Chapter Conference Details Challenges for Planners · splendor – with realistic topography, landscaping and building surfaces. The audience also got a glimpse of the future. The

1 MetroPlanner - September/October 2007

September/October 2007

In this issue: Conference Summary ……..…..page 2-5 Legislative & Policy Conf ...…. page 6 Chapter Member Profile……….page 7 Student Fellow Named ………..page 9 Law of the Land Blog………….page 10 125th St. & Park Slope ………..page 11 LI Section Scholarships ………page 12 New Chapter Intern …………...page 12 RFQ for Vision Plan …………..page 13 Chapter Contacts…...………….page 14

By Ed Buroughs, AICP, MetroPlanner Editor The day was cloudless but inside the mes-sages were mixed when 200 New York Metro Chapter planners met for the 2007 Chapter conference on October 12 at NYU’s Kimmel Center to discuss “Planning for a More Livable New York: Regional Growth, Nature and the Eco-logical City.” With the sparkling views of Washington Square Park and the length of Fifth Avenue as backdrop on the top floor Rosenthal Pavilion, one speaker after another posed the challenges for planners in keeping the region competi-tive in world markets and concurrently addressing sustainability, infrastructure maintenance, design and quality of life. The diverse geographic and professional interests of those in attendance held promise that planners are ready to heed to the primary message conveyed that all these issues are connected and must be tackled comprehensively. In the opening keynote, author and pro-fessor Rutherford Platt set the tone. “The metropolis has exploded – we can’t take it back as that battle is lost.” But, he said, much can be done to make our communi-ties “healthy and safe, green, efficient, equitable and people friendly.” Bruce

Chapter Conference Details Challenges for Planners

Schaller of NYC Department of Trans-portation provided specific examples of how to make changes in his keynote ad-dressing “re-imagining of the public realm” through redefining the street as public space instead of as transportation. The plenary panel on regional perspec-tives identified gaps in planning. “Almost every other city has a regional planning agency but we don’t,” said Joel Ettinger, Executive Director of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Coun-cil, noting that no governmental regional agency looks at important issues in the New York region. Orange County Plan-ning Commissioner David Church quipped that he “enjoys the thrill of home rule authority.” Representing one agency that must plan regionally, Elliot Sander, Executive Director of MTA, discussed in his luncheon keynote speech the vital need for a 25 to 30-year planning policy and the urgency “to break down bounda-ries” both within MTA’s seven operating agencies and with outside entities.

Inside this issue of MetroPlanner are short summaries of conference breakout sessions and more speaker highlights. Photos from conference. Credit: Patrick Streeter and Jessica Kenny


pricing plan. Second, the organization is committed to improving workforce devel-opment. Third, the MTA is working on institutional reform by integrating some functions of the seven semi-autonomous agencies that make up MTA where inte-gration makes logical sense. Fourth, the organization is seeking new means to be more customer-oriented. Fifth, the MTA is vigilantly working to protect the secu-rity of all of its systems. Sixth, the MTA has initiated a strategic planning process for future projects. And seventh, a panel has been charged with outlining a sustain-ability plan by Earth Day 2008. Ques-tions followed that covered MTA’s inter-nal priorities, alternative modes the MTA would consider if the city implemented congestion pricing and what the MTA’s role in land use planning is. Reported by Sarah Wu

Lunch Keynote Speech Delivered by Elliot G. Sander, Executive Director CEO Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Elliot Sander began his lunch keynote address by defining his roles as MTA Executive Director – set the vision, create a strong team, drive home the values and represent the organization externally. He then outlined the seven aspects of MTA’s strategic planning vision. First, the MTA is focusing on finance by proposing two new toll structures. The MTA is highly supportive of the Mayor’s congestion

Rutherford Platt spoke about the concept of ecological cities by using his book, The Humane Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st Century City, as a point of ref-erence. Platt argued that the American city has “exploded” in terms of sprawl and ecological degradation. He stated that our society is faced with the chal-lenge of creating something desirable from the explosion, which we can obtain by exemplifying the “Humane Metropo-lis.” To achieve this desirable position, he said cities should focus on: Urban Greenspaces (Central Park, Chicago’s Millennium Park); Urban Ecology (Chicago Wilderness Alliance, botanical gardens, ecology education); Rehabilita-

Keynote Speech by Rutherford H. Platt, Professor of Geography and Planning Law, University of Massachusetts

tion of Green Land; Urban Agriculture; Green Buildings; and Public Spaces (Bryant Park). Reported by Ben J. Winter, NYU Wagner, MUP ’09


Photos of the Chapter Fall 07 Conference: Credit: Patrick Streeter, Jessica Kenny and Tracey Corbitt, AICP


