Prof. Nicholas Dagen Bloom authored two editorials in the Gotham Gazette: "Hidden in Plain Sight: Billions in Potential Revenue for NYCHA," ( December 2, 2019), and  "NYCHA Open Space: The Next City Park Frontier," (December 19, 2019). Prof. Bloom was also cited in the Next City article "New York’s Public Housing Development Dreams at a Crossroads," (December 18, 2019).

Associate Prof. Owen Gutfreund was interviewed by CNA (a TV news station in Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Phillipines, Malaysia, and Australia) for a story about recent efforts of cities to regulate AIRbnb.  Click here for a video of the interview.

Prof. Wolf-Powers is  a co-author of a report recently published by the Pratt Center for Community Development: "Public Action, Public Value: Investing in a just and equitable Gowanus neighborhood rezoning."

Associate Professor Laura Wolf-Powers' Op-Ed, "New York City Needs a Development Reset -- Starting with Public Land," appeared in the Gotham Gazette on December 9th.

UPP affiliated faculty member and Hunter College Distinguished Professor David Himmelstein was quoted in The Washington Post article, "How a fight over health care entangled Elizabeth Warren — and reshaped the Democratic presidential race," November 30, 2019.

Prof. John Chin and his colleague Prof. Lois Takahashi (USC) have published a report on "Illicit Massage Parlors in Los Angeles County and New York City: Stories from Women Workers". This report, intended for a policy and practitioner audience, examines the experiences of Chinese and Korean immigrant women working in illicit massage parlors. Often lost in media accounts are the daily experiences of the women workers from their own perspectives. Why are women working in these establishments and under what conditions do they labor? What solutions can be offered that do not further penalize, traumatize, or victimize an already vulnerable population? This report aims to answer some of these questions, and offer recommendations for policy and practice, based on in-depth interviews with 116 women. The report is particularly timely in light of decriminalization legislation currently being debated in New York State.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was quoted in City & State magazine (November 8, 2019) for an article on "Which Promises Will de Blasio Leave Unkept?"

Congratulations to Professor Edwin Melendez for receiving the Edward Blakely Award, given by the Planners of Color Interest Group (POCIG) of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). The award recognizes planning or related academics or professionals who have supported the cause of social justice for communities of color in their work.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Victoria Johnson for receiving the Hunter College Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship.

Distinguished Professors David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler are the authors of "The Public Option Poison Pill", in The Nation, (October 21, 2019) on the issue of Medicare for All. Professors Himmelstein and Woolhandler, affiliated faculty members in our department, are cofounders of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Professor Nicholas Dagen Bloom provides background on NYCHA history on WNBC's new podcast, Question Authority, about problems at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). A video introduction to the series with Bloom is here: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Question-Authority-A-Deep-Dive-Into-NYCHA-Problems_New-York-563169282.html. Most of the interview, recorded last summer, can be found in Section 6 of the podcast: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investigations/NYCHA-Question-Authority-podcast-episode-6-interview-gregory-russ-561139601.html

Assistant Professor Lily Baum Pollans' article, “Sustainability policy paradox: Coping with changing environmental priorities in municipal waste management” was recently published in the Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning.

Professor Nicholas Dagen Bloom discussed "Diversity and Inclusion in Planning" with Maria Torres Springer (VP for US Programs, Ford Foundation) and Rohit T. Aggarwala (Head of Urban Systems, Sidewalk Labs) at the Regional Plan Association Board of Directors Retreat on October 3.

Prof. Lasner was also quoted in the New York Times in an article, “A Roof of One’s Own," about use of tiny houses as affordable housing around the United States.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti has published an "open letter to Mayor de Blasio" in the New York Daily News (September 20) on "What he should do now that his presidential ambitions have run aground."

Professor Nicholas Dagen Bloom's new book How States Shaped Postwar America: State Government and Urban Policy (University of Chicago Press, 2019) is positively reviewed in Planning Magazine (American Planning Association):

“Bloom provides a needed reminder of how significant state governments were to urban development and planning in the mid-twentieth century. . . . The moral of the many stories is that in today's political climate, urban Americans may again need to look to state governments.” Choice (American Association of Research Libraries) rates the book “Highly recommended. . . Bloom’s carefully crafted work persuasively shows that without the intervention of states, large public systems in fields such as education, transportation, housing, and the environment might not exist or would be unrecognizable today.”

Professors Nicholas Bloom gives a tour of the Housing Density Show at the Skyscraper Museum to staff from the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development, September 17, 2019.

The Department of Urban Policy and Planning was one of several programs featured in a Forbes magazine article on schools that provide practical career training.

Professor Nicholas Dagen Bloom is Co-Curator of an exhibition on HOUSING DENSITY at the Skyscraper Museum in Battery Park City. He has already given exhibition tours to senior staff from HPD, DCP, and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development. The exhibition will remain on view until December 2019. Bloom welcomes the opportunity to give additional group tours for agencies and other interested organizations. Please contact him directly at nb2907@hunter.cuny.edu. More information about the show is available here: https://www.skyscraper.org/housingdensity/

Assoc. Professor Laura Wolf-Powers co-authored an article that recently appeared in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, titled "Opportunities and Risks of Localized Industrial Policy: The case of 'maker-entrepreneurial ecosystems' in the USA." (August 20, 2019)

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was quoted in Politico (August 19) magazine in an article on "After the Likely Demise of deBlasio's Campaign, What Comes Next?"

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti appears in an educational video released this week by the New York City Charter Revision Commission commemorating the Thirtieth Anniversary of the historic 1989 Charter Commission. The video is posted on the Commission Website and is being distributed on Facebook and Twitter. Click here for the video.

Professor John Chin was quoted in an article, in CityLab concerning a New York State bill that would decriminalize sex work:
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/06/sex-work-justice-police-decriminalization-harris-new-york-legal/591526/

Assistant Professor Lily Baum Pollans' article, "From non-planning to cutting edge policy: the transformation of waste management in Boston since the 1980s," was published in Metropolitics journal, June 11, 2019.

Prof Laura Wolf-Powers published an article in Metropolitics journal, “Reclaim Value Capture for Equitable Development”, May 28, 2019.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti participated in an "Ask the Experts" Q&A for City and State magazine (May 22) on "Predicting the Impact of de Blasio's White House Bid."

He was also quoted in other venues on the subject of de Blasio's presidential campaign, including Fortune magazine (May 16), the Wall Street Journal (May 16), and Gothamist (May 15).

