MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG AND PRESIDENT SCHUTTE KICK OFF URBANISM CONFERENCE ON CAMPUS

L–R: David Downey, President & CEO, International Downtown Association; Thomas Chatmon, Chair, International Downtown Association; Pratt President Thomas F. Schutte; New York City Mayor Bloomberg; Michael Blaise Backer, Executive Director, Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn PartnershipOn October 8, Pratt hosted a plenary session for the International Downtown Association’s (IDA) World Congress and 59th Annual Conference. The event featured New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other local city and nonprofit leaders as well as introductory remarks by President Thomas F. Schutte. The four-day event brought together diverse practitioners from around the world focused on urban planning issues and improving city life and governance.

Pratt was selected to host the session due to the international reputation of its City and Regional Planning program and its role in the recent rejuvenation of the Clinton Hill community. President Schutte discussed his long and ongoing affiliation with the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership—an organization dedicated to economic revitalization in Clinton Hill and Fort Greene—which he has chaired since its establishment in 1999.
“Pratt has reaped the benefits of our foresight in strengthening and partnering with the local business community,” President Schutte told the crowd. “We continue to hold the surrounding business improvement districts in high esteem as vital partners in Pratt’s mission to educate creative professionals to be responsible contributors to society.”

Bloomberg touched on similar themes. He discussed the steps his administration has taken to revitalize derelict or underused spaces within all five boroughs, touting in particular the Kingsbridge Armory, a Bronx building that will be transformed into the world's largest indoor ice-skating rink. Bloomberg shared his credo that "the more you make a neighborhood friendly, the better it is for the people who live there" and expressed hope that the next mayoral administration would continue working to revitalize the city.

Mayor Bloomberg’s address was followed by a master talk featuring Rob Walsh, commissioner of small business services of Brooklyn, among other urban development experts. Some 500 people attended the event, which garnered press coverage in the Brooklyn Eagle and am New York.

The IDA is a Washington DC–based urban planning association that connects diverse practitioners who transform cities into healthy and vibrant places. Additional conference host partners included the City Parks Alliance, New York University, and The New York Times.

Text: Ruth Samuelson; Bay Brown
Photo: Samuel Stuart