Tools for Today and Technology on the Horizon

actual conditions and alternative develop-ment scenarios – all in fly-through 3-D splendor – with realistic topography, landscaping and building surfaces. The audience also got a glimpse of the future. The ESC team demonstrated new powerful sunlight-energy modeling soft-ware recently released by the labs associ-ated with the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Maantay presented an example of leading-edge, “expert-system” urban GIS

Panelists George Janes of the Environ-mental Simulation Center (ESC) and Dr. Juliana Maantay of Lehman College took the audience through a survey of current and cutting-edge planning, mapping, GIS and visualization technology. The ESC presentation illustrated the rapid evolution in the power of computers married with geographic data and visualization tools, culminating in a real-time demonstration of the ease with which a planner may now build site data into a realistic depiction of

With his opening comments, “My world ends in mid-Hudson and at the Connecti-cut line,” Joel Ettinger, Executive Direc-tor of NYMTC, broached the weakness of regional planning in metropolitan New York. Jumping further, Michael White, Executive Director of Long Island Re-gional Planning Board, noted that there is no state entity involved in planning. And so the major tone of the plenary session was set. Not surprisingly, moderator Alli-son de Cerreno, Director of NYU Wagner Rudin Center, did not get a resounding answer to her question, “How do we as planners work to create a regional plan-ning authority?” Ettinger held out hope though as he cited the close working rela-tionship of five suburban county execu-

Plenary Panel - Regional Perspectives: Livability in an Age of Limits

tives and NYC officials through the NYMTC board. Also participating on the panel to ex-change ideas and examples on the possi-bilities and constraints of regional col-laborations and partnerships were Steve Weber of NYC DOT and David Church, Orange County Planning Commissioner. Weber noted that through PlaNYC, the City was fully recognizing the importance of the suburban counties because when taken together, the region is the world’s 10th largest economy. Church cited af-fordable housing and the future of Stewart Airport as his county’s greatest chal-lenges. White added that fragmentation of government continues to be a major

Marshall asked if the idea of bringing the country to the city is a better use of land than high density of housing. Marquet noted that while there may not be a coali-tion to bring parks to the poorest neighborhoods, creating local farms as Norton proposed actually has the poten-tial to work because it is catalytic. He said that bringing local farms to poorer neighborhoods will bring those neighbor-hoods alive. The panelists continued with a lively and wide-ranging debate that shed new light on the relationship between nutrition, farming and street life and planning prac-tice. Reported by Gillian Connell, MS Urban Planning Candidate, Columbia University

Moderator Alex Marshall of Regional Plan Association kicked off the session by asking the four panelists pointedly, “What the hell is an ‘eco-neighborhood?’” Joan Byron of the Pratt Center for Community Development responded that New York City is but, she added, an eco-neighborhood must find ways to handle issues such as garbage within each com-munity instead of shipping it out to other places. Louis G. Marquet, Executive Vice President, Leyland Alliance LLC, replied that the problem is having a neighborhood define itself. He said we should look to Europe’s socialization around plazas and noted that people need to decide to create these sorts of micro-neighborhoods for themselves. Aaron Naparstek, Editor-in-Chief, Street Blog.org, said that there is something

both sanctimonious and sacrificial in eco-neighborhoods. He notes that in Europe, people do not have the attitude that “I’m better than you for doing this (creating eco-neighborhoods)” as he argues some-times occurs in America. Their attitude, he said, is one that says “We’ll have a better community and economy and we’ll enjoy it more.” He thinks Americans can and should adopt this attitude. Molly Norton, Food Justice Coordinator of Just Food, described her organization as working to improve access to fresh, local food; especially in underprivileged neighborhoods. She said that you can’t have a healthy, dense living area with out good nutrition. She also said communi-ties could start community-composting programs as some neighborhoods already do.

On the Sunny Side of the Street: Planning for the Eco-Neighborhood

obstacle. Panelists discussed joint transportation planning initiatives and linked housing affordability to wise transportation poli-cies. The panelists concluded their dia-logue with the general concern that trans-portation demand, especially of freight transportation, will continue to increase and strain existing infrastructure. White noted that while Long Island needs rail freight, it was unknown how freight will get through NYC. Reported by Ed Buroughs, AICP, Metro-Planner Editor and Ben J. Winter, NYU Wagner, MUP ’09

mapping technology she has developed that provides significantly increased accu-racy to demographic mapping of urban populations. These technologies hold out the promise of a new generation of plan-ning tools to model, map and analyze a host of geographically-related factors that planners must understand in order to cre-ate a sustainable, humane metropolis. Reported by Brodie Hefner, AICP


This lively panel was moderated by Jody Kass, Co-Director of New Partners for Community Revitalization, a nonprofit organization that helps communities plan for and finance brownfield projects. The discussion highlighted the high priority placed on brownfield redevelopment by the New York City and New York State. PlaNYC 2030 includes a dozen goals aimed at developing the City’s 7,000+ brownfield acres. The State’s 2003 Brownfield Law, that created the Brown-field Cleanup Program (BCP) and the Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOA) grant program, has already resulted in appropriation of $75 million to commu-nity planning. State Senator Carl L. Marcellino, long-time chairman of the NYS Senate Envi-

