May 2019 | Introducing New Senior Leadership, Our Fresh New Look, & Upcoming Events

We are thrilled to welcome Helen Ho and Nur Asri to the Karp Strategies team. Helen and Nur, powerhouses in community engagement and downtown economic development respectively, bring years of expertise to advance our clients’ and partners’ goals.

Meet Helen Ho, Director

Helen joins Karp Strategies to help lead our work on the BQX and other major initiatives. She brings over a decade in senior leadership roles with the NYC Mayor’s Office, LaGuardia Community College, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation and at the helm of innovative nonprofits. Get to know Helen — check out our Q&A with our new Director.

“Coupling data with genuine community engagement offers a richer understanding of what makes communities tick.” - Helen

Meet Nur Asri, Senior Consultant

Nur joins as lead project manager on the BQX and other real estate and economic development projects. Nur has spearheaded commercial corridor revitalization studies for a mix of public sector, private sector, and non-profit clients, and teaches a course on downtown redevelopment at Pratt Institute. Get to know Nur — check out our Q&A with our new Senior Consultant.

“Each city has its own history that impacts the current day realities, and if we don’t keep an open mind we stand to lose critical insight.” - Nur

Have you seen our new look? Karp Strategies has quietly been hard at work building a new website that better supports our clients and partners. We're proud to showcase our new features, which include clearer menus, more streamlined navigation, and responsive content so that visitors can quickly browse our service areas and portfolio of projects.

We invite you to visit our new site and discover the full spectrum of our services. And let us know what you think!

New York Building Congress: Breakfast with NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli

May 9 | Join us to discuss the current state of NYC's construction industry.

Esri: Sustainable Safe and Inclusive Cities and Communities

May 13 | Join us to learn about innovations in data collections for SDG 11.

ABNY: Policy Brief on Rent Regulations with Jessica Yager

May 13 | Join us to learn about NYC's current and proposed rent regulations.

Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation: Sunset Swing 2019!

May 14 | Join us for an evening of dance to support southwest Brooklyn's industrial business community.

Women in Transportation Seminar Conference: The Hub of Ingenuity

May 15-17 | Join us in Boston to exchange ideas about the latest developments in transportation. Let us know if you'll be there and we'll connect you with Nur Asri, Senior Consultant, who will be in attendance.

CoreNet & Karp Strategies: Opportunity Zones

June 13 | Stay tuned for a special event to discuss both the potential and the risks that Opportunity Zones present. Interested in joining us or learning me? Let us know and we will make sure to keep you posted.

Regional Plan Association & A More Just NYC: The Future of Rikers & the Inner Sound

April 5 | Read our reflections on Rikers Island, reimagined.

ABNY: State Budget Policy Brief with Citizens Budget Commission's Patrick Orecki

April 9 | Read our recap of the FY2020 NY State budget analysis.

Regional Plan Association 2019 Assembly

April 19 | Read our conference takeaways on resiliency and coalition building.

Want to continue the conversation? We'd love to hear from you. As always, we welcome the opportunity to attend events with our network of partners and clients. Feel free to drop us at line at info@karpstrategies.com.

April 2019 | Driving Equitable Economic Development in St. Louis, MO

How can St. Louis intentionally include an equity lens in the city's economic development strategy? Karp Strategies Founder and CEO Rebecca Karp was invited to bring economic development expertise to St. Louis. From February 24-28, the National League of Cities/Rose Center, PolicyLink, and the Urban Land Institute convened technical experts from around the country to put their heads together with St. Louis leaders and provide technical assistance, capacity-building support, and peer-to-peer learning opportunities through their Equitable Economic Development Fellowship.

"St. Louis is making great strides to advance its equity goals, coming off of the recent publication of its Equity Indicators Report - produced entirely by the city. The fellowship brought together an incredible depth and diversity of experiences, including Karp Strategies' equity-driven work with communities across the country," said Rebecca Karp.

"I'm proud that our deep dive during this week could support St. Louis' leadership team with concrete actions to position the city in advancing its equity goals."

A very special thank you to fellowship sponsors National League of Cities/Rose Center, PolicyLink, and the Urban Land Institute. And if your community is looking for innovative and practical ways to integrate equity into economic development strategies, connect with us.

(L) Rebecca Karp (left) of Karp Strategies and Mauricio Garcia (right) of Cities of Service preparing for the final presentation to Mayor Krewson. (R) Future site of the Next NGA West development project. Read more here.

BQX MOVES AHEAD, WITH HELP FROM KARP STRATEGIES

Karp Strategies is thrilled to announce that we’re teaming up with VHB to produce the environmental impact statement and support community engagement for the Brooklyn-Queens Connector on behalf of the City. We're looking forward to engaging with city stakeholders about this major infrastructure project. The proposed 11-mile streetcar line would run along the East River from Gowanus to Astoria — linking neighborhoods like Brooklyn Navy Yard, Williamsburg, and Long Island City — and serve an estimated 50,000 riders a day. Stay tuned for additional BQX updates.

