Dan Garodnick, the newly appointed Director of the City Planning Commission. Image Credit: NYC DCP.

On January 19, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams named his selections for leadership of the Department of City Planning (DCP); Dan Garodnick will be the new City Planning Commission Chair and Department of City Planning Director, and Edith Hsu-Chen will be the Department of City Planning Executive Director. They will both report to Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer.

Dan Garodnick is a former member of the City Council, where he represented the East Side of Manhattan. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College, and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He worked as a litigator with Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP prior to serving in the City Council for twelve years. He most recently was the President and CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy, a non-profit that advocates for Riverside Park. 

Edith Hsu-Chen has a B.A. in Design of the Environment from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters in Urban Planning from Harvard University. She first worked with the Department of City Planning as an intern in 1997, and throughout her career has held various positions with DCP. She has previously served as Deputy Director, and most recently served as the Manhattan Director at DCP.

Mayor Adams stated, “Dan Garodnick and Edith Hsu-Chen are tremendously talented public servants with a proven track record of advocating for working people. I am proud to have them join our administration and look forward to working with them to create an economy that works for all New Yorkers.”

Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Torres-Springer stated, “Dan Garodnick and Edith Hsu-Chen are quintessential New Yorkers who bring a deep understanding of and love for neighborhoods across the city. We have an enormous responsibility to put people to work in family-sustaining jobs, build affordable homes, and create more resilient communities and that demands the type of visionary and empathetic leadership that both Dan and Edith embody.  I look forward to working with them to ensure we drive truly equitable growth and tackle our city’s toughest challenges head-on.”

By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)