Associate Professor Lynn McCormick has an upcoming article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research on Housing for People with Disabilities. Written with Prof. Alex Schwartz at the New School and Chiara Passerini, she argues that planners need to pay attention to the impending housing crisis facing adults with disabilities who face an insufficient supply of affordable and accessible units country-wide. Click here for the article.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was quoted in a Fortune magazine story on, "How New York Could Become a Factor in the 2020 Presidential Race," (May 7, 2019).

Associate Professor Victoria Johnson was quoted in The New York Times article "Rockefeller Center Digs Up", (May 5, 2019).

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti is writing a series of articles on the New York City Charter for City Limits magazine, as a panel appointed by the mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough presidents and city council is conducting the most comprehensive review and revision of the document undertaken in thirty years.

Part 1: Charter Debate is a Moment for NYC to Change—or Confirm—its Identity
https://citylimits.org/2019/04/03/opinion-charter-debate-is-a-moment-for-nyc-to-change-or-confirm-its-identity/

Part 2: Commission Must Tweak—Rather Than Transform—the Balance of Power in NYC
https://citylimits.org/2019/04/04/opinion-commission-must-tweak-rather-than-transform-the-balance-of-power-in-nyc/

Part 3: A Stronger New York Does Not Need a Weaker Mayor
https://citylimits.org/2019/04/05/opinion-a-stronger-new-york-does-not-need-a-weaker-mayor/

Part 4: Is the Charter Revision Commission Looking at the Wrong Campaign Reforms?
https://citylimits.org/2019/04/12/nyc-charter-term-limits-not-irv/

Associate Professor Victoria Johnson's book American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine inthe Garden of the Early Republic was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in American History.

Associate Professor Laura Wolf-Powers' co-authored article, Industrial inheritances: Makers, relatedness and materiality in New York and Chicago is published in the journal Regional Studies.

Prof. Sigmund Shipp was a panelist on the CUNY-TV forum "How Much is Too Much"? That focused on Amazon's decision to withdraw its proposed location in Long Island City. The show was taped March 27, 2019.

The APA Divisions Council has recently announced the winners of its 2019 Grant Awards. Profs. Sigmund Shipp and Jeffrey Lowe (Associate Prof at Texas Southern University) were awardees. Their research project entitled, "The First Generation of Black Planners Speak Their Truths" focuses on the first black professional planners and their work in major cities as they were changing from being largely white to largely African-American.

Associate Professor Victoria Johnson's book American Eden has been nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the biography category.  https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-la-times-book-prize-finalists-20190220-story.html

A Chinese translation of UPP Chair and Professor Joseph Viteritti's book, Choosing Equality, has been published by Guangxi Normal University Press in China. The book, Choosing Equality: School Choice, the Constitution, and Civil Society was originally published by the Brookings Institution Press twenty years ago this year and has a new preface. The new edition is the second in a special series of five books by American authors on the subject of school reform in America being translated under the editorial direction of Chinese scholars at Beijing Normal University in Beijing and East China Normal University in Shanghai. The other American authors are on the faculties of UC, Berkeley; Stanford (two); and Harvard.

UPP Chair Professor Joseph Viteritti participated in an "Ask the Experts" Q&A with John Lentz, Editor-in-Chief of City & State magazine, about "What Can Amazon Do to Sell its HQ2 Plan in New York City" (February 5, 2019).

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti has written an opinion piece for the Daily News, "We're Not the City of Amazon After All: The Soul of the City Snapped Back." February 19, 2019

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was interviewed by AM New York for a piece on "President de Blasio? Mayor de Blasio ponders a White House run while testing the waters (Ice) in New Hampshire," February 12, 2019.

Laura Wolf-Powers, Associate Professor, is going to be part of a panel on blight at the Municipal Art Society of New York on March 6, 2019. https://mailchi.mp/mas/youre-invitedurbanist-breakfast-brainstorm-201489?e=f57fa703ca

Associate Professor Victoria Johnson’s book American Eden has been awarded a 2019 John Brinkerhoff Jackson Prize by the Foundation for Landscape Studies.

Laxmi Ramasubramanian, Associate Professor, is the recipient of the 2019 William R. and June Dale Scholar Prize for Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning.  The Dale Prize is awarded by California State Polytechnic University, Pomona’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Awarded since 2004, the Dale Prize recognizes planning excellence, creates dialogue between scholars and practitioners, and enriches the education of planning students. The Dale Prize is awarded in pairs, recognizing a scholar and a practitioner. Awardees spend two days on the Cal Poly campus, meet with students in classes, and participate in a colloquium and other public events. The 2019 theme is From Blueprint to Resilience: Planning when Change is the Norm.

Associate Professor Lynn McCormick is quoted in Next City article, "Can This Westchester Community Revitalize without Displacement?", December 3, 2108.

UPP Chair Professor Joseph Viteritti was a guest on CUNY TV's CUNY Forum for a discussion on "Outcomes 2018: What Comes After the Elections," December 5, 2018.

Associate Professor Jill Simone Gross is co-editor of the new book, Constructing Metropolitan Space: Actors, Policies and Processes of Rescaling in World Metropolises. The book explores the contested nature of metropolitan governance on four continents. The volume is derived from the efforts of 14 scholars, exploring the degree to which globalization is generating new configurations of power and politics. The book is the outcome of a four-year collaborative research project exploring the politics of metropolitan development in Berlin, Delhi, Istanbul, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Shenzhen.

Professor Vivian Louie has been appointed to serve on the Russell Sage Foundation Advisory Committee for its Race, Ethnicity and Immigration Program and special initiative on Immigration and Immigrant Integration.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti is the author of "Amazonian Lessons for Urbanists," Gotham Gazette, November 19, 2018, where he thanks the students in his "Governing the City" class for a stimulating discussion on the topic.

Associate Prof. Victoria Johnson's Op-Ed, "What really makes America great", is published in The Washington Post, November 15.

Associate Prof. Matthew Lasner was quoted in The Nation in an article analyzing recent housing bills in Congress and the role housing might play in the 2020 election.

UPP Chair Professor Joseph Viteritti was quoted in a Wall Street Journal (October 8) article on Mayor Bill de Blasio's decision to replace his SUV and other official vehicles with hybrid cars that are more environmentally friendly.

