Joseph Pupello

Joseph Pupello began as a dancer and choreographer and built an outdoor theater in a community garden on East 8^th Street. As a result, he was recruited by the Parks Council to lead a movement to include community gardens as permanent public open space by mapping them as public parks. In addition, he organized local park groups that grew into major NYC institutions such as The Randall’s Island Sports Foundation and Reviving Baseball in Inner cities (RBI). Recruited by Bette Midler as the Founding President of the New York Restoration Project and raising more than 30 million dollars, he created the first citywide “Conservancy of Forgotten Places,” restoring more than 300 acres of the most under-served parks with the highest crime rates citywide and organizing a landmark purchase of 114 community gardens from the auction block and creating the nation’s largest Community garden land trust, the New York Garden Trust.

Following this, Joseph became President of New York Evolution, a new company formed in response to the needs of non-profit organizations. He helped in the formation of the Fourth Arts Block (FAB), negotiate the acquisition of a major property and its renovation for LaMaMa Theatre and advised numerous private family foundations in being game-changers in the new economy.

He moved to Staten Island with his three teenage sons, after residing in every other borough of NYC, and was invited by the Citizens Housing & Planning Council to become the 2013 William R. Ginsberg Senior Practitioner Fellow and form a lasting response to the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy. As a CHPC Fellow, Joseph has launched Zone A New York, helping people make difficult choices where housing meets the new challenges of the changing environment.

Du Jingqiang (JD)

Du Jingqiang (JD) recently graduated with his MPA from NYU Wagner School, and he holds a BA in Economics from Central University of Finance and Economics of China. Having spent his entire life living in mega cities, Du is especially interested in housing and sustainable development of populous metropolis like New York City. At CHPC, Du primarily supports the efforts of the Making Room initiative and a study examining the demographic transition of New York City neighborhoods from 2000-2010 .

Dedicated in public service, Du has experiences in the Chinese Ministry of Finance, as well as in the City of New York. He has rich research experiences on international development, housing and urban policy with leading research institutions in the field like NYU Furman Center, the Urban Institute, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, etc.

Outside professional world, Du Jingqiang is a folk songwriter, a starter rock-climber and a regular runner at Prospect Park of Brooklyn.

Ben Anderson

Ben holds a dual Masters degree in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development and International Affairs from American University in Washington, DC. His professional and research interests include climate change adaptation and mitigation, geographies of energy, and urban environmental policy.

In previous positions, Ben has worked for environmental organizations in the public, not-for-profit and private sectors on various issues within environmental management and urban sustainability.

At CHPC, Ben worked primarily on a project dedicated to improving energy efficiency policy directed towards multifamily buildings. Following the Fellowship, Ben was offered a position as a Community Development Officer at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).

Megan Houston

Megan is a Brooklyn Law School J.D. candidate (expected in 2013), pursuing a concentration in Real Estate Law. Her student note “Eco-Label Programs and Consumer Misconception: A Hybrid Approach to Environmental Regulation” will be published in the Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law 2012-2013 edition.

Before law school, Megan attended the University of Florida, where she graduated magna cum laude with a major in interior design. After working at an architecture firm in Atlanta for four years, Megan moved to New York for graduate school. In 2010, she received an M.S. in Urban Environmental Systems Management from Pratt Institute.

Megan enjoys working at the intersection of urban policy and green building legislation. As a Research Fellow at CHPC, Megan wrote the article “Green Housing Ideas in NYC: Encouraging Progress.” Additionally, Megan developed a white paper that identified the need for a comprehensive and unified approach to energy-efficiency upgrades in the NYC small multifamilysector.

Hannah Gonzalez

Hannah is visiting CHPC from the Philippines. She holds a MA in Urban Design from the National University of Singapore as well as Diplomas in Urban & Regional Planning and Transportation Planning from the University of the Philippines. Her love of learning about cities goes hand in hand with her experience of living around the world – growing up in both Manila and Philadelphia, studying in Singapore, and working in Dubai.

Although her experience has mostly been in physical planning and the built environment, she has an increasing interest in urban policy. While in Dubai, she worked on master planning projects that pushed the boundaries of engineering and architecture. She then did a volunteer internship with the NYC Department of City Planning’s transportation division where she worked on parking policy. Before joining CHPC, she worked in a consultancy firm in Manila.

At CHPC, she is supporting the Making Room project while gaining valuable insight on the complexities of housing policy in New York City.

Jinny Khanduja

Jinny is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Urban Planning at Columbia University, where she is interested in economics and urban policy. She has an undergraduate degree from Emory University in Atlanta, with majors in International Studies and Spanish, and a minor in Arabic.

