Staten Island’s future promises a much larger population, raising questions of where these new residents will live, how development will be managed, and how the borough can continue to offer affordable housing to the middle class. These issues, among others, will be addressed by experts and community members at the fourth annual policy conference of CSI’s Center for the Study of Staten Island/Staten Island Project on Friday, April 11 in the College’s Center for the Arts. Registration begins at 8:30am. The conference is free and open to the public.
Richard Flanagan, Center associate director, says that the conference will “bring together policymakers, academics, and the community, students, and faculty to discuss [housing and development] issues.”
Mirella Affron, Center director, notes that this conference “is centered on the connections among development, transportation, and employment on Staten Island. The centrality of the issue of housing at this moment, in which affordable housing and the ability of people to hold on to their houses in this crisis of mortgages and loans, is particularly acute.” Affron adds that as other Center conferences have addressed Staten Island “transportation, economy, and social capital, this year’s conference makes a circle back to our first very successful conference and Working Paper on transportation.”
The conference will consider a draft paper on the borough’s housing situation, based on research by CSI faculty member Associate Professor of Finance Jonathan Peters and Senior Lecturer in Finance Cameron Gordon, University of Canberra, Australia. This research was generously funded by New York State Senator Diane Savino, Assemblyman Michael Cusick, and former New York State Assemblyman the late John Lavelle.
Confirmed panelists at the conference include, so far, Drs. Peters and Gordon; Rae Rosen, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; R. Randy Lee, Leewood Real Estate Group; Vicki Been, NYU; Jonathan Bowles, Center for the Urban Future; Michael Friedman, NYS Mortgage Agency (SONYMA); Margaret Becker, SI Homeowner Defense Project; and Claire Mitchell-Dumas, Neighborhood Housing Services of SI.
The mission of the Center for the Study of Staten Island is to serve the community by integrating the work of the College with the public affairs concerns of the people of Staten Island. Designated a College Center in April 2005 by The City University of New York, the Center creates a bridge that joins the scholarly work of College faculty, staff, and students with the aspirations of Staten Island leaders and residents. The Center partners with organizations and agencies in the government, not-for-profit, and business sectors to address issues vital to the future of Staten Island, and to better prepare the Borough for the challenges ahead.
For more information and a detailed program of conference events, please call 718.982.2727. The Center can be found online at www.csi.cuny.edu/csisip and www.sipindicators.com
