New York City Planner Headlines Palisades Institute Forum

The Palisades Institute tackled the issue of regional planning at its latest Zoom forum on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. Carolyn Grossman Meagher, NYC Director of Regional Planning, presented “One Region: Building a Stronger and Fairer Future” to local business leaders. Meagher discussed the OneNYC campaign that encourages the city to reach out to its neighbors so that the whole region can thrive.

During the forum, Meagher stressed that local decisions in communities, businesses, and organizations really matter and affect the entire region. “I think of the phrase, ‘think regionally, act locally,’” she said. “So much of what we are think about are how these systems play out, and how we protect our immigrant worker population, and how we train them for new jobs, how we attract new populations, and retain them and think about where they may live. All of this comes down to the very local granular decisions that are made in each municipality.”

Those local decisions, she said include zoning, investments, and workforce development. Planning is difficult, she admitted, with so much uncertainty brought on by the pandemic.

Also speaking at the forum were: John O’Connor, Technology Infrastructure Operations Manager, Bloomberg, Orangeburg, NY; Greg Stanton, VP, IRG Realty Advisors & GM, NY Center for Innovation, Pearl River, NY; Jeremy Schulman, Director, Rockland County Economic Development & Tourism; and Chris D’Ambrese, Executive Director, Adult Education, Rockland BOCES.

The aim of the Palisades Institute of Dominican College is to encourage leaders in business, government, and not-for-profit agencies to integrate the concepts of leadership, quality, and ethics to achieve long-term success.