PROGRAM
This event was held at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College – 68th Street and Lexington, NYC
A special program to coincide with the publication of Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York, and the American Dream, edited by Hunter College Professor Joseph P. Viteritti, highlighted the relevance of the Lindsay legacy as the city began the early days of a new mayoral administration. Participants include: Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, Vincent Cannato, Lizabeth Cohen, Sid Davidoff, Ronnie Eldridge, Peter Goldmark, Jay Kriegel, Errol Louis, Richard Ravitch, Sam Roberts, and many more.
CONFERENCE AGENDA
Welcome: Jennifer J. Raab, President of Hunter College
Keynote: Joseph P. Viteritti, Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy and Chair of the Urban Affairs & Planning Department at Hunter College
Panel 1: Assessing the Lindsay Legacy
- Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, New York City Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services
- Vincent Cannato, Associate Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Boston
- Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies and Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University
- Richard Ravitch, Co-Chair of the State Budget Crisis Task Force
- Moderated by Sam Roberts, Urban Affairs Correspondent and Metro Matters Columnist, The New York Times
Panel 2: Knowing Lindsay: The Man and the Times
- Sid Davidoff, Former Special Assistant to New York Mayor John Lindsay
- Ronnie Eldridge, Former Special Assistant to Mayor John Lindsay
- Peter Goldmark, Former Chief of Staff to Mayor John Lindsay
- Jay Kriegel, Former Former Chief of Staff to Mayor John Lindsay
- Moderated by Errol Louis, Political Anchor and Host of “Inside City Hall”
SPEAKERS
Lilliam Barrios-Paoli New York City Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services
Lilliam Barrios-Paoli was appointed Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services by Mayor Bill de Blasio to oversee the following agencies: Human Resources Administration, Administration for Children Services, Homeless Services, the Department for the Aging, the Department for Youth and Community Development, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, and Health and Hospitals Corporation. She was appointed Commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) in December 2008 by Mayor Bloomberg, following a long career in both City government and the nonprofit sector. A graduate of the School of Anthropology of Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, Ms. Barrios-Paoli also holds a Masters degree and a PhD from the New School for Social Research.
Vincent J. Cannato Associate Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Boston
Vincent J. Cannato is Associate Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he teaches courses on New York City history, Boston history, immigration history, and twentieth-century American history. He is the author of American Passage: The History of Ellis Island (2009) and The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and his Struggle to Save New York (2001). Professor Cannato has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Weekly Standard, and The New Republic. Apart from his academic career, Professor Cannato was also co-producer of the PBS documentary “The First Measured Century”; an aide to former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler; and a speechwriter at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Lizabeth Cohen Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies and Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University
Lizabeth Cohen is the Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies and Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Her book Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago won the Bancroft Prize in American History and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is also author of A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America and is currently writing a book about Ed Logue and urban renewal in the Northeast.
Sid Davidoff Former Special Assistant to New York Mayor John Lindsay
Sid Davidoff served as Special Assistant to New York Mayor John V. Lindsay for seven years handling everything from the student riots to community issues. As Lindsay’s main street operative, he was also responsible for the Mayor’s legendary walking tours. Davidoff has also served as Commissioner on the New York City Rent Guidelines Board. He was recently recognized as a Townsend Harris Medalist, awarded for outstanding postgraduate achievements by City College of New York. He is President of the New York Advocacy Association. He is a founding partner of the firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP.
Ronnie Eldridge Former Special Assistant to Mayor John Lindsay
Ronnie Eldridge was Special Assistant to Mayor John Lindsay and also served as the Director of Community and Government Affairs for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. She was a member of Governor Mario Cuomo’s cabinet as the Director of the Division for Women. She was the Director of Special Projects at MS Magazine and the Executive Director of the MS Foundation for Women. She also was the Executive Producer of the first feminist series on network television, PBS’ WOMAN ALIVE. She was elected to the New York City Council in 1989 and served through 2001. She is currently the host of Eldridge & Co., a weekly television program on CUNY TV, Channel 75 in New York City.
Peter Goldmark Former Chief of Staff to Mayor John Lindsay
Peter Goldmark came to the Lindsay Administration in 1966, serving as Assistant Director of the Budget, then Chief of Staff in City Hall. He directed the Climate and Air program for Environmental Defense from 2003 through 2010. Prior to that, he was Chairman and CEO of the International Herald Tribune, Budget Director for the State of New York, and Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He was President of the Rockefeller Foundation from 1988-1997. He has taught Harvard, Yale, The New School, Brandeis, and Princeton and holds several honorary degrees. Currently, he is a columnist for Newsday and an independent consultant in the areas of philanthropy, environmental policy, international affairs and development, and organizational development.
