13TH REGIONAL ASSEMBLY
Robert D. Yaro, PRESIDENT, Regional Plan Association
Good morning. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to RPA's 13th Regional Assembly. I'd like to start by extending my special thanks to this year's Assembly Chair, Thomas S. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Greenpoint Financial. Tom has shown his dedication to the many causes RPA believes in, and today would not have been possible without his hard work. A special thank you is also due to all of today's sponsors, who are listed in your packet and on the screen behind me.
A year ago we gathered in this room to discuss the revitalization of Lower Manhattan. The work of the Civic Alliance and other coalitions on that day and throughout the year - most notably at July's Javits Center Listening to the City forum - changed the course of history in Lower Manhattan. While our focus returns to the Region as a whole this year, we have not forgotten the attacks of 9/11 or the monumental task yet to be completed Downtown.
Much has been accomplished over the last year, including the selection of a visionary master plan for the Trade Center site, but the challenge facing the rebuilding effort is vast. Some of the remarkable momentum that followed the attacks has dissipated, and the revitalization of Downtown must now deal with the many hurdles traditionally associated with development projects in this city.
In fact, as frustration with the pace of rebuilding grows, Lower Manhattan seems more and more emblematic of the situation facing the entire region. As in Lower Manhattan, we need to improve our quality of life and invest in the infrastructure for growth throughout the region, but we often find ourselves hampered by a shortage of funding and a lack of bold leadership.
The current fiscal crisis only adds to the problem. The past year has brought significant economic pain to all corners of the tri-state area, providing a stark reminder that we're all in this together. Serious budget holes plague not just New York City, but all three states and most counties and municipalities.
There's a temptation to look back and wonder just how we got ourselves into this mess, and of course there is a desperate need to find a solution that will keep our cities and towns running in the short term.
But we're gathered here today to focus on the future. Even in dire fiscal times, we must reaffirm the need to invest in infrastructure for growth.
The current recession has briefly masked some of the Region's problems, but when it inevitably ends these shortcomings will once again limit our potential to grow. The problems we face are by no means new, and many of the best solutions are not new ideas.
Take the newly opened Montclair Connection in New Jersey. Given the state's increasing congestion, the additional commuter service direct to Midtown couldn't be timelier. But the Connection wasn't proposed in the Œ90s. It was originally proposed by RPA in the months leading up to a different economic downturn the Great Depression.
At RPA we often joke that a project doesn't become ripe until it's been on the drawing board for seventy-five years. Each year this becomes more of a cruel joke, though, as our region falls further behind our more ambitious global competitors. We've been prospering for decades on the strength of infrastructure investments made by our grandparents, but the party is coming to an end.
Our transit network has actually lost capacity over the last sixty years, even as our roads have become unbearably congested. Open space continues to disappear at a frightening pace as the Region pushes its periphery further and further each year. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi will surely remind us later this morning that his county is completely built out, and much of New Jersey is headed in the same direction. Our quality of life is under attack from several directions.
All of these serious obstacles to the Region's continued prosperity call for a common antidote: We must create the capacity for another century of growth by beginning to plan and invest today. What's needed is a set of infrastructure investments to rival those that have made this region the world's leading center and powered our economy for a century.
By any calculation, this is a tremendously expensive undertaking. For RPA's top three regional transportation priorities alone a four-borough Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access for the Long Island Railroad and a new commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson the tab is reasonably estimated at $30 billion. Billions more can be added for other vital projects, from goods movement to open space preservation. As you can imagine, elected officials currently forced to choose between cutting programs and raising taxes aren't eager to think about such a big picture.
But for a region with a three quarter of a trillion dollar economy, it is not unreasonable to pursue projects of this magnitude, financed and built over the course of two decades. We must think creatively about new revenue sources for these vital projects and ways to implement them. Raising money is never politically popular, but it is necessary. The alternative is to stand by while our economy shrinks, congestion builds and our children's quality of life is put at risk.
Today's program is designed to get us thinking optimistically about long-term solutions. In addition to the many innovative thinkers on hand from our own Region, we are joined by friends from Barcelona and London who have succeeded with ambitious plans in difficult fiscal times.
At lunch, Pasqual Maragall will share his experiences revitalizing Barcelona in preparation for the 1992 Olympics. As Mayor at the time, he used the Games as a catalyst to make long-needed improvements to a cash-starved city, all organized around a comprehensive public realm strategy for the city.
Our program begins with a recent success story from London.
We are privileged to have Derek Turner deliver the opening address to the Assembly today. Mr. Turner's visit couldn't be timelier, as word of his work devising and implementing London's congestion pricing scheme has been big news here, most recently in the New York Times Magazine article that is included in your packets.
Every big city in the world is choking on congestion, a problem that seemed unsolvable until now. Mr. Turner and his boss, former RPA board member Bob Kiley, have led a revolution in London that will have implications for cities throughout the world.
Mr. Turner is recently departed from Transport for London, where he served as Managing Director for Street Management. In that role, Mr. Turner oversaw London's extensive street network. While his work on the congestion pricing plan has made worldwide news, Mr. Turner is also credited with transforming London's vast bus network.
He is now determined to share his expertise with the rest of the world as a principal in Derek Turner Consulting. Please join me in welcoming Derek Turner.