The provision of usable water, potable and non-potable, and the disposal of waste water are essential to human existence and to the functioning of mod-ern cities. However, in many regards the current systems of providing water and disposing of waste water are not sustain-able. The panelists posited new ways of thinking about water resources as well as challenges that need to be overcome in order to create sustainable water systems. They also discussed emerging technolo-gies that can be used to reduce water con-sumption and waste production. Finally, the panelists discussed issues surrounding securing water systems to safeguard the population that they serve. Janice Jijina, AICP, Cameron Engineer-ing & Associates, LLP, framed the dis-cussion by speaking about a public educa-tion campaign titled “Water Is Life.” The campaign stresses the importance of wa-ter and the complexity of the infrastruc-ture systems in place to provide and dis-pose of water. A major problem is that the infrastructure is incredibly old. The EPA estimates that if we don’t spend con-siderable sums of money on our infra-structure, the level of pollution in our

nation’s water bodies will revert back to their 1970s level. Historically, we have designed water re-source systems to meet human needs, stated Dr. Franco Montalto of eDesign Dynamics, disrupting biological and eco-logical systems. As a result, he said that we now are faced with the need to design systems to meet both human and environ-mental needs. He cited many practical challenges to implementing this type of water resource planning including how to achieve wide-scale implementation in new and existing buildings. A second challenge would be to achieve wide spread participation in this endeavor from individuals, businesses, governments, community groups and environmental groups. A third challenge is the need to accomplish changes in the face of de-centralized quality control and mainte-nance because sustainable infrastructure requires many different solutions that must be implemented and maintained by many different owners. Edward Clerico of Alliance Environ-mental LLC, addressed reducing water demand noting that only one gallon per day is necessary for potable water for every 1,200 gallons per day consumed. At the Solaire building in New York City, he said there has been a 48% reduction in water usage and a 56% reduction in wastewater discharge after recycled water

ronmental Conservation Committee and a principal author of the BCP/BOA legisla-tion, provided attendees with historical perspective and a vision of refinements being crafted in Albany to improve these programs and realize their full potential to spark private sector investment. Panelist Rohit Aggarwala, Director of the City’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sus-tainability, placed redevelopment of brownfields among the highest priorities in PlaNYC 2030. He said that these un-derutilized acres are needed to accommo-date growth and expressed frustration with the pace of BOA program imple-mentation but optimism regarding part-nership with the State and progress to-ward brownfield redevelopment goals. An update on BOA grant applications,

was introduced. Clerico estimated that just in the new construction called for in PlaNYC there is a 43 million gallon per day reuse potential. Planning for the security of our water systems was discussed by Stephen Jones of the Suffolk County Water Authority. While he noted that the probability of a catastrophe is low, the impact of one could be tremendous. He said planning must be done on a regional level and also cited the number of agencies, federal and otherwise, that must be coordinated. Communicating effectively before an event happens is crucial. Reported by Peter Feroe, NYU Wagner, MUP ‘09

funding status and upcoming funding cycles was provided by Curtis Cravens, Regional Representative of the NYS De-partment of State for the BOA program. Sarah Lansdale, Executive Director of Sustainable Long Island, an organization that provides leadership, coordination and training on brownfield strategies, offered a perspective “from the trenches,” where communities struggle with delays and complexity, and against myriad obstacles, in crafting cleanup plans. The panel’s articulate discussion, along with program details provided in their handouts, brought the attendees to a new level of understanding and awareness regarding opportunities in brownfields. Reported by Brodie Hefner, AICP and Sarah Wu

Brownfields: New Funding, New Planning Opportunities

Water, Water, Everywhere


Michael A. Levine, AICP VP for Intergovernmental Affairs The 2007 APA Legislative & Policy Con-ference was held from September 30 to October 2 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.. At this annual event, the Legislative Liaisons (and others) from all fifty chapters meet to discuss the APA policy agenda for the upcoming congres-sional session. The first two days of the conference were devoted to in-depth panel discussions of the major policy topics. Sunday’s ses-sions focused heavily on the implications of climate change, with speakers includ-ing Deron Lovaas of the National Re-sources Defense Council, who spoke about the connection between land use planning and global warming, Nancy Bel-ler-Sims of the National Oceanic and At-mospheric Administration, who explored how state and local governments could plan for climate change, and Jason Hartke of the U.S. Green Buildings Council, who talked about policies to encourage green building. Unlike past conferences, the speakers did not spend time criticizing the current administration for ignoring (or even disputing the science regarding) global warming. Instead, all speakers displayed a solemn recognition that the impacts of climate change are real regard-less of their causes and that the planning profession must take a lead role in chang-ing land use and transportation policies. Monday’s sessions covered a wider range of topics including the reauthorization of the transportation act SAFETEA-LU, changes in federal housing policy, ballot measures concerning property rights and hazard mitigation. Speakers included Sarah Kline, Majority Counsel for the

