Reinvigorating and Powering New York State Through Offshore Wind

On November 7, 2019, Karp Strategies’ Cheryl Lim attended The Waterfront Alliance and The General Contractors Association of New York’s event ‘Offshore Wind on New York State’s Horizon: A Discussion on Maximizing Potential and Addressing Barriers.’ Panelists included Liz Burdock, CEO and President of the Business Network for Offshore Wind; Boone Davis, President and CEO for Atlantic Offshore Terminals; Joe Martens, Director, New York Offshore Wind Alliance; and Michael Stamatis, President and CEO for Red Hook Terminals. 

The event educated the audience about the importance of offshore wind development in North America. To date, there is only one offshore wind farm currently in operation in the United States - the Block Island Wind Farm in Rhode Island. In January of 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his plan to quadruple New York State’s offshore wind target from the current 2.4 GW to 9 GW by 2035, putting New York State at the forefront of developing clean energy on the East Coast.

Martens opened the panel by noting successes from Europe - the first wind farm was built in 1991 in Denmark, powering 2,200 homes for almost three decades. Echoing Martens’ sentiments about the offshore wind market in Europe that has “created about 75,000 jobs” to date, Stamatis noted that similarly, “tens of thousands of jobs” will be created here in the United States. Burdock highlighted the United States’ speed in committing to offshore wind targets and state commitments to providing financial mechanisms to realize these projects. Davis stressed the importance of ensuring that infrastructure - especially related to ports - is upgraded to support the high capacity expected of the estimated 1,000+ turbines that will enter through New York harbor, with all of these facilities serving crucial roles in the supply chain. 

As Karp Strategies’ continues thinking about the development of clean energy and mechanisms in which to harness its potential, a few lingering questions remain active on our minds:

• What lessons from Europe can apply to the American context?

• What are the biggest barriers to developing a strong workforce that can supply labor for such large-scale projects?

• How can we employ the best methods to educate stakeholders on the importance and benefits of renewable energy and offshore wind?

Big News! An Interview with Ali Sutherland-Brown, Karp Strategies' Newest Director

Karp Strategies is thrilled to name Ali Sutherland-Brown as our newest Director. Since joining in 2015 as Karp Strategies’ very first hire, Ali has consistently delivered top-flight project management and client service, outstanding project thought - including for stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and community development initiatives across sectors, and leadership in business development and marketing.

We recently sat down with Ali for a Q&A to reflect on her journey at Karp Strategies, and to get a sneak peek at what’s to come in this exciting next step:

First off, a much-deserved congratulations! You’ve been deeply embedded in the firm’s development, from its nascency to its rapid and ongoing growth. What are your reflections looking back at this journey? Are there any unexpected places this path has taken you? When I first joined the firm in 2016, I knew that the team would eventually become larger than just Rebecca and myself, but I don’t think either of us could have expected growth of this magnitude. Karp Strategies is now made up of 13 people (and still growing!), and I can confidently say that I get to work with a team of people who are not only super smart and kind, but are also equally excited to come to work and solve problems together. As Director, I want to continue making sure that we maintain an incredible staff as we continue to grow so that we can best serve our clients and change the city for the better.

As I’ve grown with the firm, and now taking on the role of Director, I spend a lot more time thinking about project processes in addition to focusing on content and outcomes. Creating great processes for managing projects and team workflows on day-to-day level leads to better results for everyone, and it’s something that’s surprised and delighted me. Working with our dynamic team also means that I’ve been able to deeply engage in subject matters that initially would not have grabbed my attention. I originally became an urban planner to focus on the built environment and its effects on people. As a full-service firm, Karp Strategies also specializes in workforce development, transportation, and market analysis, to name a few. The first project that I worked on at Karp Strategies was a small business market study, and this served as an entrée to better understanding the expanse of what makes a city tick.

In addition to your becoming Director, Karp Strategies has also named two new Principals, Jen Becker and Helen Ho. Looking ahead, what can Karp Strategies’ diverse array of clients expect from our new senior leadership structure? This is an exciting time – our clients have an even larger brain trust and executive team from which to access diverse expertise, skill sets, and histories. Jen is a powerhouse in sustainability, energy, and industrial/manufacturing policy issues, Helen is a transportation, consensus-building, and city governance guru, and Rebecca continues to lead our team with market analysis, real estate, and public policy acumen. This move means that Karp Strategies’ senior leadership is even more accessible to our clients, and well-positions the firm to continue offering a wide array of urban planning services.

