal, Eparque Urban Strategies; Emma Howard, Senior Planning Deputy at Los Angeles City Council District
4:45 PM – 6:00 PM: Breakout Sessions 9-12
Breakout Session 9: Arrival House: An Integrated Co-Living Model for New Arrivals to NYC
(CM Credit 1.25)
New York City thrives on immigrants, but complex housing issues make settling difficult. This research-based panel discussion explores how co-living as a housing typology with integrated CBO, and social infrastructure can present a stabilized, community-based, shared-living environment for newly arrived immigrants to New York City.
Moderators: Sreoshy Banerjea, Assistant Vice President-Urban Design, NYCEDC; Yuan Lai, LEED AP, PhD Candidate, NYU; Alison Von Glinow, AIA, Founding Partner, Kwong Von Glinow Design Office;
Speakers: Brian Baldor, Director of Design Consultations and Strategies, NYC HPD; Claire Flurin, Executive Director, CO-LIV; William Spisak, Program Director, Chhaya CDC; John Woelfling, Principal, Dattner Architects
Breakout Session 10: The New Rochelle Model for Downtown Redevelopment
(CM Credit 1.25)
In less than three years after passing downtown redevelopment legislation, New Rochelle has approved 12 projects, including guarantees for new and upgraded infrastructure to manage increased density. Learn how a dynamic planning process aligned all interests to achieve rapid results.
Moderator: Juliette Michaelson Executive Vice President, Regional Plan Association
Panelists: Luiz Aragon, Director of Economic Development for New Rochelle; Daniel Marsh, President and CEO of the National Development Council; Seth Pinsky, Executive Vice President and Investment Manager of the RXR Metropolitan Emerging Market Strategy
Breakout Session 11: Encouraging Community-Driven Hazard Mitigation Projects
(CM Credit 1.25)
Hazard Mitigation reduces or eliminates long-term risk to people and property from a hazard event. While hazard mitigation planning often takes a citywide approach, how do we create more community-driven processes to identify and implement hazard mitigation projects?
Moderator: Lisa Blake, Recovery and Mitigation Specialist, NYC Emergency Management
Panelists: Melissa Umberger, Deputy Director of Hazard Mitigation, NYC Emergency Management; Frank Ruchala, Deputy Director of Zoning Division, NYC Department of City Planning; Gita Nandan, Chair, Resilient Red Hook; Greta Byrum, Co-Director, Digital Equity Laboratory, The New School
Breakout Session 12: Development 2.0: New Tools, Processes, and Financing Models for Revitalization
(CM Credit 1.25)
The cities and towns, the emerging magnets of urbanizations, are typically slow to adapt to needed change due to disconnected systems in place. The panel will present an evolving development model that takes efforts to a collaborative new level that results in unprecedented success proven in many regional communities, from New Rochelle to Southampton. The presentation will include an overview of Riverside, Town of Southampton model, that incorporates Crowdsourced Placemaking, Form-Based Code, impact financing, SEQR as a tool for streamlining the revitalization, and design as a strategy of change and revitalization in areas of environmental justice and disinvestment. Learn about steps in a transition from the maintenance of the status quo to an influx of new investment.
Panelists: Siris Barrios, Community Liaison, Riverside Rediscovered; Kyle Collins, AICP, Town of Southampton Planning and Development Administrator; Ela Dokonal, AICP CUD, LEED AP, VP Planning and Development, Renaissance Downtowns; Delilah Rothenberg, Pegasus Advisors; Sean McLean, co-CEO, Renaissance Downtowns
After the Conference: Cocktails & Networking
Hosted at WSP, One Penn Plaza (34th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues), 2nd Floor
Approximately 20-minute subway ride via the 1 Train from 116th Street/Columbia University to 34th Street/Penn Station