Laura Wolf-Powers recently published an article (co-authored with Naomi Adiv) in the journal Urban Geography: "User Fees and the permeability of public space at municipal pools and bathhouses in New York City 1870-present."  https://works.bepress.com/laura_wolf_powers/45/

Professor Victoria Johnson's book American Eden has just been named one of five finalists for the 2018 National Book Award in Nonfiction: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/books/national-book-foundation-announces-finalists-for-69th-annual-award.html.

Prof. Matthew Lasner’s latest essay, “Architecture’s Progressive Imperative: Housing Betterment in the 19th and 20th Centuries” appears in a special issue of the UK journal AD devoted to the topic of social equity in housing. A review of the issue was published in Next City last week. Lasner also presented his research at a panel at the Center For Architecture earlier this month; video of the event can be seen on its Website.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was interviewed by WAMU Radio, the NPR station in Washington D.C., regarding the merits (and limits) of governance arrangements that give mayors operational control over urban school districts. The interview ran on the day (September 17) that the District of Columbia City Council was considering a proposal to amend its governance law and end the system of mayoral control of schools that has been in effect since 2007.

Along with Weijie Wang at the University of Missouri, Dr. Ryan Yeung published an article in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory on the effectiveness of the NYC DOE’s Empowerment Zone Innovation. Click here for the article.

Associate Professor Jill Simone Gross published a new article (book chapter):
Gross, J. S. (2018). The governance of superdiversity: a tale of two North American cities. In The Routledge Handbook of the Governance of Migration and Diversity in Cities (pp. 251-261). Routledge. Click here for the description.

In addition, Prof. Gross has been chosen to serve as "President Elect 2019-20 of the Urban and Local Politics Section of the American Political Science Association" and asked to serve on the "2018-19 Robert A. Dahl Award" Committee of the American Political Science Association. The Robert A. Dahl Award is awarded annually to an untenured scholar who has produced scholarship of the highest quality on the subject of democracy.

Prof. Sigmund Shipp has been selected in a CUNY-wide competition to co-teach a course in Spring 2019 at the CUNY Graduate Center for the Futures Initiative Program. The aim of the proposed course, to be team-taught with  Professor of Sociology, Public Health, & Urban Education  Juan Battle, is to support diversity, equity, and student-centered interdisciplinary learning at the graduate level, to strengthen faculty diversity at the Graduate Center, and to establish robust peer mentoring among faculty members across the CUNY system.

Associate Professor Victoria Johnson's book, American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic is one of ten books on the list for consideration for a National Book Award in nonfiction.

Professor Victoria Johnson's new book, American Eden, about the first botanical garden in the United States (and how it became the site of Rockefeller Center), has been reviewed in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. American Eden has also been chosen as one of Amazon's "Best History books of June" and as an editors' pick at Nature, Scientific American, Popular Science, and the New York Times Sunday Book Review. Her book was published in June by Liveright, a division of W. W. Norton & Co.

Prof. Wolf-Powers was on a panel of respondents gathered to discuss Alan Mallach's new book The Divided City at an event co-sponsored by the Regional Plan Association and the Century Foundation on June 25th.
https://tcf.org/content/event/divided-city-discussion-alan-mallach/

Prof. John Chin was recently appointed to the NIH Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (https://www.oar.nih.gov/oarac/members.asp) and to the National Advisory Committee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Program (http://healthpolicyresearch-scholars.org/about-the-program/).

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was quoted in a front page story in the New York Times (July 5) about the role of Asian Americans in New York City politics.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was invited by NBC News to write an opinion piece on former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, which was posted online, as  "Losing It: The Tragic Self-Immolation of Rudy Giuliani," NBC News, Think, May 30, 2018.

Prof. Matthew Lasner is quoted in the current issue of The Nation, which includes several articles exploring the affordable housing crisis United States. Click here to read.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was extensively quoted in a Gotham Gazette (May 10) article on the establishment of two Charter Commissions for New York City.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was interviewed by WNYC/NPR about Mayor de Blasio's proposal to a appoint a Charter Review Commission. Parts of the interview were aired on February 18th and 19th. He also was quoted extensively in a Gotham Gazette (February 21) article on the same subject.

UPP Professor Owen Gutfreund is quoted in am New York online article, “Cycling growth slows in NYC after decades-long boom, DOT report says” written by Vincent Barone, March 21, 2018.

UPP Prof. Ryan Yeung is the Co-author of two articles published by Springer, March 12, 2018. “The Impact of U.S. News College Rankings on the Compensation of College and University Presidents” written with Philip Gigliotti (SUNY, Albany) and Phuong Nguyen-Hoang (University of Iowa) and “The Impact of U.S. News College Rankings on the Compensation of College and University Presidents” written with Phuong Nguyen-Hoang.

Prof. Wolf-Powers' article, "The Maker Movement and Urban Economic Development," was the runner-up for the Journal of the American Planning Association's Best Paper of 2017. The article can be found through the Hunter College library and directly at the journal here: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944363.2017.1360787.

On January 31st, UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti gave a book talk, followed by a signing, at the City Seminar hosted by Professor Kenneth Jackson at the Columbia University's Herbert H. Lehman Center for American History.

Associate Professor Laura Wolf-Powers is a co-author of the article "Manufacturing without the firm: Challenges for the maker movement in three U.S. cities," published in December in the journal Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. Prof. Wolf-Powers was quoted in Crain's New York business in October on the irrational mania prompting cities to overuse economic development subsidy to attract companies like Amazon.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20171015/POLITICS/171019919/amazon-will-expect-subsidies-nycs-record-on-attracting-jobs-through-incentives-is-mixed

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti is the author of an essay, "De Blasio's Second Act Will Feature the Same Script but a Larger Audience," in City Limits magazine (December 7, 2017)

James Rausse (MUP '02), AICP, has been appointed as the APA Chapter Presidents Council Liaison to the AICP Commission. James previously served as APA-New York Metro Chapter President and Vice President for Professional Development. He will serve on the Chapter Presidents Council board, which represents APA's 47 Chapters. James also graduated with a second Masters Degree in Organizational Dynamics, concentrating in Sustainable Development from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2017.

Prof. William Milczarski is the co-author of two recently published articles.  “Injuries caused by falls from playground equipment in the United States” written with Peter Tuckel(Hunter's Sociology Department) and David Silverman (Yale) was published in Clinical Pediatrics.  “Injury-related falls from bicycles, skateboards, roller skates, and non-motorized scooters in the United States: 2005-2014” written with Peter Tuckel and Richard Maisel (NYU) was published in the Journal of Epidemiological Research.

