Intersections: Shaping a Green NYC with Equitable Transportation Planning

The NYC Department of Transportation released Strategic Plan 2016: Safe*Green*Smart* Equitable in the fall of 2016. The updated plan describes how safety and public realm strategies, freight plans, asset management, and public engagement all play an important part in managing the City’s transportation and mobility network. At the same time, the NYC Department of City Planning has been crafting re-zoning plans that will help the city address affordability and density. Both NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and NYC DCP Executive Director Purnima Kapur will discuss their plans for NYC to manage growth, density, affordability, and transportation demand. 

Speakers:
Purnima Kapur, Executive Director, NYC Department of City Planning
Polly Trottenberg, Commissioner, NYC Department of Transportation

Moderator: Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director, Center for an Urban Future

Purnima Kapur is the Executive Director of New York City Department of City Planning (DCP). Working closely with the Chairman of the City Planning Commission, Kapur is a key advisor to the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development on planning, housing and economic development issues. Kapur leads the Department in its work program which includes promoting transit-oriented growth, housing production and affordability, economic development and resilient and sustainable communities across the five boroughs. Currently she is overseeing DCP’s housing initiatives, a key part of the Mayor’s Housing Plan. Prior to assuming this position she was Director of the Brooklyn Office of City Planning and Director of the Bronx Office before that. In these roles she led high priority and transformative projects including development in Greenpoint-Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn, Coney Island, Yankee Stadium and Port Morris.

Polly Trottenberg leads one of the nation’s largest and most diverse municipal transportation agencies, with 5,000 employees and a $14.5 billion 10-year capital plan. Appointed commissioner in 2014 by Mayor Bill de Blasio, Trottenberg is responsible for overseeing New York City’s roads, bridges, traffic and lighting operations, parking, passenger ferry service and bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Trottenberg has maintained the agency’s strong focus on safety, equity, sustainability and economic growth and has helped lead New York City’s Vision Zero traffic safety initiative to reduce roadway fatalities and injuries, with a focus on redesigning hundreds of city streets. Among other critical efforts, Trottenberg has prioritized the expansion of street resurfacing and reconstruction, bridge rehabilitation and construction, improvement of bus system performance on city streets, building a cycling network of over 1,000 miles and doubling the country’s largest bike share program.

Jonathan Bowles is executive director of the Center for an Urban Future, a policy organization that shines a light on the key opportunities and challenges facing New York City, with a focus on expanding economic opportunity and growing the city’s economy. During his 18 years at the Center, he has been the architect of the Center’s policy agenda and is responsible for making it one of New York’s most innovative and influential organizations. Jonathan has authored and edited more than two dozen policy reports, including studies about the growth of the city’s tech sector, the increasingly important role of branch libraries, the powerful impact of immigrant entrepreneurs and the challenges facing New York’s working poor. He co-chaired the Economy and Jobs subcommittee of Mayor-Elect de Blasio’s transition committee, and has served on numerous tasks forces and commissions for Mayor de Blasio, former Mayor Bloomberg, Comptroller Scott Stringer and several other government officials. He lives in Queens with his wife and his two kids.