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PLANYC FAQ
A lot can change in 25 years. By 1981, our City's near-bankruptcy caused basic services like schools, safety, and sanitation to deteriorate. Since then, almost everything - except New York's essential magic - has changed. We are the safest big city in the United States - and one of the greenest, too. Our economy is strong. We have some of the best schools and the cleanest streets. But success brings its own challenges. Now we are ready to look ahead for the next 25 years and address the physical barriers to maintaining and improving our quality of life. To sustain the City we love today, we must begin planning for tomorrow.
A Call to Action
In a recent speech in Queens, the Mayor challenged us to imagine the City in 25 years - the City we want to leave our children.

Only five years ago, that would have been unimaginable. After 9/11, we weren't even sure what the next day would hold.

But today is different. Today our City is stronger than ever. What we’ve achieved has been nothing short of extraordinary.

We should be proud. But we should not become complacent.

It would be easy to sit back and enjoy what we've done. To let somebody else worry about the future.

But that's not how New York became great.

Previous generations looked ahead and imagined how their city would grow. They built subways through farmland and established Central Park far from the heart of the city. They constructed water tunnels that could serve many millions – when our City was still a fraction of that size.

Those New Yorkers delivered for us.

Now it is our turn.

By 2030, our City will add nearly one million more people. We'll be relying on infrastructure networks completed nearly a century ago. And we will face an increasingly unpredictable environment.

It is time to PLAN again for New York City's future. It is our city. It is our responsibility. And it is our choice.

- The Mayor's Sustainability Advisory Board
December 2006
The Mayor's Sustainability Advisory Board
Hon. Daniel L. Doctoroff, Chair
Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding

Hon. Christine C. Quinn
Speaker, New York City Council

Carlton Brown
Principal and COO, Full Spectrum NY, LLC

Marcia Bystryn
Executive Director, New York League of Conservation Voters

Robert Fox
Partner, Cook + Fox Architects

Ester Fuchs
Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science, Columbia University

Andrew H. Darrell
Regional Director, Environmental Defense

Hon. James F. Gennaro
Council Member and Chair, Committee on Environmental Protection

Ashok Gupta
Air & Energy Program Director, Natural Resources Defense Council

Michael Northrop
Program Director, Sustainable Development Program, Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Ed Ott
Executive Director, NYC Central Labor Council

Elizabeth C. Girardi Schoen
Senior Director, Global Environment, Health, and Safety, Pfizer, Inc.

Peggy M. Shepard
Executive Director and Co-Founder, West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT)

Steven Spinola
President, Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY)

Daniel R. Tishman
Chairman and CEO, Tishman Construction Corporation

Kathryn Wylde
President and CEO, Partnership for New York City

Robert D. Yaro
President, Regional Plan Association

Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, Esq.
Executive Director, United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park (UPROSE)
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