Dr. Laxmi Ramasubramanian has published her second book!  Essential Methods for Planning Practitioners: Skills and Techniques for Data Analysis, Visualization, and Communication, with co-author Jochen Albrecht. It is published by Springer. The foreword is written by Professor Mike Batty, urban theorist and Chair, at the Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College, London.

Kerry McLean, MUP alum, has been selected as one of the 2017 LISC Michael Rubinger Community Fellows. Read More

UPP adjunct faculty members Philip Plotch and Jen Nelles' article "Mitigating Gridlock: Lessons on Regional Governance from the Organization that Keeps New York Moving,"  is published in Articulo – Journal of Urban Research. To read article click here.

UPP alumnus Prudence Katze (MUP 2015) invites the Hunter community to the premiere of her documentary film, The Iron Triangle. The film is about the bustling industrial community of Willets Point, Queens, where a group of small, immigrant-run businesses banded together to fight a development plan that would bulldoze their slice of the American Dream. Through the testimony of city officials, real estate developers, urban theorists, and the workers of Willets Point, The Iron Triangle offers a deep exploration of the controversial changes facing New York City. Their story launches an investigation into New York City’s history as the front line of deindustrialization, urban renewal, and gentrification.

The film will be screened at the DOC NYC Film Fest on Sat. 11/11 at 4:30 pm and Thur. 11/16 at 12:30 pm.

Prudence has offered to try to get free tickets for current students who would like to attend. If interested, contact her at contact@prudencekatze.net.

For more information on the film visit http://theirontrianglemovie.com/

New UPP Prof. Lily Baum Pollans' academic article, "PAYT Helps Drive Residential Food Scraps Collection " published this summer is featured in October 2017 issue of BioCycle Magazine, a magazine devoted to composting, renewable energy, and sustainability.

Rebecca Chau, former Hunter MUP student, was awarded the Runner-Up prize in the nationwide ACSP-GPEIG competition for the best international case study completed by a student in the last two years.  Her paper, Social Urbanism: Transformational Policy in Medellin, Colombia, was completed in Professor Gutfreund's course on Cities in Developing Countries.  It will be published on the ACSP-GPEIG website.  Congratulations, Rebecca!

Prof. Matthew Gordon Lasner appeared on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC-FM on October 5 to talk about the history of co-ops and condos as part of a series the show is doing in advance of the November mayoral election entitled "The People’s Guide to Power: Real Estate Edition.” Listen to the segment at https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-yorks-first-co-op/.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti was a guest on the premiere of Brian Talks New York, hosted by Brian Lehrer, which was aired for the first time on CUNY TV on October 4th.

Faculty member Laura Wolf-Powers has two articles out this fall. One, "Food Deserts and Real Estate-Led Social Policy," argues that the popularity of the "food desert" meme has have led policymakers astray in their responses to food insecurity. It was published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. The other, co-authored with colleagues at University of Illinois and Portland State University, examines the entrepreneurs at the center of the urban "maker" phenomenon and reflects on implications for local manufacturing and economic development policy. It appears in the fall issue of the Journal of the American Planning Association.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti is the author of an essay on Bill de Blasio, Economic Justice, and the Democratic Party in The Nation (September 11, 2017).

Prof. Shipp's book review of  "The Folklore of the Freeway: Race and Revolt in the Modernist City" by Eric Avila (2014).

Prof. Jill Simone Gross has been asked to serve as Program Co-Chair for the Urban Politics Section (http://www.apsanet.org/section13) of the American Political Science Association, for their 2018 conference scheduled for August 30 - September 2, 2018 Boston, MA

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti’s new book The Pragmatist: Bill de Blasio’s Quest to Save the Soul of New York(Oxford) was reviewed by Sam Roberts in the New York Times on August 27th. Professor Viteritti has also posted podcast interviews on Am New York, City and State, and Gotham Gazette, and an online interview with Politico magazine. An excerpt of the book was published on City & State on  September 5 and will be reissued on September 12.​

The Westchester Municipal Planning Federation (WMPF) offers a $2000 scholarship to a student who is currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate planning program (or a closely-related program such as architecture, landscape architecture, public administration, public policy or geography) and who plans to continue his/her studies in the following school year. The 2017 Westchester Municipal Planning Federation scholarship was awarded to Gregory Cutler. Greg received his bachelor’s degree in Geography from Binghamton University and is currently pursuing a Masters in Urban Planning at Hunter College.

Prof. Ryan Yeung is quoted in "2017's Best Places to Flip Houses"  Wallethub.com, Aug. 1

Prof. Sigmund Shipp was interviewed about the city council proposal to enforce timely inspections of noise violations in Hell's Square (on the lower east side) and other NYC locations. The interview aired on Fox 5 News Wednesday, August 2nd. For further reading, click here.

Prof. Joseph P. Viteritti, UPP Chair, was quoted in the New York Times in an Q and A on mayoral control of the schools.

"Does it Matter Who Runs New York City's Schools?" By Kate Taylor, June 23, 2017

May 22, 2017

Dear Students, Alums, Faculty, and Friends:

It is with great sadness that I write to you on the passing of Professor Stanley Moses, who died on Friday, May 19^th, after suffering from a head injury that he incurred from a fall that took place on May 14^th.

Stanley delighted in the time he spent with students. He used to tell me that it kept him going; and it did so for a long time, if not long enough for those who had the pleasure of knowing him. He had taught graduates and undergraduates in our department since 1971, and served as chair from 1998 to 2008. Most recently, he had taken on particular responsibility for two courses: “The Structure of the Urban Region” and “Plans, Policies and Politics,” though he taught a diverse menu of offerings over the years. Stanley also had a record of public service at both the federal and state levels of government that allowed him to bring his practical insights into the classroom.

Stanley was a proud product of CUNY, a graduate of City College who had gone on to earn a doctorate from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 1971. He was widely read, and had an intellectual curiosity that seemed to have no bounds.

His own scholarship focused on two issues that continued to occupy his attention throughout his long career: equality of educational opportunity and full employment. On the former, he was the author of The Elusive Quest: The Struggle for Equality of Educational Opportunity (1992), a book on school finance reform that he wrote with his Hunter colleague, Edwin Margolis, with a forward by the late New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

His interest in full employment was piqued by his Syracuse University mentor, Bertram Gross, a devoted advocate for the issue who eventually joined our department faculty as a Distinguished Professor. Stanley later edited a festschrift in honor of his former teacher that was published in 1995 under the title, Enduring Visions: The Legacy of Bertram Gross.