U.S. Senate Committee on Banking & Urban Affairs, Patrick Lally of the Na-tional Trust for Historic Preservation and Don Chen of Smart Growth America. The recurring theme of the day was how the change in congressional leadership after the 2006 elections has not caused the kind of policy shifts that many planners had hoped for. One major problem is that the cost of our foreign policy endeavors has left little or no money to shift back into areas such as housing, transit or envi-ronmental protection. Also on Monday, the 2007 APA Legisla-tor of the Year award was presented to one of our local favorites, the Honorable Jerrold Nadler (NY - 8th CD). The Con-gressman was recognized for his continu-ing advocacy on issues of importance to planners, particularly eminent domain, property rights and regulatory takings. The award was presented by APA Execu-tive Director Paul Farmer, APA President Robert Hunter and NY Metro Chapter President Ethel Sheffer. Continuing a tradition, the third day of the conference was the annual “Planners’ Day on Capitol Hill” event. On this day, the legislative liaisons met with our con-gressional delegations to discuss the leg-islative goals of the organization. This year there were three particular items we were tracking: 1) Passage of H.R. 2895, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund – the creation of a dedicated fund for low and moderate in-come housing that would be funded pri-marily from revenues of Government Sponsored Enterprises (i.e., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). At the time of the conference, the bill was expected to be passed by the house within the next two weeks. It was passed on October 10 and

Report From The APA Legislative & Policy Conference

referred to the Senate on the 15th. A companion Senate bill is expected early in 2008. APA is urging its passage. 2) Blocking the implementation of new rules proposed by the Federal Transit Administration regarding the New Starts program. The new rules would dramati-cally alter the criteria for program evalua-tion and ranking; downgrading the impor-tance of environmental benefits and ele-vating the importance of cost effective-ness, for example. The potential result is that transit projects would compare less favorably with highway projects. In a highly unusual move, the Senate passed an amendment to the Transportation-HUD appropriations bill that bars the FTA from implementing the new rules. APA is seeking to ensure that the new rules never go into effect. 3) Passage of S. 1926/H.R. 3401, the National Infrastructure Bank Act. The purpose of the Act is to create financing mechanisms to insure that the mainte-nance and upgrade of existing roads, bridges, transit systems, drinking water and wastewater systems, etc. receive as much attention as the construction of new systems. Modeled after the Federal De-posit Insurance Corporation, the National Infrastructure Bank would develop fi-nancing packages for projects of regional significance of at least $75 million. The Senate bill was referred to committee on August 1 and the House bill on August 3. APA supports passage of both bills. Although a date has not yet been an-nounced for the 2008 conference, the Legislation & Policy Committee is al-ready working on the agenda. We can expect a heavy emphasis on policies to address climate change, energy supply and hazard mitigation.


Through 30 years of planning experience, Syrette Dym, AICP has had a role in al-most every conceivable type of profes-sional planning work in the New York City region. From community planning on Staten Island to master planning in the city at the center of booming Orange County, she has used her positions as public planner, private consultant and community leader to create the founda-tion for better communities. She earned a Master of City Planning from the Har-vard Graduate School of Design follow-ing a Bachelor of Science from the Uni-versity of Vermont. After 10 years at NYC Department of Planning and service as Deputy Commissioner in the City of New Rochelle, she joined the White Plains-based firm of Saccardi & Schiff, Inc., where she is Senior Vice President. She recently stepped down from the Vil-lage of Larchmont Planning Board after 22 years of volunteer service. What drew you into the planning field? As an undergraduate history major at the University of Vermont at a time when Vermont was becoming a center for the counterculture “back to the land” move-ment and Burlington was no more than a “one bus town,” I became interested in urban issues and suburban development. I had a vague understanding that the sub-urb of Port Washington where my family moved after 12 years in Brooklyn and Queens was a special place that had vil-lage-scale homes, trees, neighborhoods, a Long Island Sound waterfront and a downtown with the Long Island Rail Road, all of which I could access without a car. The railroad and public buses even made it easy for a young teenager to es-

