The 31st annual RPA Assembly brought together policy experts, public officials, business leaders, and influential advocates during the first week of May to debate solutions for the New York metro region’s most pressing challenges. Although New York, New Jersey and Connecticut continue to bring the public health crisis under control, our social and economic future remains uncertain. This year’s program centered on how we can rethink, recover, and rebuild to ensure the future is sustainable and equitable for all the region’s residents.
Senator Cory Booker (NJ) and Jun Choi, RPA Board member and CEO of Menlo Realty Ventures, opened the Assembly with a one-on-one conversation. The two New Jerseyans focused on how income inequality is making the recovery more challenging, with Senator Booker proposing the concept of a renter’s credit for housing similar to mortgage interest deductions. Monday’s panel Creating an Equitable Recovery, moderated by Ford Foundation Vice President Maria Torres-Springer, set the table for the rest of the Assembly by outlining the policies and programs needed to protect essential workers and ensure a rising tide will lift all boats.
When we talk about essential workers, it raises the question ‘essential for whom and for what purpose?’ Those people are essential to their families, but they had to go to work. I’m glad we were banging pots, but banging pots doesn’t protect them.”
Former Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros interviewed National Low Income Housing Coalition President Diane Yentel at the beginning of the panel about housing at the national level. The two agreed that unprecedented federal funding for infrastructure combined with a growing awareness of inequity have created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to significantly expand access to safe and healthy housing on a national scale.
The first thing we have to do is recognize the harm that’s been done by decades of racist housing policies…that created this yawning generational wealth gap that exists today.”
Are we going to be a country that values the life of every individual? And from an indigenous perspective, are we going to value the life of nature? That’s going to be our core mission in the 21st century.”
WXY Design Studio Principal-in-Charge and RPA Board member Claire Weisz moderated the panel Designing Streets for Recovery, Growth, and Equity and asked panelists about the permanent changes we ought to make to the streetscape. NACTO Director of Design Zabe Bent emphasized that open streets must connect back to the needs of the communities they are in, and Damon Rich, Partner at the design firm HECTOR, provided examples of how this happened when he was the Planning Director for Newark, NJ. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards pointed out that many of his constituents will continue to be reliant on their cars due to a lack of transit options. New York City DOT Deputy Director of Freight Tiffany-Ann Taylor explained how her agency is handling the rapidly increasing demand for curb access.
Whenever I hear people say ‘let’s get back to normal’ I cringe. Let’s examine the policies we have and ask ‘are they really doing what we need them to be doing?’ – not just for the most privileged people, but for everyone.”
Prior to the panel, RPA gave our highest award for leadership in the tri-state region, the John Zuccotti Award, to Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. Howard Milstein, a longtime friend and colleague of John Zuccotti, presented the award. All three governors in the region gave remarks, and RPA Chair Scott Rechler interviewed Cotton about his accomplishments at the Port Authority and what’s next for the agency.
The kids hanging out on the corner or the grandma peeking out the window can tell you a lot about the infrastructure in our communities.”
As the United States enters a more hopeful stage of the pandemic and a new federal administration prepares to invest in the built environment, it is clear we are on the verge of transformative changes. The New York metro region, the most densely populated and economically vital part of the US, can and should lead the way. If our region’s lawmakers and practitioners pick up on the ideas put forward during the RPA Assembly, together we can ensure these transformative changes move us in a more sustainable and equitable direction.