Stanley’s real passion was to engage people; his most valuable legacy is the example he set for us all by the way he indulged that passion. He had a tireless devotion to students: always the first to sign up for their events, always present to pose a thoughtful question when they presented, ever ready to celebrate their accomplishments, ever ready to offer a helping hand and assure them he cared. There was a genuine kindness about Stanley that you had to notice if you knew him. He regularly dropped by to ask how you were doing; he would take long trips to visit former colleagues when they were ill; he would go out of his way to support his junior colleagues; and he would never hesitate to tell his senior colleagues to lighten up when they took themselves too seriously.

Stanley’s absence will be felt by all.

A memorial service is being planned.

With sincere regrets,

Joseph Viteritti

Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy

Chair, Urban Policy and Planning Department

Prof. Jill Gross posts a piece, Accomplishing Agonism in Urban Governance, in the Urban Affairs Forum presented by Urban Affairs Review,  March 10, 2017. 2017.

March 19, 2017

Dear Members and Friends of the Urban Policy and Planning Community:

I write with deep sorrow to inform you of the passing of Professor Peter Kwong, who died of cardiac arrest on Friday, March 17th.

Professor Kwong had been a member of the Hunter faculty since 1993, where he was a Distinguished Professor in the Urban Policy and Planning Department and a Professor of Asian-American studies. He was also a member of the doctoral faculty  in Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center. In our department, he regularly taught a workshop for incoming students in the graduate program in Urban Policy and Leadership, and courses on immigration and the gentrification of Chinatown. Over his career, he taught as a Visiting Professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, the City University of Hong Kong, and the People’s University of China, as well as Princeton, Oberlin, Yale, Columbia, Berkeley, and UCLA.

Peter Kwong was born in China in 1941. He came to this country to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, where he received a B.A. in math and physics. He subsequently earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering at Columbia University before enrolling at Columbia to get a certificate in East Asian Studies and a Ph.D. in political science.

Peter had a passionate commitment to issues of social justice and a long record of activism concerning conditions in the Asian-American community. His career spanned the fields of scholarship, journalism and film-making, all directed to improve the lives of people who were marginalized by discrimination or social deprivation. A recent article in New York Magazine referred to him as the “Dean of Chinatown Studies.”

He was the author of five books and hundreds of articles. Among his books were Chinese America: The Untold Story of America’s Oldest New Community, which he co-authored with his wife, Dusanka Miscevic, a historian and frequent collaborator; Forbidden Workers: Illegal Chinese Immigrants and American Labor; and The New Chinatown. Kwong challenged the notion that Asians are a model minority, revealing in his research widespread class divisions, poverty, exploitation, drug abuse, and organized crime -- all of which were exacerbated by decades of discrimination by a majority white society. At the time of his death, Peter and his wife were completing a history of Chinese immigration in the western United States, and he was beginning to work on an autobiography.

Peter’s journalism appeared in such outlets as The Nation, Village Voice, International Herald Tribune, and Philadelphia Inquirer. He was frequently interviewed by the New York Times and other major news outlets. His essay on multi-cultural race riots in Los Angeles, published in the Village Voice in 1992, merited the Sidney Hillman Foundation Prize, the George Polk Award, and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His 1990 article in the Village Voice on Chinese drug cartels, co-authored with Dusanka Miscevic, was also nominated for a Pulitzer.

As with his scholarship and journalism, Peter’s filmmaking always delivered a strong social message. His 1980 PBS film, Third Avenue: Only the Strong Survive, documented steep class divisions along Manhattan’s East Side, and won him an Emmy Award. His HBO documentary, China Unnatural Disaster, co-produced with Jon Alpert, was nominated for an Academy Award in 2010. The heart-wrenching film highlighted corruption, incompetence and neglect by the Chinese government that became apparent as a result of the catastrophic earthquake of 2008 in Sichuan Provence that killed 70,000 people, including 10,000 children. The Chinese police detained Peter and Jon Alpert during the course of the filming.

Peter Kwong enjoyed an international reputation as an activist, scholar, journalist, and film-maker. He was a personal friend of the Dalai Lama, who, because of Peter’s good graces, has visited Hunter College on two occasions. Peter and his wife “Douska” reciprocated in 2011 by accepting an invitation from the spiritual leader to visit his residence in India.

Our community will dearly miss Peter’s irreplaceable presence. A memorial service celebrating his extraordinary life and achievements will be held at Hunter College later this spring. Details will be posted on both the college and department websites when final arrangements are made.

With Sincere Regrets,

Joseph P. Viteritti

Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy

Chair, Urban Policy and Planning Department

UPP Chair Joseph P. Viteritti was quoted in The New York Times article, “Questioning Whether de Blasio Will Learn From a Teachable Moment”, March 17, 2017. To read, click here.

UPP Prof. Ryan Yeung discusses Milwaukee School Board's recent district-wide school uniform requirement on The Joy Cardin Radio Show,

"The Effects Of School Uniforms", March 3, 2017.  To listen to the audio, click here.

Professor Gross was busily over her winter break. She participated in a PodCast with two urban governance scholars: Susan Clarke, Professor Emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder (http://www.colorado.edu/polisci/people/faculty-emeritus/susan-clarke) and Allison Bramwell, Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (https://psc.uncg.edu/people/bramwell/). In Part 1 the conversation explores the question of whether "Collaborative Governance" is the next phase for urban research? In Part 2 they ask: "What do we gain or overlook in a "collaborative governance" approach?

Both PodCasts can be found at the Urban Affairs Forum Presented by Urban Affairs Review web site https://urbanaffairsreview.com

The program prepares academically promising undergraduate students who have an interest in attending graduate school. Eligible students who are accepted to the program attend a six-week summer program and an array of workshops, seminars, and lectures throughout the academic year which will enhance students' technical, writing, and research skills. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) preparation workshops are also offered at various points throughout the academic year to enhance students' opportunity to help them gain acceptance to graduate schools of their choice.