YURI CHANG, GRADUATE ASSOCIATE Yuri develops and advances urban planning initiatives that expand the individual and collective power of people to shape their communities. Learn more about Yuri.

EMMA LANE, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT + OPERATIONS MANAGER Emma delivers dynamic, client focused operational management and bridges the gap between internal staff and external clients and partners. Learn more about Emma.

SAM SALVESEN, GRADUATE ASSOCIATE Sam is a multilingual urban planner working to create redevelopment strategies for communities across the country. Learn more about Sam.

During the next few weeks you can find us at: RPA: The Future of Rikers & the Inner Sound

April 5 | 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Join us to explore the future of Rikers Island.

The Rooftops Conference

April 5 | 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Join us at the annual symposium for the not-for-profit sector focused on the role of real estate.

Open Space Dialogues: Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees

April 9 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join us to explore what options exist for ensuring parks in all five boroughs have a sustainable financial future.

Coro Gala 2019

April 18 | 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Join us at the Coro Awards Gala and help celebrate the emerging leaders who benefit from Coro’s leadership training programs.

RPA Assembly: Investing in People and Places

April 19 | 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM

Join us at the Regional Plan Association's annual Assembly.

Want to continue the conversation? We'd love to hear from you. As always, we welcome the opportunity to attend events with our network of partners and clients. Feel free to drop us at line at info@karpstrategies.com. 

February 2019 | What's on Deck for KStrat in 2019?

2018 brought enormous growth to the Karp Strategies team, along with an exciting portfolio of economic and community development initiatives. And as we made our rounds at the holiday and end-of-year parties, many of you have asked us:

Keeping with Karp Strategies’ data-place-people methodology, in 2018 we transformed SoHo’s complex zoning regulations into a beautiful and accessible guidebook by way of in-depth zoning analysis and real estate advisory. And just last week, we delivered critical operations and project management support for a massive, citywide effort to gather valuable data to better serve NYC’s unsheltered individuals.

REZONING, ANYONE?

The zoning in SoHo is notoriously complex. The district is currently zoned for manufacturing, with an overlay for artists, a veritable challenge for any business or person who wants to operate or live there. SoHo anticipates modifications to the existing zoning regulations and in fact, the NYC Department of City Planning and Council Member Chin are hosting a Public Session tonight as the first step of a rezoning process. The challenge, then, was to not only help residents, property owners, and businesses navigate all the dense information, but also to empower local stakeholders with the tools to understand the zoning code that defines SoHo. 

Enter the SoHo Zoning Guidebook, produced by Karp Strategies with and on behalf of theSoHo Broadway Initiative, the business improvement district in SoHo. To assemble this resource, KStrat conducted a deep dive review into complex technical sources, including land use and demographic data, and the New York City Zoning Resolution, and worked closely with the Initiative to determine what they needed most. We then took analysis to action, condensing detailed information into a streamlined narrative and user-friendly graphics for a beautiful, accessible, and educational resource.

HOPE FOR 2019 

Each year, thousands of volunteers mobilize across the five NYC boroughs to identify individuals living unsheltered. This enormous undertaking is part of the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE), which provides the city with valuable data to effectively project service needs and allocate resources for individuals experiencing street homelessness. 

When the NYC Department of Homeless Services & Human Resources Administration (DHS HRA) called, we rolled up our sleeves and jumped right in as in-house consultants. 

Karp Strategies is proud to have delivered topflight project management, survey operationalization across 28 sites throughout the five boroughs, and coordination of communications, intergovernmental, and outreach staff between three city agencies yielding 2,630 volunteers for the night of the survey. Karp Strategies left the agency with a streamlined and replicable design for the future. And on January 28, the night of HOPE survey deployment, the KStrat team hit the streets to participate as on-the-ground volunteers, joining the thousands of volunteers striving to better serve NYC’s unsheltered. 

If your organization needs an infusion of support, or help developing an operational plan, we’d love to talk.

During the next few weeks you can find us at: Pat Tillman Foundation Panel: Amazon's Arrival to Queens at Columbia University

February 16 | 4:00 PM -  5:00 PM

Rebecca Karp, James Van Bramer, Long Island City Council Member, and other panelists will discuss the short- and long-term implications of HQ2’s planned arrival on Queens residents.  Invitation only, email us to join as our guests. 

Museum of the City of New York: Rooted in Place

February 28 | 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Join us to hear Dr. Mindy Fullilove and other thought leaders explore the concept of home in a time marked by rising rents and neighborhood shifts.

AIA NY: Mobility + Social Agency - Embedding Equity in Mobile Systems

March 21 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Join us for this important conversation about equity in transit.