She has extensive experience at the intersection of communications and policy, previously serving as the External Affairs Manager of a nationally-focused policy organization. Her research interests include the role of public and private entities in shaping the built environment, informality and efficiency in housing and retail markets, and the relationship of housing to the regulatory framework surrounding financial speculation.

At CHPC, Jinny is working primarily on developing the organization’s communications infrastructure. She also works on the Making Room project, which uses innovative new housing designs as a tool to evaluate the city’s housing policy.

Neelima Panoli

Neelima received her Bachelor in Architecture from the University of Mumbai and is pursuing a masters in urban design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where her focus has been on analyzing housing and urban form as a function of development economics and planning policy.

She has worked on housing design and community development projects with architecture firms and urban research organizations in Mumbai, Biel and Dubai. Her research interests within the field of housing and planning have been directed toward understanding the changing notions of domesticity, and diverse physical & socio-cultural manifestations of housing within dense, heterogeneous urban conditions.

As a summer fellow, she supported CHPC primarily on the Making Room project which re-evaluates housing policy to understand its impact on the flexibility of housing design in the city.

Kercena Dozier

Kercena received a Juris Doctorate from American University Washington College of Law and a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Real Estate from American University Kogod School of Business. In Spring 2008, Kercena worked as a legal intern assisting NY Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Chief Legal Officer in the day-to-day legal management of the organization’s affordable housing projects. At CHPC, Kercena assisted in the research, writing, and statistical analysis of NYC’s tax lien securitization and third party transfer program.

Anna Grosso

Anna is a candidate for a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Rutgers New Brunswick’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. There she concentrates in environmental planning and is conducting research with the Center for Energy, Economic, and Environmental Policy on regional and interstate energy policy agreements. Before then she received a B.A. from the University of Delaware, where she studied sociology and geography.

At CHPC, Anna was involved in archival research as well as research regarding cost-effective mechanisms for increasing New York’s affordable housing stock while mitigating energy loss and waste. This project represents the intersection of her major interests: environmental stewardship, social equity, and urban design.

Daniela Feibusch

Daniela graduated from UCLA School of Law with a specialization in the Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. At UCLA, she participated in the Skid Row Housing Clinic, served on the board of the UCLA Chapter of the American Constitution Society, and held internships at Inner City Law Center and Public Counsel Law Center where she concentrated on affordable housing and homelessness issues facing Los Angeles. Before attending law school, Daniela worked as a Community Development Associate for LISC NYC focusing on low income housing tax credit projects. She holds a BA in Sociology from Boston University. As a CHPC Ginsberg Fellow, Daniela was involved in various research projects on such topics as over-mortgaged multi-family homes and NYC zoning ordinances. Daniela was admitted to the New York State Bar by the Appellate Division, Second Department in February 2012.

Kasimir Hagendoorn

Kasimir holds two Masters in Real Estate and Spatial Planning from the University of Groningen. He also studied at the Eötvös Loránd University where he conducted a research project on neighbourhood dynamics in Budapest and aimed to advice the local governments how to improve neighborhoods and provide affordable housing. Before joining CHPC, Kasimir was an intern at DHV, a global engineering and consultancy company. He is now working in Bonaire, part of the Dutch Antilles, as a Real Estate Policy Consultant for Aert Swaens, a housing organization based in the Netherlands.

At CHPC, Kasimir conducted a research project on green housing; specifically how to best incentivize landlords to retrofit the existing rental stock. To reach this goal he studied best practice, especially from Western Europe, on how sustainable features can make the most cost savings and the most environmental impact and how financial programs have been designed to transform existing housing.

Stefanie Marazzi

Prior to joining CHPC, she was an associate at Cohen & Perfetto LLP, a New York law firm specializing in commercial real estate. She holds a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and a B.A. in political science from New College of Florida. Stefanie worked with CHPC’s Zoning Committee and assisted in research and writing on a variety of topics, including New York City’s tax lien securitization and third party transfer program. Stefanie is now an associate at Slater & Beckerman.

Alnisha Maniaci

Alnisha joined CHPC while working toward her Masters of Urban Planning at Wagner School of Public Service. While working at CHPC, Alnisha developed a model that examined gentrifying change in NYC. Currently, Alnisha is a Housing Policy Researcher in the Housing Policy Research and Program Evaluation Group at HPD where she performs objective analysis to examine the impact of implementing housing legislation and programs.

