Nearly 100 years to the day since the genesis of Regional Plan Association (RPA), Governors, members of Congress, local officials, business leaders, and the entire RPA community convened for the RPA Centennial Assembly, or as one attendee quipped, ​“the Oscars of urban planning.”

The annual Assembly opened with a reception on April 28 at the World Trade Center featuring remarks from Claudia López Hernández, Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, and continued with virtual breakout panels on May 2 through May 5 with experts from across the region and nation. The event concluded with a luncheon program at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on Friday, May 6 featuring appearances by US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Governors Kathy Hochul and Phil Murphy, Apple Vice President for Environment Lisa Jackson, New York City Chief Climate Officer Rohit Aggarwala, and others.

At Chelsea Piers, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy made a rare joint appearance for an interview with RPA President Tom Wright. ​“We wanted to appear on stage together to make a statement: the relationship between New York and New Jersey has never been better, period,” said Governor Murphy. The pair described their current approaches to issues of housing, climate change, and transportation and announced that former New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri would become the first CEO of the Gateway Development Commission. Governor Hochul thanked RPA for providing the inspiration for her Interborough Express project, and said for the first time that New York City should have the authority to manage its own speed cameras, an RPA priority.

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer continued to talk about the Gateway Program while delivering off-the-cuff remarks and accepting RPA’s 2022 John Zuccotti Award, our highest honor for leadership in the tri-state region. Schumer encouraged the Gateway Program’s key stakeholders - most of whom were in the room - to settle their differences and come together now to build Gateway by helping the Gateway Development Commission to become a grant eligible agency, asking New York and New Jersey to sign memorandums of understanding clarifying their funding commitments, and calling on the Federal Railroad Administration to commit to support Gateway using funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. US Deputy Secretary for Transportation Polly Trottenberg introduced Senator Schumer with heartfelt remarks about her time working for him in Washington in the early 2000s. Howard Milstein, a close friend and colleague of John Zuccotti, presented the award.

RPA Executive Vice President Kate Slevin shared brand new public opinion poll results from RPA and Global Strategy Group, covered that day by Politico, Newsday and others. The numbers indicate that housing affordability and crime are top concerns for residents, who also strongly support ambitious policies to address these challenges. ​“Support for legalizing accessory dwelling units – and basically anything that creates more housing– has gone up,” Slevin said. ​“People understand the link between stable housing and crime reduction.” Slevin also announced a new partnership in which RPA will help support Coro New York’s youth engagement initiative for civically engaged high school and college students.

With an eye toward the past, Slevin also elaborated on the meaning of RPA’s Centennial: ​“We need to recognize some mistakes of the past and use that knowledge to work towards a future that is more inclusive.” Building on this while looking towards the future, RPA Chairman Scott Rechler delivered remarks during his final Assembly as RPA’s Chairman after six invaluable years of service. ​“Even with these extraordinary structural shifts, there is still no other region on earth that is as well-positioned to thrive in the post-COVID world as ours.”

Apple Vice President of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson brought her unique combination of private and public sector expertise to the stage during a multifaceted conversation with Rohit ​“Rit” Aggarwala, New York City’s first Chief Climate Officer. ​“It’s good to see so many familiar faces here,” Jackson said, ​“but it’s also great to see so many unfamiliar faces. We need new blood and fresh faces in this movement.” Among other things, Jackson spoke about the relationship between product design and climate change mitigation. She pointed out that Apple’s revenues increased by 33% last year but its carbon footprint did not increase thanks to a greater reliance on recycled materials.

Congressman Ritchie Torres was scheduled to appear for a conversation about infrastructure with former CongressmanSteve Israel, Director of the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs at Cornell University. Congressman Torres, however, was called away to testify on the ongoing redistricting process in New York. He instead delivered virtual remarks about infrastructure which centered on public housing and aptly described circumstances in New York City Housing Authority facilities as a ​“humanitarian crisis.”

This year’s breakout panels took a more intersectional approach to RPA’s key research areas, intentionally blending issues of infrastructure, climate change, housing, and transportation instead of considering each through separate conversations. Each is available to watch at any time.

Monday’s panel speculated about the future of central business districts in New York City and across the nation. ​“I would posit that our central business districts are very well positioned to be transformed in ways that make them healthy in the long run,” said New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer. ​“Our challenge is to make sure that transformation happens in ways that are as inclusive and equitable as possible.” New York City Mayor Eric Adams opened the panel with keynote remarks.

Tuesday’s panel explored how to maximize the benefits of smaller transportation projects and bring more attention and funding to them. ​“Many of our buses are running half empty because we are letting buses drive by people who cannot afford to pay,” said Laura Chu-Wiens, Executive Director of Pittsburghers for Public Transit. ​“Why would we allow $2.75 to be a barrier to maximizing the benefits of these alternative modes?” To kick off the conversation, HNTB’s Ronnie Hakim interviewed Federal Transit Administrator Nuria Fernandez about what the federal government is doing to support transportation innovation.

Wednesday’s panel focused on bridging the gap between housing and transit investment by creating more transit-oriented development throughout the region. From their different vantage points as an elected official, a researcher, a city planner, and a housing developer, the panelists discussed how to ensure public participation is an asset and not a barrier to development. ​“There’s a difference in the conversation between fear versus trust,” said Norwalk’s Chief of Economic and Community Development Jessica Vonashek. ​“People say what they want when they have trust, they say what they don’t want when they have fear.” US Senator from New Jersey Cory Booker set the scene with keynote remarks.

Thursday’s panel examined the intersection between the climate and affordable housing crises. Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Executive Director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, hit the nail on the head: ​“People say climate change adaptation is expensive. The most expensive thing we can do is nothing. Losing your life, your livelihood, your community…that is the expensive thing.” FEMA’s Acting Deputy Administrator of Resilience Victoria Salinas and Chairman of the Advisory Board for Aligned Climate Capital Jamie Rubin began the panel with a detailed conversation about the federal government programs that are addressing this ​“clash of crises.”

RPA was fortunate enough to host the Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, Claudia López Hernández, who delivered candid remarks about her plans for the city and capital region for our Speakers and Sponsors Reception. The first woman and first openly LGBTQ person to govern Bogotá, López Hernández said it too often falls to women and mothers to take care of people because 50% of jobs are informal without healthcare or benefits. ​“The feminization of poverty is the social security of half of the society,” she said. The mayor also described Bogotá as one of the cycling capitals of the world and elaborated on her plans to expand the city’s signature cycling network.

Not every organization has an opportunity to celebrate their 100th anniversary. RPA would like to thank all the speakers, sponsors, attendees, staff and Board members, and the gracious team at Chelsea Piers who made this celebration so memorable. We also like to thank all those who have supported us from generation to generation who made this moment possible. We are grateful to every one of you. Here’s to another 100 years!