Jay Kriegel Former Former Chief of Staff to Mayor John Lindsay
Jay Kriegel served eight years in City Hall for Mayor John V. Lindsay, including as Chief of Staff. Kriegel’s efforts included opening the City’s first Washington Office, creating the first Civilian Complaint Review Board, serving as first Director of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, and liaison to the Kerner Commission on urban disorders. Later, with business leader Lewis Rudin, he ran the national campaign to save the deductibility of state and local taxes against attack by President Reagan in the 1986 Tax Reform Act. Since then he has worked at a variety of corporate, consulting and media firms, and, along with Dan Doctoroff, ran New York’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. He is currently Senior Advisor for the Related Companies, developer of Hudson Yards, the largest project in NYC history.
Errol Louis Political Anchor and Host of "Inside City Hall"
Errol Louis joined NY1 in November 2010 as political anchor and host of “Inside City Hall,” the city’s premiere news program covering New York politics and government. He was recently appointed Professor and Director of the Urban Reporting Program at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Prior to joining NY1, Louis was a columnist and editorial board member of the New York Daily News. He also hosted The Morning Show on AM1600 WWRL, and in 2010 was named the city’s Best Columnist & Radio Show Host by the Village Voice. He is the co-editor of Deadline Artists (2011), and Deadline Artists: Scandals, Tragedies and Triumphs (2012), two anthologies of America’s best newspaper columns. He has also been a CNN contributor since 2008.
Jennifer Raab President, Hunter College
Jennifer Raab, President of Hunter College since 2001, has led the school’s transformation into one of the nation’s leading urban centers of higher education. Hunter is consistently rated as a “Best Value” school in the nation by the Princeton Review and has moved up 18 positions in the past four years in U.S. News’s rankings. Prior to her tenure at Hunter, she was Chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, a post she held from 1994 to 2001. A graduate of Hunter College High School, President Raab is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell University, holds a Master in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton, and received her law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Richard Ravitch Co-Chair of the State Budget Crisis Task Force
Richard Ravitch is a lawyer, business executive, and public official who has been engaged in both private and public business for more than 50 years. He was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HRH Construction Corporation and later became Chairman and CEO of the Bowery Savings Bank. He has also served as Chairman of the New York State Urban Development Corporation, Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Chairman of the Charter Revision Commission of the City of New York, and recently served as Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York. Mr. Ravitch is currently co-chairing the State Budget Crisis Task Force with former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Paul A. Volcker. He is the author of a new memoir, So Much to Do.
Sam Roberts Urban Affairs Correspondent and Metro Matters Columnist for The New York Times
Sam Roberts the Urban Affairs Correspondent for The New York Times and the editor or author of numerous books including America’s Mayor: John Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York (2010) and Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed a Nation, published last winter to mark the centennial of Grand Central Terminal. Mr. Roberts is frequently heard on NPR and is the host of The New York Times Close Up, on NY1.
Joseph P. Viteritti Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy at Hunter College and Chair of the Urban Affairs and Planning Department
Joseph P. Viteritti is the Thomas Hunter Professor of Public Policy at Hunter College, where he is also Chair of the Urban Affairs and Planning Department. He has written or edited ten previous books prior to publishing Summer in the City: John Lindsay, New York, and the American Dream. His more than one hundred articles and essays have appeared in social science journals, law reviews, and popular media such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Nation, and Huffington Post. His extensive record of public service and consulting in New York has cut across issues of education policy, state and local governance, charter revision, criminal justice, and public management. In 2010 he served as Research Director for the New York City Charter Revision Commission.
RESOURCES
- City Talk: Joseph Viteritti & Sam Roberts on Mayor John Lindsay
Roosevelt House Faculty Associate and Chair of the Urban Affairs and Planning Department, Professor Joseph P. Viteritti appeared on CUNY TV’s “CITY TALK” on March 10th, 2014 to discuss Viteritti’s book on the legacy of Mayor John Lindsay.
- Sam Roberts: Unions, Harlem and Lindsay, Revisited (NYT)
From the New York Times: March 20, 2014.
- Glenn Coleman: "Lucky Lindsay" (Crain's)
John Lindsay, whose two tumultuous terms as “America’s Mayor” started 50 years ago come Jan. 1, 2015.
From Crain’s New York Business: March 21, 2014
Write-up of the event at Roosevelt House.
- Ross Sandler: "Two perspectives on Mayor John V. Lindsay at Hunter College" (Cityland)