Alnisha obtained her undergraduate degree from New York University in Metropolitan Studies. Prior to joining CHPC, Alnisha served as a housing policy intern at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office. She also worked in the national economic development department at Local Initiative Support Corporation, where she facilitated a national capacity-building community development conference.

Sulin Carling

Sulin is a Senior Analyst at HR&A Advisors, an industry-leading real estate, economic development and energy efficiency consulting firm where she works with public and private clients on a variety of urban redevelopment and real estate projects. She focuses on master planning and urban design, public and private development, and housing policy. After her fellowship at CHPC, she pursued a Masters in Urban Planning from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where she concentrated in both Housing and Neighborhood Development and Transportation and Infrastructure. She also worked at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, the New York City Housing Authority’s Department for Development, and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.

Sulin conducted a multitude of research projects at CHPC, on topics that included: the history of single room occupancy housing in NYC; global design examples of single person housing units; rent stabilization; gentrification; and issues surrounding overleveraged multi-family buildings. She gained strong skills in data analysis, mapping, and design.

Hannah Hesse

Hannah joined CHPC in May 2009 as a Visiting Fellow from Germany. She received a B.A. in Architecture and a Masters in European Urban Studies at the Bauhaus University in Weimar. She has experience in urban planning research; community based planning and visualizing planning and urban design issues. Hannah has worked in various architectural firms and planning departments in Germany and the U.S. and her main interest centers on improving the collaboration and communication between the fields of urban planning, public policy and architectural design.

At CHPC, Hannah conducted a detailed neighborhood profile for our new gentrification study. At the same time, she worked for her master’s thesis on the correlation of gentrification and displacement.

Saadia Chowdhury

Saadia has worked in affordable housing in the UK for nine years and has a Masters in Public Policy and Management from Birkbeck College at the University of London. At CHPC, Saadia carried out research on housing space standards and the history of SROs,which has been used in One Size Fits Some publications and presentations. She is currently Policy Manager for Ascham Homes, which works with public housing authorities in East London and Essex.

Carol Clark

Carol was the principal researcher for a study to identify and advance planning tools to help protect the integrity of New York’s older residential neighborhoods while facilitating appropriate development. To launch the project, Carol took leave from her position at New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development where she has served as Assistant Commissioner since 2002. During a professional career that spans over three decades in New York City, she has held leadership roles in both the non-profit and governmental sectors. Her expertise is in planning, land use, and preservation issues. Carol is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation where she is affiliated with the Historic Preservation and Urban Planning programs. She has also taught at New York University and Pratt Institute.

Andrea Perkins

Andrea was born and raised in Detroit where she developed an interest in urban issues and politics. As a Ginsberg Fellow she worked on a variety of projects to support CHPC full-time staff, including looking at the role of Public Housing and issues surrounding green housing construction and retrofitting. After graduating from Wagner School of Public Service at NYU with a Masters of Urban Planning in the summer of 2009, Andrea became a Business Development Consultant at NMC Consulting.

Silvett Garcia-Tsuang

Silvett has Masters degrees in Urban Planning and Public Health from Columbia University. She has worked as a planner at Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ), a community-based organization in the South Bronx, where she managed the South Bronx Waterfront Brownfield Opportunity Area program in addition to other community planning projects. Silvett’s interests are in community development, social and environmental justice, and planning for healthy communities.

At CHPC, Silvett researched new potential models for the production of public housing and helped coordinate a roundtable of affordable housing experts across the country.

Since graduating and completing her Fellowship at CHPC, Silvett has worked as the Parks Advocacy Coordinator and Housing and Community Development Coordinator at the New York Immigration Coalition. In this exciting endeavor, she advocated for the housing needs of immigrant New Yorkers and coordinated the organization’s efforts to fuel immigrant-led community development and overall park improvements. She is currently consulting for a community-based organization in Elmhurst, Queens.

Denali Dasgupta

Denali K. Dasgupta was CHPC’s very first Ginsberg Fellow in Spring/Summer 2007 and later continued at CHPC as a Research Analyst. She holds a B.A. in Linguistics from Yale University and a Master of Urban Planning from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service.

While at CHPC, Denali contributed to projects on New York City demographics, housing formation, public housing, gentrification, and over-mortgaged multi-family housing. She later adapted her research on household composition and neighborhood change into a paper entitled “Brooklyn’s Roommate Belt.”

Since working with CHPC, Denali has pursued her interests in research-based urban policy at the Office of the New York City Comptroller and the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. Currently, she is an Associate Researcher at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, where she reaches and evaluates programs and policies related to youth development, teen pregnancy prevention, and children and family services.