Breakfast Starts at 8:00 AM; Conversation runs from 8:30 AM to 10:00AM.
Building Sustainable Communities: The EPA Agenda (April 14, 2010).
A conversation with Judith A. Enck, Administrator of Region 2 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
EPA Region 2 covers the incredibly diverse territory of New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and seven federally-recognized Indian Nations, home to a total of more than 31 million people. The Administrator will discuss her agency's efforts to promote healthy communities and ecosystems throughout the region, and touch on implications for transportation systems.
Economic Development in New York City: Linking Physical and Economic Transformation (February 17, 2010).
This event brought together Seth Pinsky, President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and NYU Wagner Professor Mitchell Moss, to talk about New York City’s economic development agenda. As the links between infrastructure and economic systems become more apparent, New York City's dense built environment and transportation network make for a unique case study in the interplay of these systems. NYCEDC has long recognized the importance of infrastructure investment in efforts to advance the vibrancy and strength of the city's economy.
Parking Reform and Land Use Planning (January 22, 2010)
There has been a great deal of discussion about free parking and its economic and quality-of-life implications in recent years. Increasing stakeholders’ awareness and understanding of the issue in order to modify existing policies is complex, and demands significant rethinking of typical American approaches to parking. UCLA Professor and leading parking scholar Donald Shoup, author of the influential book The High Cost of Free Parking, and Sandy Hornick, Deputy Executive Director of New York’s Department of City Planning discussed the opportunities and constraints presented by parking policy reform and land use regulation in urbanized areas such as New York City. Dr. Zhan Guo, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Transportation Policy at NYU Wagner, moderated the conversation.
World-Class Streets for a World City(November 25, 2009): A conversation with DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, City Planning's Chief Urban Designer Alexandros Washburn, and NYU professor Hilary Ballon
For decades, the city restricted itself to a utilitarian design approach to its streets. Commissioner Sadik-Khan and the City's Chief of Design, Alex Washburn, are bringing new and more sophisticated approaches to the challenge of urban design in constrained fiscal times. Together with Professor Hilary Ballon, they discussed recent and upcoming proposals to establish new guidelines for creating world-class city streets that are tailored to the varied and complex conditions of New York City.
Funding Mass Transit (October 28 2009): A Conversation with NYS Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch and Professor Charles Brecher.
It was just last April that Richard Ravitch, after a storied career in the public, private, and non-profit sectors in New York, was asked by to develop a new financing plan for the MTA. He deftly crafted a package that would provide long-term financing for mass transit in the New York region for generations to come, much as he had done years ago when he led the agency out of decades of decay into a period stability and even growth. While the Ravitch package was not fully adopted by the State Legislature, his leadership led the Governor to ask him to serve New York again. Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch joined NYU Wagner Professor Charles Brecher for a discussion of transportation funding, the future of mass transit, and the context of the State budget. Watch the video.
The Story of the Highline (September 30, 2009): A Conversation with Robert Hammond and NYU Wagner Professor Ingrid Gould Ellen.
The Highline represents a radically new example of adaptive re-use of infrastructure in an urban environment, and sets a new bar for creative greening of cityscapes. While New Yorkers and visitors gain unique park space, local developers and businesses lose the eyesore of rusting, obsolescent infrastructure and the City develops the prospects of economic revitalization and property value increases. This dramatic public-private solution did not manifest, despite its win-win promises, without tumult and challenge. The NYU Wagner Rudin Center and Professor Ingrid Gould Ellen engaged Robert Hammond, co-founder of Friends of the High Line in a lively conversation, including the history of the Highline, from his brainchild through the recent opening of its first phase, covering the policies, politics, workarounds, and innovations that took the project from near disaster to success. Watch the video.