cape for the wilds of the Miracle Mile, or even 34th Street or Times Square. So what is now known as “new urbanism” set the stage for my interest in planning and a determination to replicate the small town environment that seemed to so per-fectly suit my needs and spirit. How did you begin your career in the profession? At planning school, suburbs were a physi-cal form that attracted little interest, or disdain. So I temporarily shifted my fo-cus to the field of housing which I was able to parlay into a first job at the New York City Department of City Planning. With available federal and state subsidy programs, it was the heyday of housing and a time when a young person’s pen-chant to do good and the needs of the planning profession were perfectly aligned. I had my chance to try out my suburban ideals when the Planning De-partment was enlisted to create a plan for the southern half of Staten Island. I moved to that office and worked on a team to create a South Richmond plan that understood what an earlier rejected Rouse Company plan had not – that in-place neighborhoods were centers to be built upon and strengthened, not to be ignored or destroyed. What was one highlight of your work in NYC Planning? When I shifted my work to the Queens Office of City Planning, I was fortunate to be involved in the early stages of redevel-opment in Hunter’s Point and Long Island City. The work I did to help create the Court Square Special Zoning District that resulted in the Citicorp at Court Square office building is a highlight of my plan-ning career. When Citicorp proposed a 48 story building on a parking lot zoned for two-story industrial development, like all good planners we said, “Let’s go take a look.” What we saw were boarded up subway stairs to three different lines and determined this to be a new transit hub that, with reopening and interconnection of lines, could support dense office devel-opment. I am now doing environmental

APA NY Metro Chapter Member Profile Syrette Dym, AICP

Continued on page 8 (Dym)


review work for the Queens West devel-opment mushrooming on the East River waterfront in the area in which the second Citibank building will shortly open some 20 years and much positive change later. How was your experience working in New Rochelle? My work as Deputy Commissioner of Development in the City of New Rochelle introduced me to planning as it is prac-ticed everywhere in New York state out-side of New York City. At the time, New Rochelle was struggling to reverse de-cline in its downtown and, despite a pre-viously completed downtown shopping center and Main Street improvements, its downtown revitalization had not yet been successful. My move to the planning consulting firm of Saccardi & Schiff, Inc. gave me the opportunity to try again. I prepared the city’s new Comprehensive Plan that has served as the guide for a flourishing new downtown that is now taking shape. Do you find satisfaction in working for many different communities? As a private consultant, I have had the opportunity to help direct development in many cities, towns and villages by many means such as writing zoning that has allowed affordable housing in the Village of Great Neck Plaza and age-restricted housing in all its forms in the Town of North Hempstead. I have prepared ordi-nances that set landscaping, parking and development controls in places welcom-ing development such as the Town of Wallkill in Orange County. I recently completed a Comprehensive Plan for the City of Long Beach and am currently preparing a plan for the City of Middle-town in Orange County. In the midst of one of the fastest growing and suburban-izing counties in the state, this urban cen-ter may now have the opportunity to re-new itself as a counterpoint to surround-ing sprawl. That range of work must have brought you through a lot of environmental review process. I view the environmental review process that I undertake for private development projects or for municipalities as playing a central role in the development process. Arduous though the SEQR or CEQR process may be, I have always maintained that it works and results in better projects.

For young planners who may lament the development process, I have advised them to let the process work, and a balance between the private and public good is likely to be achieved. Where is home today? Years ago my young family prompted my move out of the city to Larchmont in Westchester - a Long Island Sound mirror image of Port Washington. When ques-tioned by skeptical urbanites and plan-ners, I sheepishly described my move as “slightly north of the South Bronx.” When not doing professional planning, I engage in civic affairs that draw on my interest in planning. When I moved to Larchmont, I knew I wanted to go to night meetings in my own community rather than only in everyone else’s and soon began tenure on the Larchmont Planning Board lasting 22 years, 10 of which I served as chairman. I am a mem-ber of the Westchester Municipal Plan-ning Federation Board of Directors and of the Tappan Zee Bridge Citizens Commit-tee, serving on its Traffic and Transporta-tion sub-group that provides citizen input to this major study. Are you pleased to see more acceptance of “new urbanism”? Yes. What I find most satisfying in my career is that my early interest in village style suburban development has come full circle. Developers who entertained only

Continued from page 7 (Dym) typical sprawl development are now ac-cepting a new urbanist approach. Local ordinances may require new urbanist de-velopment patterns in specialized loca-tions. Small suburban cities are being revitalized, with a density that some find dismaying. What issues should be at the forefront of planning today? The storm of last April and its aftermath of devastation on Westchester’s Long Island Sound Shore communities point to critical environmental issues facing plan-ners. These are the nuts and bolts of ag-ing and overloaded infrastructure, overde-velopment in the form of ever-expanding home sizes and loss of pervious surfaces and the potential environmental results of climate change. These challenges to the planning profession are as critical in their potential for destruction of communities as were the urban blight and deterioration of the 20th century. Solutions will re-quire intermunicipal cooperation since floods or fires respect no jurisdictional boundaries. Local ordinances and devel-opment fees will have to be enacted to make homeowners and developers mind-ful of the consequences of their cumula-tive actions. So there is always much to do to secure a positive built-environment. Planning will continue to play a central role.


tive Committee with implementing vari-ous items of its work plan and monitoring nationwide issues that relate to urban de-sign and preservation in the field of plan-ning. Morris said, “We hope that the New York Metro Chapter will involve Margot in relevant Chapter activities and provide her with information on local urban de-sign and preservation issues that may be of interest to the Division's membership. For more information about the Division's fellowship program, or for contact infor-mation for Walker, contact Morris at AKRF, Inc., 646.306.1376 or [email protected].

