Finch Lauds CT-NY Rail Collaboration

From Mayor Finch:

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator Adolfo Carrion on Friday (April 15) formally presided over the kickoff event for the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities initiative, an unprecedented bi-state collaboration that is the recipient of a $3.5 million HUD Sustainable Communities Initiative Grant. He was joined by representatives from five New York and four Connecticut cities, the Nassau County and Suffolk County Executives, the New York City Planning Commissioner, and the heads of six regional planning organizations, who collectively comprise the consortium.

By developing livable communities and growth centers around the region’s transit network, the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities initiative seeks to expand economic opportunity by creating and connecting residents to jobs; fostering new affordable, energy-efficient housing; providing more transportation choices; strengthening existing communities; and making the region more globally competitive. The grant will be administered by Regional Plan Association, a non-profit regional planning organization. For more information on the initiative, log on to www.sustainableNYCT.org.

Joining HUD Regional Administrator Adolfo Carrión at the kick-off event were: Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano; NYC City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden; NYS DOT Commissioner Joan McDonald; Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch; White Plains Mayor Thomas Roach; New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson; Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia; representatives from Suffolk County, New Haven, Stamford, Yonkers and Mount Vernon; and principal representatives from major planning organizations.

About the partnership, Mayor Finch said, “Everything we can do to focus on development in our cities will help to control taxes, decreasing our carbon footprint and reducing our dependency of foreign oil. President Obama’s Sustainable Communities Grant Program coordinates the three organizations key to achieving these goals.”

Later in the day, Mayor Finch joined Shelly Poticha, Senior Advisor with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Patrick Foye, Deputy Secretary to the Governor of New York, Arlene Rodriguez, Director of Partnerships and External Affairs with Living Cities and Edward Blakely Professor in Urban Policy for the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney on a panel entitled, “New Collaborations in Sustainability” during Friday’s “Innovation & the Global City,” event. During the panel discussion, Mayor Finch offered his insight on how Bridgeport would benefit from the partnership offered by the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities grant initiative. He comments focused on the challenges faced by a city Bridgeport’s size, and how transit-oriented development and a regional partnership will help overcome that challenge.

Activities that will be undertaken include large-scale transit-oriented development and neighborhood sustainability projects at key nodes in the MTA Metro-North Railroad and MTA Long Island Rail Road commuter rail systems, strategies to advance climate resilience, open space protection and access to affordable housing, and enhancements to existing regional sustainability plans. A description of individual projects is attached.

Consortium members include the cities of New York, New Haven, Bridgeport, Norwalk, Stamford, Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle, and Mount Vernon; Nassau and Suffolk counties; the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC), South Western Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization (SWRMPO), Greater Bridgeport/Valley Metropolitan Planning, Organization (GBVMPO), South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG); and the Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC) and Regional Plan Association (RPA).

An Advisory Board will initially consist of eleven state agencies and non-profit organizations, including the Connecticut Housing Finance Agency; Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development; New York State Department of State; New York State Homes & Community Renewal; the Empire State Development Corporation; Local Initiatives Support

Corporation; Urban Land Institute; International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives; WE ACT for Environmental Justice; the One Region Funders Group; and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority.

The goal of the Consortium is to reposition the New York-Connecticut region to fully harness its innovation capabilities in a competitive global environment, build on its strong foundation of energy efficiency, and become as equitable as it is efficient. Its primary focus is to leverage the most extensive and robust transit system in the nation by developing livable communities with mixed-income housing and employment at key nodes in the MTA Metro-North Railroad and MTA Long Island Rail Road network.

The $3.5 million grant is part of HUD’s new Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant Program to support more livable and sustainable communities across the country. The grants, totaling $100 million, will support State, local, and tribal governments, as well as metropolitan planning organizations, in the development and execution of regional plans intended to build economic competitiveness by connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation. The grants are part of the Obama Administration’s Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which brings EPA, HUD, USDA and USDOT together to ensure the agencies’ policies, programs, and funding consider affordable housing, transportation and environmental protection together.

Bridgeport Barnum Station: Bridgeport will explore the feasibility of constructing a new commuter rail station on its east side, acting as a central anchor to the city’s east side redevelopment opportunities totaling over 700 acres. The project will provide a regionally-critical second Northeast Corridor rail access point for Connecticut’s largest city and promote mixed-use, transit-oriented development and affordable housing around the distressed East End and East Side neighborhoods.