AIANY president's message: May collaborations and events

On Monday, May 5th, mayor Bill de Blasio announced the highly publicized ten-year plan to build or preserve 200,000 affordable apartments in N.Y.C. "Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan" will direct much of the city's residential development over the next decade. Thirteen agencies collaborated with over 200 stakeholders to create more than fifty initiatives that will allow for accelerated and affordable construction and preservation of affordable units in all five boroughs. AIANY supports the mayor's affordable housing plan. Specifically, the plan effectively addresses the need to identify potential sites for new housing development by changing regulatory procedures, and the energy efficiency provisions outlined in the plan that aim to produce environmental and economic benefits. On May 12th, AIANY executive director Rick Bell and I appeared on NY1's Inside City Hall to express our enthusiasm. I am optimistic about implementation and will work to ensure architects are involved every step of the way. On May 20th, I, along with a small group of other AIANY members, had the opportunity to sit down with the new N.Y.C. Dept. of Design and Construction (DDC) commissioner Dr. Feniosky Peña-Mora. The conversation focused on how architects and the DDC can continue to work together. Participants suggested ways in which the DDC can diversity its Design Excellence program. The commissioner was receptive and confirmed our shared priorities: sustainability, Active Design, and disaster preparedness and prevention in all five boroughs. We discussed ways that various city agencies might work more collaboratively and develop more interagency coordinated projects. I am excited and positive about collaborating with the commissioner and the team at DDC. This month, we joined forces with a group of other professionals in supporting the proposed Sustainable Development Goals on cities and human settlements by the UN's Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). I sent a letter to ambassador Elizabeth Cousens, Permanent Mission of the U.S. to the United Nations, to express that a stand-alone goal on urban environments, in addition to and separate from the 16 individual goals, is necessary to address the unique planning and design challenges facing evolving cities. Urban growth strains societies, and a full set of SDGs focused on cities would address environmental quality and healthy urban environments, decent affordable housing, active lifestyles for all age groups, accessible public transport, sustainable utilities, infrastructure and urban services, urban food production and sustainable logistics, access to employment and economic opportunity, quality open space, activated, dynamic urban places, and resiliency planning. These are issues that AIANY members constantly consider in their work in N.Y.C. and around the world. We hope that our support, and the support we requested from AIA National, will help secure the sustainable urbanization stand-alone goal. Locally, all five N.Y.C. AIA chapters are collaborating to refine local energy legislation. Currently, the city council is working on Intro. 14 with the mayor's Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability and the N.Y.C. Dept. of Buildings. The local law would amend the N.Y.C. mechanical code, requiring analysis of heating and cooling needs during building design, a recommendation of the Green Codes Task Force. AIANY supports this law but is committed to confirming that it does not become an undue administrative burden for small-scale residential and commercial projects, like many of those on Staten Island and in Queens. AIANY helped craft some of the energy code legislation with the mayor's Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability as part of a package of policies aimed at creating a more resilient city, so if it passes, we are dedicated to educating design professionals and the public about the important updates. The 2014 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1st, but unfortunately it seems that Good Samaritan legislation will not be passed this year in the NYS assembly. A draft bill has been stymied in the speaker's office by diminishment of the protections of volunteer response that are typical in many other states across the country. The legislation would have provided important liability protection to architects, landscape architects, engineers, and land surveyors who provide essential services during natural or man-made disasters and emergencies to help protect the public. AIANYS is continually working with allies in the assembly and with colleagues in the engineering community and at the N.Y. Building Congress that would meaningfully protect the altruistic efforts of design professionals and first responders. The pressure is on to get legislation passed before the next disaster hits the N.Y. metro region. Finally, please join me for the opening of my 2014 exhibition and symposium "Open to the Public: Civic Space Now at the Center for Architecture" on June 12th and 14th. The exhibition will focus on the centrality of public space in urban life and the need to both augment and preserve truly open access to those spaces. The symposium on June 14th from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., will bring together architects, appointed government officials, and academics to address the role of public spaces in N.Y.C. and elsewhere around the world. Details and participants of the separate programs can be seen on aiany.org. Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, is the 2014 president of AIANY and a professor of Architecture at the City College of New York, New York, N.Y.