How do crises change the face of cities? New York City has always served as a test bed for major change. Carl Weisbrod, former chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and a senior advisor at HR&A Advisors, discusses how New York communities come together to solve some of the city’s thorniest challenges from 9/11 to the financial crisis.
ABOUT OUR GUEST

Carl Weisbrod is a national authority on city planning, affordable housing policy, urban development, and public-private real estate development. In his four decades of experience, Carl has brokered and led complex public-private partnerships and created innovative governance strategies to spur economic development. He notably led efforts to revitalize two of New York City’s most iconic neighborhoods—Times Square, from the late 1970’s through the early 1990’s, and Lower Manhattan, both pre- and post-9/11.Throughout his career guiding public agencies and transformative development initiatives, Carl has served the City of New York in many capacities, include Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission, Director of the New York City Department of City Planning, chairman of the New York State Health Foundation, Founding President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Trustee of the Ford Foundation and the Urban Land Institute, as well as a full-time faculty member at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, where he served as Academic Chair of the Concentration in Global Real Estate.
LINKS RELATED TO THIS EPISODE:
- More about Carl at hraadvisors.com
- Connect with Carl on LinkedIn
- Follow Carl on Twitter @carlweisbrod