Downtown Alliance’s Nicole LaRusso Joins Municipal Art Society Panel on Urban Streetscapes

WHO & WHAT: Nicole LaRusso, Senior Vice President for Economic Development and Planning for the Alliance for Downtown New York, will join a Municipal Art Society of New York panel discussion on urban streetscapes, “The Complete Street: Sustainable, Healthy and Pleasurable.”

The panel will comprise transportation and public space advocates from New York and Chicago, and explore urban streets and meeting the needs of those who use them — pedestrians, bicyclists, bus passengers, motorists and truck drivers. Panelists will shed light on the best practices and challenges of contemporary urban streetscapes around the world and offer insight on how to fund improvements and maintenance. The panel will also discuss how civic momentum can be maintained from one administration to the next.

LaRusso, a noted real estate and economic development specialist, previously served as assistant director of U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer’s Group of 35 real estate task force and has extensive
experience in post-9/11 recovery and redevelopment initiatives in Lower Manhattan. She also served as a consultant to several public development agencies while working for Appleseed, an economic development consulting firm based in Lower Manhattan.

The discussion will be moderated by Paul Steely-White, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives. Other panelists include Janet Attarian, Director of Streetscape & Sustainable Design Program, Chicago; Gary Toth, Senior Director, Transportation Initiatives, Project for Public Spaces; and Andrew Wiley-Schwartz, Assistant Commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation.

WHEN: Thursday, April 29, 2010
6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

WHERE: Scandinavia House
58 Park Ave.
Manhattan

TICKETS: $15; $10 MAS Members. RSVP Necessary. Pay online at MAS.org or call 212 935 2075