New York Mayor Nominates Five to City Planning Commission: Picks Face Council Approval Amid Housing Crisis
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on October 21 that he has nominated five people to serve on the New York City Planning Commission: Kenneth Knuckles, Anthony Crowell, Meenakshi Srinivasan, Margaret Anadu and Julie Stein. All five nominations require the City Council's advice and consent.
Knuckles, president and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and a Bronx business and civic leader, and Crowell, dean and president of New York Law School, were both nominated for new terms. Srinivasan chaired the Landmarks Preservation Commission under former mayor Bill de Blasio. Anadu is founder and CEO of One Weaver, an investment platform for affordable and workforce housing. Stein is executive director of the Union Square Partnership and served in mayoral administrations going back to Michael Bloomberg.
The commission is an independent 13-member body that holds public hearings and reviews land use applications from city agencies, elected officials, community boards and private property owners. Its work shapes where housing and businesses can be built, as well as open space, infrastructure and climate-risk preparation. It is chaired by Sideya Sherman, the successor to Dan Garodnick.
"We need a City Planning Commission that understands the urgency of our housing crisis," Mamdani said in a statement, adding that the five nominees bring decades of experience in public service, housing and planning. (GSM, reporting from Commercial Observer)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 纽约市政厅与 City Hall Park 实景，Momos 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，Wikimedia Commons / New York City Hall and City Hall Park, by Momos, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