Prof. Gross  had a short piece published in the Roosevelt House Public Policy Forum titled "Facing the Realities of Geo-Political Division in the Age of Trump: The Metropolitan Future and the Need for Collaborative Models of Governance" which can be accessed at

http://www.roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu/?forum-post=facing-realities-geo-political-division-age-trump-metropolitan-future-need-collaborative-models-governance

Prof. Owen Gutfreund was quoted in New York Newsday and amNew York about the Governor's proposal to overhaul JFK Airport, January 4,  2017.

UPP Chair Joseph Viteritti appeared on Brian Lehrer's POTUS 2016 on December 7 to discuss Trump's cabinet appointments in HUD and education. To watch the episode "A Look into Trump's Cabinet" click here.

MUP student Maggie Calmes and Gotham Gazette Reporter, Samar Khurshid's 'Fair Share' story published in two parts in the Gotham Gazette.

Part 1, The City May Soon Have More Formal 'Fair Share'Discussion (November 18, 2016) and Part 2, 'Fair Share' Design Flaws, Flashpoints & Possible Updates  (November 21, 2016).

Prof. Peter Kwong talks about the growing impact of art galleries in Chinatown at the town hall meeting,"Chinatown is Not for Sale", October 22, 2016. For more details, read "Artists and Gallerists Grapple with Ways to Slow Gentrification in Manhattan’s Chinatown".

Prof. Peter Kwong quoted in NY Times article, "In a Promise to Lift a Curse, a Scheme to Steal Chinese Immigrants’ Savings", by Liz Robbins, October 20, 2016. Click here for further reading.

Calvin Brown, MUP Alumni and DCP Planner, is featured prominently in "City’s East Harlem Plan Tracks Community Blueprint", Citylimits.org, October 19, 2016.
For further reading, click here.

MUP students in Prof. Pablo Vengoechea's Fall 2016 planning studio class, Downtown Commercial Corridors of Staten Island, are covered in NY1 News, "Graduate Students Seek Input on How to Revitalize North Shore", October 19, 2016. The students held a workshop with members of the community to seek input about their project.

UPP Adjunct Charles Starks gives a talk at Federal Hall on George McAneny, a New York politician and city planner of the early 20th century. Participating in a Q&A with Charles Starks will be the Manhattan Borough Historian, Michael Miscione, and preservationist Anthony C. Wood. For further details, click here.

Prof. Jill Gross' recent publication, "Hybridization and Urban Governance Malleability, Modality, or Mind-Set?." Urban Affairs Review (2016): 1078087416637127. Cracks the top 50 most read articles in the journal for the month of August-- #39 and counting!

Photography by Rashedul Deepon, Master in Urban Planning student, is featured in  The NYC Hustle exhibition Strictly New York 3 August 25-27, 2016. For further reading, click here.

UPP Prof. Pablo Vengoechea's Landmark Colony project is mentioned in The Architects Newspaper, "A torrent of new projects on Staten Island are reshaping the once-forgotten borough", written by Audrey Wachs, June 9, 20016. Prof. Vengoechea's firm,  Vengoechea + Boyland architects (v + b) is transforming six of the site’s 11 buildings into seniors' residences with 350 units. The project is one of many projects that will reshape Staten Island's shoreline and inland areas. For further reading, click here.

Prof. Matthew Lasner argues for more government subsidies for housing in The Nation's article " The Case for Public Housing". For further reading, click here.

MSUPL students Samantha Chiafolo, Dina Amer, Wednesday Moore, and Rashad Dismute were selected as New York State Excelsior Fellows 2016-2017. The fellowship program is an initiative to bring highly talented graduates into government service. Fellows will be working over the next two year on high level policy initiatives at the state level.

Hunter UPP Professor Jill Simone Gross' latest Journal article "Hybridization and Urban Governance: Malleability, Modality, or Mind-Set?" Urban Affairs Review 1078087416637127, first published on April 11, 2016 as doi:10.1177/1078087416637127 just released for viewing Online First at Urban Affairs Review. The article is part of a mini symposium on urban governance with Susan E. Clarke, Allison Bramwell and Jon Pierre.

UPP Prof. Jill Simone Gross's newest article "Migrants and the Right to the City" has just been published in Yasminah Beebeejaun (Ed.) The Participatory City (Berlin: JOVIS Verlag GmbH, 2016). The article explores "ongoing patterns of exclusion, and the inability of cities to engage citizens in efforts to build socially cohesive neighborhoods." She asks, "what if anything a right to the city might offer to planners seeking to counter or challenge the forces of...balkanization in the contemporary city?" She uses the case of Dublin, Ireland to illustrate these dilemmas.

Details of the book can be found at https://www.jovis.de/en/books/details/the-participatory-city.html

Prof. Jill Simone Gross, Director of the M.S. Urban Policy and Leadership program, was elected to serve a second term as Chair of the Urban Affairs Association. The second term runs from spring 2016 to spring 2017.

Professors John Chin, Sigmund Shipp, Jill Simone Gross, current MS Urban Policy and Leadership Student Caitlin Ho, and ABD Marry Rocco (University of Pennsylvania and Hunter, MUP graduate) just returned from a fantastic Urban Affairs Association Conference in San Diego. They all made our Department shine, while bringing a strong lens to issues of social justice!

Prof. John Chin and Caitlin Ho presented their paper: "Gendered Labor Markets within Ethnic Economies: Asian Immigrant Women Working in Sexually Oriented Massage Parlors in New York City," on behalf of John Chin, Hunter College CUNY; Lois M. Takahashi, UCLA; Douglas J. Wiebe, University of Pennsylvania; Caitlin Ho, Hunter College CUNY

Prof. Sigmund Shipp presented a paper Titled: "The Geography of White Poverty", on behalf of Sigmund Shipp, Hunter College; Lynn McCormick, Hunter College; Mary Rocco, University of Pennsylvania.

Mary Rocco, MUP Hunter, ABD University of Pennsylvania gave a paper on her doctoral work titled, "Revitalizing Legacy Cities in the 21st Century: The Role of Foundations"

And Prof. Jill Simone Gross brought an international lens to her standing room only Colloquy titled: "Re-thinking Justice in the City in the Wake of Ferguson and Baltimore" with Todd Swanstrom, University of Missouri-St. Louis; Michael Leo Owens, Emory University; Henry Taylor, University of Buffalo; and Cathy Schnieder, American University.

