NYC STREETS RENAISSANCE

  • Who We Are

  last modified March 14 by Lily

The NYCSR campaign is a growing coalition of community groups, elected officials, business leaders, and concerned citizens from across the five boroughs who are working together to bring long-overdue, common-sense improvements to our neighborhood streets.

Founding Members

Staff

  • Lily Bernheimer recently became TOPP's NYCSR Project Coordinator. She holds a BA in Ethnic Studies with a focus on film and media representation from Brown University. Before joining TOPP, Lily worked at the Gotham Center for New York City History. Her first occupation in New York was as a children's face-painter, where she witnessed the city's potential for thriving streets while traveling to work in public spaces throughout the five boroughs.
  • Carly Clark leads the visual design efforts of the NYCSR at TOPP, with a focus on bringing the campaign content to life. With seven years of experience in urban planning and graphic design, she combines technical expertise in making livable streets with a creative flair for making information fun and useful. Carly has degree in Design Management from Pratt Institute and has called three out five boroughs "home" at some point during her seven years in New York City.
  • Nathan John recently joined T.A.’s NYCSR team as a jun­ior advocate. Nathan graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a dual degree in Politics and Photography. In 2006, he was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to study urban design and bicycle culture in nearly two dozen cities in fourteen countries on six continents.
  • Ethan Kent practices Placemaking as a Vice President with Project for Public Spaces. His experiences photographing, evaluating and helping to improve public spaces in hundreds of cities around the world form the foundation of his work. Ethan helped found the NYC Streets Renaissance Campaign and leads PPS's efforts in NYC, managing PPS's role in the campaign.
  • Lindsey Lusher leads T.A.’s NYCSR campaigns. Lindsey holds a Masters of Science from the Bard Center for Environmental Policy and a B.F.A. from New York University. In September, Lindsey was the lead organizer of “NYC Park(ing) Day”, a widely publicized NYCSR event that repurposed 20 on-street car parking spaces for pedestrian use.
  • Aaron Naparstek is a journalist, author, and community organizer working on urban environmental issues in New York City. He works for the Open Planning Project where he is editor-in-chief of StreetsBlog. He is the author of Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage, a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the unique brand of motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Naparstek lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons. He is a founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and an organizer of the Grand Army Plaza Coalition.
  • Amy Pfeiffer is T.A.’s director of planning. Amy, a nationally recognized pedestrian professional, holds a Masters of Planning from MIT. Amy has redesigned countless NYC intersections to better serve pedestrians, and has worked with scores of community organizations in northern Manhattan on T.A.’s acclaimed “Safe Routes for Seniors” campaign. Before joining T.A. in 2004, Amy worked for the NYC Department of City Planning.
  • Elizabeth Press joined Streetfilms in October after four years as a producer for the independent TV/Radio program, Democracy Now! She received her MFA in Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a focus in community media. Her videos have screened in festivals all over the world, including a grassroots organized tour with her most recent documentary, Still We Ride.
  • Nicholas Whitaker is an avid cyclist and advocate for positive social change. He is currently completing an MA at NYU in Media Culture and Communications. Having also worked previously in broadcast news, reality TV, and the commercial film industry, he is happy to be turning his production skills and education towards more socially conscious ends.