NEW YORK CITY—In order to keep pace with Mayor de Blasio's ambitious agenda—especially the creation of more affordable housing, the Department of City Planning has staffed up. GlobeSt.com sat down with Purnima Kapur, the newly appointed executive director at DCP, to learn more about the work she has ahead of her.
GlobeSt.com: When DCP said that it has made you executive director, the announcement said, "Kapur's leadership of DCP's East New York study is a template for how the agency will work with communities on comprehensive plans to create opportunities for new affordable housing, retail and amenities, jobs and services, and also address the physical infrastructure needs of each area." Can you elaborate?
Kapur: The East New York study is the kind of ground-up, comprehensive community planning that typifies the de Blasio administration's approach to planning for neighborhoods to grow across the five boroughs. I spearheaded the East New York study, a two-year community engagement process examining the potential for a comprehensive neighborhood plan with affordable housing, economic development, job access, better and safer streets and services for the community in this Brooklyn neighborhood.
This involved coordinating efforts by several public agencies and civic organizations while incorporating input from residents, businesses, and local elected officials. Not only was the outreach for the report encompassing, but the scope of the report is comprehensive as well, taking into account housing, local jobs, infrastructure, sustainability, pedestrian safety, streetscape design, and physical health.
GlobeSt.com: What are your goals for this position?
Kapur: My goal is to make sure the department meets the Mayor's planning agenda, including maximizing affordable housing, spurring economic vitality and making our neighborhoods more equitable and resilient to climate change—all with first-hand engagement with the city's communities.
GlobeSt.com: How does serving as executive director of the entire department differ from running the agency's office for one borough?
Kapur: “In this new role, I will be making sure that all planning functions of the agency in each of the five boroughs and citywide are achieving the goals that we have established to enable the agency to work effectively and efficiently as a whole. Additionally, I will ensure the agency is working in concert with the Mayor's office and our fellow public agencies to optimize the work that the city is doing together.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
