Save the date

Join us on October 17, 2024 at Cipriani 25 Broadway!

For more than 100 years, Regional Plan Association (RPA) has promoted sustainability, equity, prosperity, and quality of life for the tri-state metropolitan region by advising cities, communities, and public agencies through research-based strategies on transportation, land use, housing, governance, and the environment.

Each fall, RPA hosts the Celebrate the Tri-State benefit, bringing together civic, business and elected leaders to recognize three outstanding contributors to the region’s public realm and support RPA’s work.

Get your tickets today!

Government rate tickets are available to government employees with valid government employee IDs. Please reach out to info@rpa.org if you qualify.

Co-Chairs

Host Committee

Making It Happen

Doreen M. Harris was appointed President and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on April 7, 2021, after serving as Acting President and CEO since June 2020.

President Harris is leading NYSERDA’s role to advance the policy frameworks, clean energy technologies and solutions that help New York advance toward the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by no less than 85 percent by 2050 while creating hundreds of thousands of good-paying clean-energy jobs and building an equitable economy.

Under President Harris’s direction, NYSERDA is making significant progress toward New York’s clean energy initiatives including advancing infrastructure and innovation, large-scale and distributed renewables, building decarbonization, energy storage, transportation electrification, clean fuels, transmission and resiliency.

President Harris joined NYSERDA in 2010 and served as Vice President of Large-Scale Renewables, where she spearheaded the strategic development of New York’s land based renewable and offshore wind resource, including the execution of the State’s offshore wind master plan. Prior to her career in public service, President Harris spent more than a decade in the private sector, serving in management and engineering roles.

President Harris co-chaired the New York State Climate Action Council, which in December 2022 finalized the State’s Scoping Plan. She serves on the boards of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), Alliance to Save Energy, National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, and NY BEST; and is a member of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network Leadership Council and an ambassador for the Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Initiative.

President Harris holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rochester and a Master of Business Administration from the University at Albany, State University of New York.

Above and Beyond

For most of his career, RPA Vice Chairman Jim Johnson, has advanced major efforts to promote the common good through his life’s work as an attorney, public servant, and community leader. As Board Chair of the Brennan Center for Justice, he was a staunch advocate for voting rights across the country, including personally representing classes of voters and potential voters in several cases in Florida and Colorado. He also launched efforts to bring together law enforcement leaders to reduce crime and incarceration. In New Jersey, Jim led the state’s Advisory Committee on Police Standards, spearheading efforts to eliminate racial profiling by the State Troopers with a legislative package that received strong bipartisan support. As Special Counsel to Governor Murphy, he led efforts to build a better future for Atlantic City where he produced and implemented a groundbreaking transition report: ​“Building a Foundation for a Shared Prosperity. He served as the court-appointed monitor implementing an affordable housing consent decree in Westchester County and developed approaches that the NY Times Editorial Board commended as ​“encouraging” in the face of a difficult path forward.

Early in his career, he served as Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury where he led one third of all federal law enforcement. Jim also served as the Deputy Director of the White House Security Review and, as such, was the force behind the decision to close Pennsylvania Avenue to vehicles. The decision opened the avenue to the public and drastically reduced the threat posed by attacks like the Oklahoma City bombing During the worst and most lethal days of the pandemic, he served as Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, the largest municipal law department in the country. In that role, he provided guidance to all of the city agencies and the mayor during that time of crisis. Jim currently serves as Chief Operating Officer of Trinity Church, which has had centuries of impact in New York City and around the world.

Jim believes that a vibrant society depends on artistic expression. He has helped guide several prominent local arts organizations, including the Montclair Art Museum, the Montclair Film Festival and Jazz House Kids and has ensured that the arts feature prominently in his community projects.

Project of the Year

In celebrating Google’s St. John’s Terminal, RPA is showcasing the company’s more than twenty-year investment in New York City which has restored dynamism and vibrancy to industrial neighborhoods and set the standard for forward-thinking, adaptive redevelopment. Google’s commitment to economic opportunity and community engagement, sustainability, and the highest standards for workplace design have resulted in projects where iconic office space retail development, and public and community spaces are inextricably woven together to create resilient destinations.

Google’s New York offices enhance the communities where they operate by adapting historic buildings, such as 111 8th Avenue, Pier 57 and Chelsea Market. The original St. John’s terminal structure, which served as the terminus of the High Line, was dramatically reimagined to open up the neighborhood connection to the waterfront by removing the overpass over Houston street and by adding a new alleyway connector and crosswalk. By adapting the existing structure and foundation, Google saved approximately 78,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions when compared to creating a new structural foundation. That’s comparable to removing roughly 17,000 cars from the road for a year.

The building also created 1.5 acres of native vegetation at street level, in rail bed gardens, and on terraces, redefining what ​“green space” means for commercial real estate in New York. This not only enhances the experience for occupants but also benefits the local ecology. Over 95% of the exterior plants at St. John’s Terminal are native to New York State, reknitting the building into the local ecology and providing a habitat for migratory birds. The building also incorporates solar panels, rainwater retention and wood that was reclaimed from the Coney Island boardwalk after Hurricane Sandy.

The building is Google’s North American Headquarters for its Global Business Operations, housing more than 3,000 workers. Google has called New York City home for more than 20 years, growing to over 14,000 full-time employees during that time.

Benefit Sponsors