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2000s | 1990s | 1980s | 1970s | 1960s | 1950s | 1940s | 1930s | 1920s

In 1996, RPA released its Third Regional Plan, "A Region at Risk: The Third Regional Plan for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Metropolitan Region." It issued an urgent call to public and private sector leaders in the 31-county Tri-state area to band together to harness the Region's superior human, economic and natural resources, and presented programs to improve the Region's cornerstones: its economy, environment and social equity.

RPA helped form the Empire State Transportation Alliance (ESTA), a coalition of over 40 civic, business, labor and environmental groups, to promote sound investment in transportation infrastructure.

The centerpiece of RPA's new transportation program is MetroLink, a proposal for a modern rapid transit subway system that builds upon the Second Avenue and Downtown Rx proposals from the Third Regional Plan. MetroLink will serve Manhattan's East Side, Queens, Brooklyn and The Bronx. It will also provide major new service to Lower Manhattan, and a one-seat ride from Manhattan and Brooklyn to JFK Airport.

Ground was broken in 1999 on the Port Authority project scheduled to begin operation in 2003 to link JFK to the subway and Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica. As RPA has vigorously recommended, the new rail link will be compatible with existing rail technology to preserve the future of a "one-seat ride" to the airport.

* As proposed in RPA's Third Plan, $353 million have been included in federal transportation legislation to advance the construction of the LIRR's connection to Grand Central Terminal, also part of the MTA Capital Program.

RPA formed the Governors Island Group (a coalition of civic, preservation and business groups) and released a report which recommended that Governors Island become a great new public park and that commercial development be in keeping with the historic structures that exist there.

RPA released a feasibility analysis advocating construction of a Gowanus Tunnel as an alternative to a re-built Gowanus Expressway. The report concluded that a Gowanus Tunnel was technically feasible and would also have lower total lifecycle costs than an elevated highway. Once the tunnel is completed, the elevated Gowanus Expressway could be torn down, sparking revitalization along the entire South Brooklyn waterfront.

Construction and operation was begun on the 20.5 mile light rail line along the west bank of the Hudson River in New Jersey. Based directly on RPA studies in 1966 and 1985 to create a new urban landscape for the area from Bayonne to the George Washington Bridge, this new rail will be the first in the Region since the Newark subway was completed in the 1930's.

RPA played a major role in securing federal, state and private funding to purchase the 15,700-acre Sterling Forest property for preservation as a State park.

RPA helped create the Newark Downtown Special Improvement District (SID) for the area between Penn and Broad Street stations. Designed to capitalize on the momentum produced by the opening of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and a new Connection Newark street signage program, the SID will coordinate and maintain improvements to the area's parks, streetscape, amenity and quality of life.

RPA has outlined redevelopment plans for major suburban centers. At the Nassau Hub, Nassau County's primary activity center, RPA described how a new kind of suburban center could be created by applying transit- and pedestrian-friendly design principles.

In Somerset County, NJ, RPA brought together renown urban designers and landscape architects to illustrate new strategies for retrofitting "edge city" sprawl.

RPA's Metropolitan Brownfields Initiative provided impetus for important new legislation that was signed by Governor Whitman in January, 1998. RPA convened a national brownfields conference to review New Jersey's experience in reclaiming contaminated sites and to promote and expedite brownfields redevelopment throughout the Region.

RPA, together with Environmental Action Coalition, developed an action plan for improving the health and stewardship of New York City's urban forest.

A coalition consisting of RPA and several other environmental, community and civic groups prepared an alternative to Donald Trump's proposal for Manhattan's largest development parcel. This plan, called Riverside South included provisions for relocation of the elevated Miller to allow for development of a major new riverfront park, affordable housing, improvement of the 72nd Street IRT subway station and design controls for residential buildings. RPA joined the Riverside South Planning Corporation to help implement this plan.