Margot Walker, a second-year student in the Masters of City and Regional Planning program at the Pratt Institute, has been chosen as the first Fellow of the APA Urban Design and Preserva-tion Division's Fellowship Program. The Division recently established this fellowship program to foster interest in the study of urban design and preserva-tion, as well as the interrelationship between these two areas of planning. The program is open to third and fourth year undergraduate students and first and second year masters degree stu-dents. Jennifer Morris, AICP, Secretary/Treasurer of the Division, reports that Walker was chosen from over 30 candi-dates and that her responsibilities will include assisting the Division's Execu-

Student Fellow Named by Urban Design and Preservation Division


There’s a new way to keep current on trends in land use law. Albany Law School Associate Dean and Professor Patricia Salkin has created an internet forum for the discussion of current laws, policies and decisions that affect the use of land. A visit to: www.lawoftheland.wordpress.com will lead to summaries of the most recent court decisions as well as reports on new state and federal laws and policies and actions at the local government level that guide and impact land use and community development. Regular readers may watch developments in specific areas of the law by using cate-gorical tags to review all recent posting relating to a particular topic. All views and opinions are welcome in the form of comments to individual postings. Peri-odic checks will identify if others have posted comments to cases of interest to you or your clients. The web site notes that, “faculty and stu-dents of law and planning may use the blog to stimulate classroom discussion on new developments in the law, as well as to generate ideas for paper topics and course presentations.” The blog features an optional subscription to a daily e-mail that highlights the case or development of the day.

Land Use Law Blog Initiated by Albany Law School


125th Street and Park Slope Are Named “Great Places” By APA Two special New York areas were in-cluded when APA recently announced the first 10 Great Streets and 10 Great Neighborhoods through its new national program, Great Places in America. 125th Street in Harlem, named a Great Street, was cited as “a capital of African Ameri-can cultural life since the early 20th cen-tury” that “has managed to maintain a strong identity through periods of tremen-dous population growth and infrastruc-tural strain, disinvestment, and urban re-newal.” Brooklyn’s Park Slope is a Great Neighborhood because of “its architec-tural and historical features and its diverse mix of residents and businesses, all of which are supported and preserved by its active and involved citizenry.” The APA website states, “Great Places in America celebrates places of exemplary character, quality and planning. Places are selected annually and represent the gold standard of communities. The desig-nated neighborhoods and streets are de-fined by several characteristics, including good design, functionality, sustainability, and community involvement.” The web-site has extensive discussion, photos and maps of each of the 20 places recognized by APA. Highlights of the New York place descriptions follow: 125th Street Combine a major Manhattan transporta-tion artery, cultural epicenter, architec-tural polyglot, and famed destination and the result is 125th Street in Harlem. It is a piston of economic, social, cultural and transit activity for Harlem, with increas-ingly more walkable and livable places. A broad array of architecture is found here, including early single-family brownstones, tenement apartments, ware-houses, art deco commercial structures, early office buildings, and mid-century modern buildings. For the most part the buildings are low-scale in height, which avoids the "canyon" effect of Manhattan's taller streets. During the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, there was an influx of black residents and rich cultural tradi-tions. The world famous Apollo Theater

on 125th helped launch the careers of prominent black entertainers. Although a limited amount of "superblock" housing was constructed along 125th Street, other nearby "urban renewal" redevelopment projects contributed to the destruction of historic Harlem housing and exacerbated disinvestment in the area. New activity on the street has led to an extensive re-view of "Harlem's Main Street" in order to further develop its identity as a re-gional business district and a premier cultural, arts, and entertainment corridor, notes Edwin Marshall of the New York City Department of City Planning. Deeply rooted in community priorities, future changes to 125th Street will shape the physical and social environment into a more walkable, more livable, more shop-pable space whose greatness, already long recognized, will continue. Park Slope The Park Slope neighborhood of today retains much of the architecture that de-fined it 100 years ago. "No neighborhood in America has a finer and more intact collection of late 19th-century row houses than Park Slope," notes architectural his-torian and Columbia University professor Andrew Dolkart. "Block after block is virtually unaltered, with houses ranging from grand townhouses designed by Brooklyn's leading architects, to long rows of vernacular speculator-built hous-ing designed by the obscure architects who provided character to so many urban neighborhoods." Park Slope has a little bit of everything: stately brownstones, attractive apartment buildings, a farmer's market, independ-ently owned businesses, transit, an adjoin-ing park, and active residents, some of whom moved to the area as urban home-steaders when it was being abandoned in

the 1960s. Park Slope suffered along with many urban neighborhoods from disinvestment and decline during the dec-ades following World War II. More recently, the department of city planning rezoned Park Slope in 2003 to cap building heights on the brownstone side streets while accommodating taller apartment houses in the Fourth Avenue transit corridor. Historic in design and modern in amenity, the livability of Brooklyn's Park Slope is no hyperbole. Its architectural, recreational, transportation, and community assets all combine to make it a great community of lasting value.