Other notable Hunter sightings at the conference included former Teaching Fellow Kimberly Libman (PhD Environmental Psychology, CUNY Graduate Center, now at the New York Academy of Medicine). Dr, Libman presented a paper titled"New York State Hospital “Community Building” Investments: Will They Advance Health Equity?." Shauneequa Owusu, a graduate of the MS Urban Affairs program (currently at New York Academy of Medicine) moderated a panel titled "Health and Community Development: Rethinking Anchor Investments and Institutions." Fredrica D. Kramer, DPA, gave a paper titled "The Loss of Social Diversity in Urban Revitalization and the Promise of Social Impact Assessment to Fix It." Dr, Kramer is an educator, researcher and consultant who came to Hunter to work with Paul Davidoff and was in the first class of MUP graduates in 1968. Dr. Kramer, is currently based in Washington DC. Also in attendance was Professor Kevin Keenan, PhD. ( College of Charleston, and among our adjunct summer school faculty), who gave a paper titled,"The Gender Values-Vulnerability Nexus and Studying Societal Responses to Terrorism."

Prof. Laxmi Ramasubramanian has been appointed by Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, to serve on the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The Committee will review and comment on geospatial policy and management issues and provide a forum to convey views representative of non-Federal partners in the geospatial community. Prof. Ramasubramanian will hold a three-year appointment concluding December 31, 2018.

Additional information can be found at:
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-appoints-new-members-and-leadership-national-geospatial-advisory

Prof. Matthew Lasner's book and exhibit on affordable housing featured in "The Long, Complicated History of Affordable Housing in New York," written by Eillie Anzilotti, The Atlanta City Lab.

UPP Visiting Professor Pablo Vengoechea’s project, The Landmark Colony, is the focus of New York Times article,”New Life for Staten Island’s Derelict Farm Colony”, written by David W. Dunlap, January 20, 2016.

The Landmark Colony project, headed by architects Pablo Vengoechea and Timothy G. Boyland is a master plan for the redevelopment of Staten Island’s derelict Farm Colony. Staten Island Developer, Raymond Masucci purchased 45 acres of the Farm Colony for $1 and plans to rehabilitate it at a cost of about $91 million dollars. The plan includes building approximately 350 senior-targeted condominium units, the rehabilitation of 5 of the 11 historic buildings, approximately 17,000 SF of commercial space, and much more. For further reading, click here.

Prof. Matthew Lasner's new book, "Affordable Housing in New York:The People, Places, and Policies That Transformed a City", is the subject of Slate Magazine article, "The People Who Call New York’s Affordable Housing Developments Home", written by Jordan G. Teiche, February 1, 2016.

UPP Distinguished Professor Peter Kwong quoted in Radio Free Asia, CBS Money Watch, and AlJazeera, December 2015.

China Seeks Wider Global Reach With African Loans, Naval Presence: Analysts Reported
by Yang Jiadai for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie, Radio Free Asia, December 4, 2015.

Xi Jinping delivers a speech in Johannesburg, South Africa, Dec. 4, 2015 announcing China would be extending $60 billion in debt facilities to African countries as well as writing off existing loans in a three-year plan to extend its influence in the region. Peter Kwong, Distinguished Professor at the City University of New York, agreed, saying that China appears to be taking a well-trodden colonialist path in Africa. "It's very similar to the [European] colonialism of the 19th century," Kwong said. "It's not just about resources; it's also about achieving political control over these places." For further reading, click here..

China's crackdown on graft, media obscures picture for investors
Written by Robert Hennelly, Money Watch, December 21, 2015.

"Nobody inside China wants to do news or documentaries anymore because the politics are so unsettled," said Peter Kwong, a documentary filmmaker and professor of Chinese-American history at Hunter College in New York. "They are doing very safe things. People are intimidated." For further reading, click here..

Gentrification threatens Chinatowns across the US
Development and rising rents are pushing many ethnic Chinese out of the neighbourhoods they call home.
Written by Gabriel Elizondo, Lucia He, Business & Economy, United States, Aljazeera, December 29, 2015.

"A Chinatown is not just where the people reside. Chinatown is a place where social networks, economic fabrics have been built," Kwong said. "New immigrants come, want to adjust, want to find a job, want to know how to fund a business. And the information, the material, the supplies, all these things come from a place like Chinatown."The development of cities has been pressuring Chinese communities to move out of the neighbourhoods where they have been living for decades, according to Kwong. For further reading, click here..

UPP Professor Matthew Lasner and Prof. Nicholas Bloom, NYIT, co-editors of "Affordable Housing in New York: The People, Places, and Policies that Transformed a City", discuss the history of housing in NYC on CUNY TV’s "Eldridge and Company", December 8, 2015. For further reading, click here.

Photos from Professor Matthew Lasner’s new book, "Affordable Housing in New York", are featured in the New York Times article, “An Affordable Place of One’s Own”.

UPP Prof. Matthew Lasner and Alicia Glen, New York Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development interview with VICE on affordable housing in New York,"Can New York Save Itself from Out-of-Control Rents?", November 8, 2015. Prof. Lasner shares his views on Mayor de Blasio’s ten year housing plan. For further reading click here.

"Dont Make Times Square square: Be careful not to turn the commons into an overmanaged suburban space" article by Anthony Maniscalco,UPP Adjunct Associate Professor and author of “Public Spaces, Marketplaces and the Constitution”, is published in the New York Daily News Opinion Section, Sunday October 11, 2015.

Our 2009 Urban Planning degree alum, Ryan Rzepecki, is the CEO of Social Bicycles (SoBi), an NYC-based company that recently won a contract to manage Portland's bike share system. The proposal calls for a 600-bike fleet as part of a long-delayed bike rental program to be rolled out as soon as next summer in order to help renew Portland's reputation as a bicycle-friendly city. Click here to read more...

UPP Distinguished Professor Peter Kwong, known by many in Chinatown as the Dean of Chinatown scholars, is quoted in the September 24, 2015 New Yorker Magazine article, “How Has Chinatown Stayed Chinatown?” Prof. Kwong, the author of numerous books on Chinese-American immigrants says, “Chinatown has reinvented itself, that’s why it’s still here.” For further reading, click here.

Ryan Rzepecki,Hunter MUP 2009 alum is CEO of Social Bicycles (SoBi), an NYC-based company that recently won a contract to manage Portland's bike share system. Click here to read the article, "Portland says bike share coming in 2016, names bicycle supplier"

Hunter MUP students Mia Moffett and Melissa Plaut gain scholarships for the fall 2015 semester through Advancing Women in Transportation (WTS) Greater New York Chapter.

