Public health educational publication, Spring 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

N E W S Real Estate and Urban Policy Center Joins WTC RESEARCH Wagner School’s Roster of Research Resources TEAMS PRESENT The Furman Center For Real tant resource for policymakers in New York, FIRST FINDINGS Estate and Urban Policy is and will be further strengthened by Wagner now a joint research center faculty through this new partnership.” AT WAGNER between the NYU School “This designation formalizes an already existing, Engineers and social scientists funded by the of Law and the Wagner but informal, working relationship between the National Science Foundation (NSlO to conduct School, announced Wagner schools,” said Professor Schill. “Greater coop­ research in the wake of September 11th dis­ Dean Jo Ivey Boufford and eration will bring more opportunities for joint cussed their progress at a workshop co-hosted Michael Schill Professor Michael Schill, academic programming for students, increased by the Institute for Civil Infrastructure the Center’s director and a research opportunities for the faculty and Systemis (ICIS) at the NYU Wagner School. faculty member with joint appointments at the Wagner’s other research centers, and greater Law School and Wagner. The researchers have collected and begun ability to serve the needs of our schools’ analyzing data on building structures, infra­ alumni in the real estate and housing fields. structure (transportation, utilities and other The Furman Center, the first joint research Further, it will make housing and real estate physical services) and safety and emergency center between the Law School and Wagner, is policy an even more visible part of Wagner’s response at the World Trade Center and named in honor of Jay Furman, an alumnus of already premier urban planning program.” Pentagon sites. At the conference held the Law School and a university trustee. Furman, an international real estate investor In addition, Boufford and Schill expressed the December 12th and 13th, they presented the and developer, provided generous financial desire that the Center would enable the schools results of their analyses to date and met with support to endow the Center. According to Mr. to increase the prominence of their joint NYC public officials to explore opportunities for Furman, “Issues of housing, land use and the ID/MPA program. future research. Noteworthy among the built environment are more important in New presentations was University of Maryland York than anywhere else in the nation. The joint On Thursday, February 7, 2002, NYU’s Furman Professor Frederick Mowrer’s contention that center will create synergies among the facul­ Center For Real Estate and Urban Policy co­ inadequate or faulty fireproofing which had ties, students and alumni of the two schools sponsored a conference with the Federal Reserve gone unrepaired for years may have played a and generate solutions to many of the pressing Bank of New York on “Policies to Promote role in the collapse of the World Trade Center. housing and land use issues of our generation.” Affordable Housing.” Professors Ingrid Gould This initial finding adds a new wrinkle to the Ellen and Amy Ellen Schwartz presented a paper debate over why the towers collapsed, and “This collaboration represents the Wagner entitled “The Role of Government in Providing Professor Mowrer cautioned that there isn’t yet School’s ongoing efforts to create centers of Housing Assistance: New York City’s Ten-Year a final conclusion as to the exact cause. knowledge that bridge academic disciplines Plan,” co-authored with Professor Michael Schill Wagner’s Professor Rae Zimmerman and ICIS and harness the many intellectual resources of and Research Fellow loan Voicu. Professor have been acting on behalf of NSF as a contact New York University to enhance the education Schill presented another paper entitled, “The point for and to assist coordination among these of our students in public service,” said Dean State of New York City’s Housing and Neighbor­ research teams in the weeks following the Boufford. “The Furman Center’s work on legal hoods: An Overview of Recent Trends” (co­ terror attacks. ICIS provides short-term and public policy issues involving real estate, authored with Furman Center Associate Director resources, such as the use of computers and housing and urban affairs is a critically impor- Glynis Daniels). space, and is assisting with longer-term “network support.” “We are establishing a database of contacts New Leader for Rudin Center ranging from technical experts in academia to government liaisons close to the public serv­ Allison L C. de CerreRo is the new co-director of the Rudin Center. She ices that are affected by or are responding to succeeds Susan Kupferman who left in February to join NYC Mayor this emergency,” said Zimmerman, director of Michael Bloomberg’s administration as its new director of the Mayor’s ICIS. “We are also planning a web site so Office of Operations. researchers can coordinate among themselves and know each others’ site visit schedules.” Prior to joining the Rudin Center, Dr. C. de Cerreno was director of science & technology policy at the New York Academy of Sciences where, among Zimmerman is leading a related NSF-funded other responsibilities, she led two major efforts: developing pollution study. Urban Infrastructure Services In A Time prevention plans for the New York/New Jersey Harbor, and boosting ^Crisis: Lessons From September 11, 2001. technology-led economic development in the Tri-State Region. Dr. C. de Cerreno was associate director of studies at the Council on Foreign Relations from 1996 to 1998, and has taught courses in inter­ national relations at City University of New York’s Hunter and City Colleges. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Graduate Allison L c. de Cerreno School and University Center of the City University of New York.

3

NYC-WTC_000141858