Saving Stuyvesant Town: A Conversation with Author Dan R. Garodnick

Saving Stuyvesant Town: A Conversation with Author Dan R. Garodnick

From the NYC streets to City Hall and Midtown corporate offices, Saving Stuyvesant Town: How One Community Defeated The Worst Real Estate Deal In History is the incredible true story of how one middle-class community defeated the largest residential real estate deal in American history. Lifetime Stuy Town resident and former City Councilman Dan R. Garodnick recounts how his neighbors stood up to mammoth real estate interests and successfully fought to save their homes, delivering New York City’s biggest-ever affordable housing preservation win.

Dan’s colorful and heartfelt account of this crucial moment in New York City history shows how creative problem solving, determination, and brute force politics can be marshalled for the public good.

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Biography

Dan R. Garodnick is the President and CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy, a not-for profit organization advocating for a six mile park on Manhattan’s West Side. As a 12-year Member of the New York City Council Dan Garodnick was known as one of New York’s most independent voices and effective legislators.

The City Council unanimously passed his bill that will relieve more than 2,700 small businesses in Manhattan from paying the onerous commercial rent tax. He was also the lead negotiator in crafting a plan that will deliver nearly a billion dollars to improve subways and public spaces in Midtown over the next 20 years, through the East Midtown and Vanderbilt Corridor rezoning.

Dan is a fierce tenant advocate and, in 2015, negotiated the largest affordable housing preservation deal in New York City’s history — 5,000 middle class housing units in Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village. A lawyer with a background in civil rights, he has represented same sex couples seeking marriage equality, low wage workers seeking a living wage, and businesses seeking fair funding for city schools as part of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity.

Dan holds a BA from Dartmouth and JD from University of Pennsylvania Law School. Dan lives with his wife Zoe, and two young sons, in Manhattan.

This event is hosted by the Penn Club.