On Thursday, July 9, HunterUAP students traveled to Washington DC where they presented the research findings to senior level White House staff. Students studied the planning and implementation of the Obama Administration’s place-based initiatives.

The project grew out of the URBG 702 Structure of the Urban Region class offered in Summer Session I. For this class, students studied various urban plans, policies and programs at national, regional, city and neighborhood scales. Under the guidance of Adjunct Professor Mary Rocco, students gathered and analyzed data from five specific geographies along with the implementation of placed-based initiatives such as the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, Promise Zones, and the Mayor's Challenge to End Homelessness. Rocco, an alumnus of both the Urban Studies and Master of Urban Planning programs at Hunter, coordinated the project to demonstrate the connection between the classroom and on the ground urban practice in cities and regions. The White House Community Solutions team, led by Tara McGuinness, plans to disseminate the findings of the students' work to their partners in each of the places studied.

For more information, please contact Mary Rocco at mrocc@hunter.cuny.edu or rocco.mary@gmail.com.

Mary Rocco and students in front of the Old Executive Office building where they presented

Mary Rocco and students in front of the White House

 

 

 

Dash Henley presents as Tara McGuinness and Victoria Collins look on

 

Philip Mark Plotch, Political Science Professor at St. Peter's University in Jersey City, NJ and former UAP Adjunct Lecturer, is interviewed on WNYC in a 2-part interview, "The New Tappan Zee Isn't as Innocent as It Looks," about the political history of the new crossing being built north of the Tappan Zee Bridge and his book " Politics Across the Hudson."

Joseph P. Viteritti, Urban Planning and Policy Department Chair and editor of "Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York and the American Dream" interviews with the New York Times, "What Bill de Blasio Can Learn From John Lindsay".

Associate Professor Lynn McCormick, who teaches courses in economic development, employment policy and planning, and manufacturing retention, authored a chapter in the recently published Handbook of Manufacturing Industries in the World Economy (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015). Entitled “The city and industry: deurbanizing manufacturing in New York City?,” the chapter examines the issues surrounding manufacturing retention in the city.

As the chapter points out, in 1950s, New York City was the largest manufacturing hub in the United States, with over one million workers. Today, manufacturers in the city employ about 75,000 people, or less than 3 percent of all local workers. Planners and policymakers face a question of whether to attempt to retain the manufacturing that remains or let it go and foster service sector expansion instead. For further reading, click here.

Each year, the Environmental Design Research Association recognizes professional and scholarly excellence in environmental design. Award-winning projects reflect an interdisciplinary approach that is enduring, human-centered, sustainable, and concerned with the experiential relationship between people and their environment (built and natural).

This year, the Great Places book award is being given to Community Matters: Service Learning in Engaged Design Planning, co-edited by Associate Professor Sigmund Shipp.

The award will be formally announced and presented at EDRA46LosAngeles, the 2015 EDRA conference held May 27-30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. The winning entries will be on display throughout the conference and publicized throughout the year in various print and electronic publications.

Professor Shipp is the Director of the Urban Studies program. His research has involved a study of urban renewal, worker-owned cooperatives, and the Black church and college community development corporations.

The Urban Affairs and Planning Department proudly congratulates Brian Lamberta on becoming a 2015-2016 Urban Fellow. The Urban Fellows Program is sponsored by The City of New York and administered by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS). The program is designed to introduce America's finest college students and graduates to local government and public service.

Brian credits the assistance of UAP faculty members as being invaluable in guiding him toward the fellowship, specifically in terms of his professional growth and sharpening his academic skills. His placement is still unknown, but he is leaning toward the New York City Department of Small Business Services.

The Urban Affairs Association (UAA) is the international professional organization for urban scholars, researchers, and public service professionals. Congratulations to Associate Professor Jill Gross, who has just been elected Chair of the UAA Governing Board.

From the UAA website: “The Urban Affairs Association is dedicated to creating interdisciplinary spaces for engaging in intellectual and practical discussions about urban life. Through theoretical, empirical, and action-oriented research, the UAA fosters diverse activities to understand and shape a more just and equitable urban world.”

UAA includes over 700 institutional, individual, and student members from colleges and universities throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Among its other activities, UAA sponsors the Journal of Urban Affairs, a refereed annual journal, publishing manuscripts related to urban research and policy analysis of interest to both scholars and practitioners.

Prof. Gross is the Director of the Graduate program in Urban Affairs. Her primary areas of research are in comparative urban politics, governance, migration and economic development in Western European and North American cities, with an emphasis on issues of equity.

Jeremiah Cox, a graduate student in urban planning, is the first - prize winner of the 2015 student paper competition for the Transportation and Planning Division (TPD) of the American Planning Association (APA). The first -prize winner is awarded a $1,000 cash prize. Jeremiah's paper, "The Shrinking, Rural Intercity Bus Network: A Problem of Immobility for Rural Residents without Automobiles and Possible Solutions, " is posted on the American Planning Association's website.

Cheers to Jeremiah!

UAP Professor and Director of the Urban Affairs program, Jill Simone Gross was recently published in Cities: The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning. Her work, co-authored with Hank V. Savitch and Lin Ye, titled, "Do Chinese cities break the global mold?" investigates the significance of China's new-found globalism.

Professor Gross wrote about a similar subject for the Journal of Urban Affairs in the article titled, "Asia and the Pacific Rim: The New Peri-Urbanization and Urban Theory" with Lin Ye and Richard Legates. She also participated in the Second International Conference on Regional and Urban Development last month at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China where urban clusters and regional development were discussed through the lens of contemporary public administration.

Ted Orosz, an adjunct lecturer in the Hunter College Urban Planning program, in collaboration with Sean Di Luccio, a planning undergraduate student at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz, created a special feature for the American Planning Association. In their report, Green Acres: The Greatest Planned Neighborhood You've Never Heard Of, they detail the significance of the history of Green Acres, New York, a neighborhood just east of New York City in Nassau County. Click here to read more about the cultural and historical importance of this seemingly forgotten planning project.

In 2011, the International Research Training Group 1705 "The World in the City" was established under the auspices of the TU Berlin in conjunction with two universities in Berlin, four New York City universities (including City University of New York) and two Canadian universities to conduct interdisciplinary, internationally-oriented metropolis research.

The workshop “Metropolitan Capitalism, Family, Ethni