Protecting Lower Manhattan from Climate Change: A Panel Discussion about the FiDi & Seaport Climate Resilience Plan

About the FiDi-Seaport Climate Resilience Plan: NYC is increasingly vulnerable to flooding due to climate change.  More intense coastal storms, rising sea levels, and extreme precipitation are already causing flooding across New York City.  Lower Manhattan is at the core of New York City’s transportation system and economy.  The area is also a cultural hub, attracting millions of visitors, and is a mixed-use center with a growing residential population.  To protect the neighborhood, the city is building flood-protection infrastructure, making the city more resilient to climate change and ensuring Lower Manhattan can to better serve generations of New Yorkers and visitors.  The FiDi-Seaport Climate Resilience Plan closes the last gap in Lower Manhattan’s defenses against coastal flooding.

Panel Moderator: Lisa Chamberlain

Lisa Chamberlain, LAI NY member, is a communications, policy, and business development strategist for all things urban.  She works with public, nonprofit, and private-sector leaders engaged in urban planning, resilient design, real estate, and economic development focused on communications strategy and content creation.  This work draws on 25 years of experience in NYC and globally as Communications Lead at the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Urban Transformation, a commercial real estate reporter for The New York Times, Executive Director of the Urban Design Forum, and a Congressional aide on Capitol Hill.

Panelist: Rachel Aaronson

Rachel Aaronson is the Vice President of Waterfronts on the Neighborhood Strategies team at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC).  In this role, Rachel leads on large-scale resilience projects like the FiDi-Seaport Climate Resilience plan, and has previously worked on large-scale planning projects like Hunts Point Resilience and SPARC Kips Bay which weave together climate adaptation and economic development.  Prior to this role, Rachel was the Chief of Staff at the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (MOCEJ), where she oversaw implementation of PlaNYC, the City’s climate plan and supported on priority initiatives like EJNYC.  Rachel is currently pursuing a master’s in urban planning at Hunter College and holds a B.A. from Grinnell College.

Panelist: Jordan Salinger

Originally from Southern California, Jordan Salinger earned his undergraduate degree from Colorado College and Master’s in Urban Planning from Columbia University.  Before moving to New York, he worked at SPUR (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research), an urban policy think-tank.  He then served as Chief of Staff to Assembly member Robert Rodriguez where he focused on affordable housing and infrastructure.  He currently helps to lead the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency project at the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice.  He also has focused on advancing the Climate Strong Communities program, an effort to deliver multi-hazard adaptation infrastructure projects across NYC.

We encourage you to join us to network and socialize with other chapter members and guests.

A light breakfast with coffee and tea will be served.

The event offers 1 AICP Certification Mainentance Credit.

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