Project Title: The Future and Current Reality of Urban Planning
BASIS Advisor: Mark Sperazza
Internship Location: New York City Department of City Planning
Onsite Mentor: Daniel Garodnick
As concerned as we are about bleeding finite resources dry, our infrastructure is designed to fail eventually. The environment in which most of our modern cities rose was very different, created by a government with immediate goals to mobilize and prioritize growth. Since then, our objectives have shifted, our cities remaining in need of significant change. For this reason, I hope to determine how a more efficient and sustainable foundation for city planning should look, primarily through the lens of transportation and zoning. This will include analysis of former policy, such as past reports from policymakers and the original legislation here in New York that laid the groundwork for zoning around the world; this will also include our current objectives concerning the future, developed by our City Planning Commission. My aim is to review our 50-year plan for the future of the city and its projected outcome, as it will reflect the rationale behind the direction we’re going.
My Posts
Week 11 (Concluding Post)
Jun 22, 2023
Hello everyone, This will be my final blog entry, as I am finished with my project. I would like to thank Mr. Sperrazza as well as Daniel Garodnick, Casey Berkovitz, Selvena Brooks-Powers, Erik Bottcher, Joseph Borelli, and Alexa Avilés for guiding me throughout. This experience has taught me lots about planning policy and city government, […]
Week 10
Jun 12, 2023
On May 30, I spoke with councilmember Alexa Avilés of District 38 primarily about Red Hook, and our conversation surely helped solidify the outcome of my project. We began by talking about the Red Hook Container Terminal situation I referenced in Week 9; while Avilés was unfamiliar with the project I was talking about, her […]
Week 9
Jun 12, 2023
In this week, I reviewed projects that would be relevant to my Tuesday meeting with councilmember Alexa Avilés of District 38, which encompasses Red Hook, Sunset Park, Greenwood Heights and portions of Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights, and Boro Park. I hope to gain a better understanding of the land use situation in District 38 (especially […]
Week 7/8
Jun 12, 2023
The Stated Meeting of the New York City Council on May 11 2023, which I attended, included three interesting zoning proposals that were approved and passed into law. Though these proposals are minor, I observed the process of zoning policy being passed during City Council stated meetings, which occur every other week. In […]
Week 5/6
May 08, 2023
On April 27, I spoke with City Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli of District 51, located in Staten Island. In his words, his district is the whitest in the city, and the area he lives in is very different from the rest of the city in the sense that there are trails and “beaches where […]
Week 4
Apr 27, 2023
On April 17, I visited the office of councilman Erik Bottcher, whom I followed and observed for the day. My main reason for shadowing Bottcher was to follow the situation with Madison Square Garden potentially being relocated, which was discussed in a meeting with architectural firm Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU). For those who […]
Week 3
Apr 21, 2023
On Monday April 10, I attended a hearing surrounding truck routes where the Department of Transportation (DOT) testified before the City Council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The hearing was specifically concerning three bills and a resolution that are attached at the bottom of this post with a transcript of the entire hearing. Before touching […]
Week 2
Apr 21, 2023
On Thursday April 6, I visited the office of the Department of City Planning and worked with my first onsite advisor. Throughout this day, I observed the functions of the City Planning Commission’s members and spoke with Daniel Garodnick, the commission’s Chair, as well as Joseph Salvo, the Population Division’s chief demographer. At 11:00 […]
Week 1
Apr 07, 2023
Welcome back to my blog. My onsite placement was pushed back to week 2, so I decided to spend more time securing placements and preparing for the ones I’ve already secured. Since I will be shadowing upcoming hearings and visiting members of the City Council and the planning commission it oversees, my research this week […]
Week 0 (Introduction)
Apr 07, 2023
Hello and welcome to my blog! I’m Noah Louis, a senior at BASIS Independent Brooklyn, and my Senior Project assesses planned responses to the consequences of modern infrastructure on land use and zoning. While there are varying theories on maximizing the efficiency of land use, my project delves into relevant short-term policy that is currently […]