Regional Plan Association is pleased to announce the formation of the Better Airports Alliance - a coalition of business, civic, labor and environmental organizations committed to restoring, maintaining and expanding New York Metro region airports.  The Alliance aims to build a consensus for major improvements to JFK, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia airports, which rank as the country's most congested airports.

Regional Plan Association executive director Tom Wright testified at hearing on the Access to the Region's Core project and use of eminent domain, expressing support for the project. Once opened, ARC will double commuter rail capacity into the region, provide better access to higher paying jobs and be an economic boon to the region improving New York businesses access to the New Jersey labor pool.

Click through for full testimony.

RPA's Juliette Michaelson testified at an ESDC hearing on the proposed revised General Project Plan for Phase One of the greater Moynihan Station project. She emphasized the project's tangible benefits for Penn Station's 400,000 daily users including widening and lengthening the West End Concourse and building two new entrances into the station through the Farley building. These and other improvements will decrease wait times getting up from the platforms, provide more direct routes to the street, increase safety, and improve passenger amenities. The first phase of the project is fully funded and can begin construction this year.

Read the full testimony. (PDF)

Regional Plan Association today released images, program materials, video and audio files of the 20th Annual Regional Assembly, "Innovation and the American Metropolis," held on Friday, April 16th at the Waldorf Astoria.

Recap the days' events including keynote speeches by Bill McDonough and Adolfo Carrión and the presentation of the RPA Lifetime Leadership Award to Peter W. Herman by New York State Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch.

Additionally, audio files for each workshop panel are available. More materials, including presentations and transcripts will be posted as they become available. We'll be announcing the releases on Twitter, so be sure to follow us

Regional Assembly 2010 Conference Packet:

Program
Speaker Biographies
Lifetime Leadership Award Tribute Journal for Peter W. Herman

Today, Senator Charles Schumer (D - NY) and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D - Brooklyn and Queens) announced the formation of the Floyd Bennett Field Blue Ribbon Panel, a task force that will establish a shared vision for the future of the park and make recommendations about how to improve the country's third most-visited national recreation area. The Task Force is the result of a multi-year partnership between RPA and the National Parks Conservation Association to help inform the National Park Service (NPS), elected officials, and the public as NPS embarks on its revision to Gateway National Recreation Area's General Management Plan, the guiding document for park activities in the area.

Gateway is a complex place. Spread across over 26,000 acres, four counties, three New York City boroughs, and two states, it is comprised of five administrative units. The park encompasses an astonishing mix of properties, uses, visitors, neighborhoods, and urban contexts. Its premise - to bring a national park experience to the heart of the country's largest city - has always been fraught with programmatic, management and political challenges.

Read "The Path Forward," RPA and NPCA's report about public input on the future of Gateway.

Continue below to read the press release.