125th Street and Park Slope Are Named “Great Places” By APA

Park Slope Neighborhood. Photo: APA

125th Street. Photo credit: APA


New Chapter Office Intern: Matt Schwartz

This past September, the APA NY Metro Chapter of-fice welcomed a new intern to our staff. Matt Schwartz is currently in his first year at Columbia University pursing

a Master's in Urban Planning. He gradu-ated from Indiana University – Blooming-ton, in 2005 with a B.S. in Public Policy. Looking to the future, he is very inter-ested in pursuing a career in transporta-tion planning. At the Chapter office, he is assisting Chapter Administrator Mary Findlen with a wide variety of tasks rang-ing from organizing chapter conferences and meetings to updating the format of our e-mail notifications. Matt, originally from Massapequa Park in Long Island, says about his choice to attend Columbia University, "It not only has excellent pro-fessors and electives, but has an out-standing planning studio. The planning studio will enable me to take what I have learned in the classroom and apply it to real world practice. Each planning studio has a client such as a city agency or com-munity group and the students act as con-sultants to try and resolve the planning issue for their client." You can e-mail Matt Schwartz at: [email protected].

For 14 years, the Long Island Section of the NY Metro Chapter has been raising funds for a planning scholarship to honor the memory of Arthur H. Kunz, AICP, former Suffolk County Planning Director, who died in 1993. He was an active APA member and taught various planning courses at Long Island-area colleges and universities. The funds raised have pro-vided a number of scholarships over the years. Fund balances were recently trans-ferred to the Long Island Community Foundation (LICF), a subsidiary of the New York Community Foundation. LICF provides an investment pool to maximize professional administration and return on donor-directed funds. The Long Island Section Steering Committee has estab-lished a scholarship panel of planners from Nassau and Suffolk County to direct the funds to scholarship recipients. Beginning this fall, the Long Island Sec-tion, in support of the Edward J. Bloustein Planning School of Rutgers University, will be offering a scholarship discount on registrations for certain on-line planning courses. This scholarship will be available, on a first-come, first-served basis, to registrants who live or work in Nassau or Suffolk Counties. Re-cipients can receive scholarships of up to $100 per course. Introductory courses will be available to lay practitioners serving on planning boards and zoning boards of appeals who are now required by New York State law to show documented education and train-ing as a tenure requirement for their of-fice. More advanced courses will be of-fered to qualifying professional planners and to those planners seeking certification maintenance credits for AICP certifica-tion. Go to www.policy.rutgers.edu/

Long Island Section Announces Scholarships for Online Continuing Education Courses

bocep for more information on available courses. This on-line training component comple-ments the work of area planning profes-sionals who provide training workshops through the Planning Federations of Nas-sau County and Suffolk County, assisted by the New York Planning Federation. For further information, contact Andy Freleng, AICP, Long Island Section Di-rector at: [email protected]


The Township of South Orange Village requests Letters of Interest and Qualifi-cations from professional planning firms or teams for the preparation of a Vision Plan for the downtown business district of South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. The Plan will provide a comprehensive vision for the central business district of South Orange, the Valley Street business corridor and the Irvington Avenue business district. The successful team will require expertise in urban planning, design guidelines de-velopment, traffic and parking analysis, real estate market analysis, public proc-ess facilitation and civil engineering/ecological analysis (related to a river redevelopment project within the CBD). All firms responding to this Request for Qualifications must provide a brief summary of the firm’s back-ground, plus experience with similar projects, and resumes of key staff that would be assigned to this particular project. The Village will pre-qualify firms to answer a more detailed Re-quest for Proposal, including a sug-gested scope of work and fee proposal. Pre-qualified firms may be invited for an interview, prior to final selection. All questions regarding this RFQ should be addressed to: John O. Gross, Village Administrator 101 South Orange Avenue South Orange, NJ 07079 973-378-7715, extension 2 [email protected]. Qualifications packages are due: at the aforementioned address No later than 2:00 p.m. Thursday, NOVEMBER 28, 2007 Attention: John Gross, Village Admin-istrator.