You’ve been leading our recent strategic planning and real estate industry advisory work, whether it’s a project in Karp Strategies’ portfolio, or as part of our thought leadership with CoreNet and the New York Building Congress. What can our partners look out for as we team up to create exciting real estate opportunities and analysis in NY and beyond? Karp Strategies continues to deliver holistic solutions to complex problems for our clients, and we are able to do so in part because of our involvement in organizations such as CoreNet and the New York Building Congress (NYBC). We are committed to looking forward and outwards by plugging into the leading real estate and infrastructure networks, and we bring our learnings and connections back to our clients. I recently attended a NYBC conference designed for construction and engineering experts, and by attending, I was able to learn about fascinating topics such as technological advancements in conducting environmental assessments, and the potential impacts that drones can have on buildings and the urban environment overall. Right now, w also bringing our policy perspective to CoreNet to help its members better understand the impacts of congestion pricing in NYC.

You also recently completed the Coro Leadership New York fellowship. How has your Coro experience informed your work at Karp Strategies, and vice versa? Both my work at Karp Strategies and my Coro LNY experience underscore the importance of feedback. When given intentionally, feedback can be a gift that helps you and your teammates grow. Coro provides a space to practice, develop, and hone one’s ability to self-reflect and provide constructive feedback, and I apply those skills every day to my work at the firm. Karp Strategies has been a feedback-driven team from the get-go. As a team, we strive to hold honest discussions about how a community may or may not benefit from any given project, and how we can leverage our role as consultants to foster greater trust, transparency, and partnerships in the systems that run cities.

What’s one thing you are currently working on at Karp Strategies that excites you? The Connected Communities Initiative (CCI)! This project feels like an encapsulation of why I became an urban planner. We’re working with CCI, an effort led by the Capital Projects Division in New York City Housing Authority to investigate how it can use tactical investments in the built environment to help residents become healthier and better connected. As we help CCI put together a strategic plan for the future, we aim to strike the right balance between aspirational and practical: essentially, we want to create a roadmap that inspires and empowers NYCHA staff and residents, but also provides realistic and actionable ways to create change.

And last but not least, what currently inspires you in the urban planning sphere overall? 

I’m inspired by the growing movement to integrate mental health outcomes into our built environments. It’s important to remember that in the early 20th century, the leading cause of death was infectious diseases, which was why things that we now take for granted  - like zoning and Department of Sanitation - were created. Today, people are much more likely to suffer from heart disease, obesity, stress, and feelings of isolation—chronic, preventable diseases, and things that are affected by  the way our open spaces and buildings are designed. I think we’re on the cusp of creating more regulations and initiatives that grapple with how people are getting sick today, including just how much of the global population suffer from anxiety and depression (about 30%). The more we openly talk about mental health, the more we can break down barriers and taboos to facilitate open conversations and lasting change. 

A Proposal to Unify Public Transit for the Tri-State Region

NYC’s rapid job growth in the last 15 years has led to an unsurprising but dramatic upswing of workers commuting to Manhattan each day, both from the outer boroughs and the Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Long Island). While the number of commuters continues to swell, public transit improvements have been lagging, leading to overcrowded trains, track congestion, and schedule delays, along with the broader economic threats caused by looming infrastructure failures.

Looking ahead, how can people and agencies across the Tri-State region work together to ensure that economic growth is not stunted by limited public transit capacity? Last Tuesday, Karp Strategies attended a presentation about this very issue hosted by Open House New York (OHNY) and featuring Tom Wright, President & CEO of the Regional Plan Association (RPA), with a conversation moderated by Sarah Kaufman, Associate Director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation. The event launched OHNY’s year-long exploration into transportation and mobility in NYC.

According to the RPA, companies, unconvinced of NYC’s capacity to offer affordable housing and mobility to workers, have already started to overlook NYC in favor of locating in other cities. A proposal to combine the region’s rail lines—Long Island Railroad, Metro-North, and NJ Transit—into a unified system called Trans-Regional Express (T-REX) aims to relieve congestion, offer additional transit options, and generate economic growth evenly across the region. If successful, the investments would connect suburbs to core job centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and beyond. In turn, suburban communities will need to consider first- and last-mile solutions, as well as zoning changes to maximize housing opportunities near transit hubs. The discussion also raised the issue of drawn-out approval processes bloating project costs, and touched upon the LaGuardia Airport Redevelopment Project’s use of public-private partnerships to maneuver through red tape.

Karp Strategies looks forward to following and working on some of the capital improvement proposals included in the T-REX plan as we continue to advocate for much-needed public transit investments. We are proud members of the RPA's New York State Committee and Open House New York's Program Advisory and Transit Advisory Committees. Join us at many of the excellent upcoming events OHNY is hosting around transportation during the upcoming year!