Request for Qualifications For a Downtown Vision Plan Township of South Orange Village Please join us for the

NY Metro APA Holiday Party!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

6:00 to 8:00 pm New York Transit Museum

Located at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn Heights

Directions Subway: 2 3 4 5* to Borough Hall, M R to Court Street, A C G to Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street, A C F to Jay Street/Borough Hall. *Weekdays rush hours only Bus: B25, B26, B37, B38, B41, B45, B52, B57, B61, B65, B67, B75 all stop within 1 to 2 blocks of the museum. Car: From Manhattan: take the Brooklyn Bridge, proceed straight on to Adams Street. Adams will become Boerum Place. Go two blocks to Schermerhorn Street. (For more detailed directions and for direc-tions from other boroughs, Long Island or New Jersey please call 718-694-1873). Suggested donation of $10 for members and $5 for students. Hope to see you there!

* * * * * The New York Transit Museum, one of the city's lead-ing cultural institutions is the largest museum in the United States devoted to urban public transporta-tion history, and one of the premier institutions of its kind in the world. The Museum explores the devel-opment of the greater New York Metropolitan re-gion through the presentations of exhibitions, tours, educational programs, and workshops dealing with

the cultural, social, and technological history of public transportation. Since it's inception over a quarter century ago, the Museum, housed in a historic 1936 IND subway station in Brooklyn Heights, has grown in scope and popularity. As custodian and interpreter of the region's extensive public transportation networks, the Museum strives to share, through its public programs, this rich and vibrant history with local, regional, and international audiences.


President Ethel Sheffer, AICP [email protected] Vice Presidents, Programs Brodie Hefner, AICP [email protected] Nicolette Wagoner [email protected] Vice Presidents, Committees Donald Burns, AICP [email protected] Michael Marrella, AICP [email protected] Vice President, Professional Development Sarah Yackel, AICP [email protected] Vice President, Intergovernmental Affairs Michael A. Levine, AICP [email protected] Secretary Jennifer Posner [email protected] Treasurer Peter Miller, AICP [email protected] Long Island Representative Andrew Freleng, AICP [email protected] Lower Hudson Valley East Representative Tracey Corbitt, AICP [email protected] Lower Hudson Valley West Representative Alan Sorensen, AICP [email protected] New York City Representative David Fields, AICP [email protected] Immediate Past President Janice Jijina, AICP [email protected] APA Region I Board Director David W. Woods, AICP [email protected] AICP Region I Commissioner Anna Breinich, AICP [email protected]

Awards Michael Bradley, AICP [email protected] Ellen Ryan, AICP [email protected] Economic Development Tom Jost [email protected] Environmental Planning Robert M. White, AICP [email protected] Stephen Whitehouse [email protected] Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Gary Brown [email protected] Planners for Ethnic and Cultural Diversity Sarah Whitham [email protected] School Relations Tracy Sayegh [email protected] Transportation David Fields, AICP [email protected] Urban Design Rex Curry [email protected] Robert Lane [email protected] Waterfront Bonnie Harken [email protected] Robert W. Balder [email protected] Zoning Carol Rosenthal [email protected] Zachary Bernstein [email protected]

Columbia University Marc Bleyer [email protected] Hunter College Jessica Gable [email protected] New York University Chris Gorman [email protected] Pratt Institute Todd Okolichany [email protected] Rutgers University TBD

Chapter Administrator Mary Findlen [email protected] Webmaster Brian Carson [email protected] MetroPlanner Ed Buroughs, Editor [email protected] Tracey Corbitt, Graphics [email protected] Chapter Intern Matt Schwartz [email protected]

Executive Committee Committee Chairs Student Representatives

Staff

American Planning Association New York Metro Chapter 11 Park Place, Suite 701, New York, NY 10007 tel 646-278-5693; fax 646-278-5698; [email protected]; www.nyplanning.org

Address Changes: Contact APA’s Chicago Headquarters Office: www.planning.org/myapa/ Consultant and Job ads: Contact Mary Findlen 646-278-5693 or [email protected]

Submit to MetroPlanner Have you created an innovative zoning approach? Are you involved in a groundbreaking or controversial development proposal? Have you attended a seminar or event that you can’t stop talking about? Do you know a planner who would be great to interview? Surely your professional life has exciting high-lights. Let us know. MetroPlanner welcomes submissions of articles, reports, photos and illustrations on current planning issues, topics and developments throughout the NY Metro Chapter region which includes New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suf-folk, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Sullivan and Ulster. Brevity is preferred but when space is needed try to not to exceed 600 words. Feel free to first run an idea by us. E-mail news, articles and suggestions to [email protected]. You must include METROPLANNER in the subject line.

Show your New York Pride!

Get your NYMetro APA apparel, buttons, and etcetera. Got to the website to link to the store. All proceeds go directly to sup-port member educational programs.

Documents

Chapter Conference Details Challenges for Planners · splendor – with realistic topography, landscaping and building surfaces. The audience also got a glimpse of the future. The