Mayor Adams Appoints Dan Garodnick As City Planning Commission Chair And Edith Hsu-Chen As Director

Today, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the appointment of Dan Garodnick as chair of the City Planning Commission (CPC) and Edith Hsu-Chen as director of the Department of City Planning (DCP).

Garodnick most recently served as president and CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy.

Hsu-Chen was most recently the Manhattan Borough Director for DCP.

In their new roles, both will oversee and implement the mayor’s development agenda, promoting inclusive, equitable growth throughout the five boroughs and putting the city on a path toward robust recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both will report to Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer.

“Dan Garodnick and Edith Hsu-Chen are tremendously talented public servants with a proven track record of advocating for working people,” said Mayor Adams. “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.”

“I am honored to join Mayor Adams as we plan for a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable future at this critical moment for New York City. Together, we will work with communities to foster inclusive growth, while welcoming innovation to create meaningful economic opportunities across the five boroughs,” said incoming City Planning Commission Chair Dan Garodnick.

“I am incredibly honored to be named Executive Director for the Department of City Planning. I have spent my career at DCP – a community where extraordinary professionals work side by side with the public to help build New York City’s brightest future. I am thrilled to work alongside incoming City Planning Commissioner Dan Garodnick, and I thank him, Deputy Mayor Torres-Springer, and Mayor Adams for the faith they have placed in me and for the service to this city we will forge in the coming years,” said incoming Department of City Planning Executive Director Edith Hsu Chen.

“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,” said Deputy Mayor for Economic and Workforce Development Maria Torres-Springer.

Daniel R. Garodnick

Dan Garodnick currently serves as 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.

Representing the East Side of Manhattan in the City Council, Dan Garodnick was known as one of New York’s most independent voices and effective legislators.

He chaired the Planning and Economic Development Committees and served as a member of the Land Use Committee.

Prior to his public service, Garodnick was a litigator at the New York law firm of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP. He has a B.A. from Dartmouth College, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He lives with his wife Zoe, and two young sons, Asher and Devin, in Manhattan.

Edith Hsu-Chen

Edith Hsu-Chen currently serves as the Manhattan Director at the New York City Department of City Planning.

She started work at DCP as in intern in 1997 and has held a number of positions in the agency, always focused on improving neighborhoods as great places to live and modernizing New York’s most job-intensive central business districts.

Hsu-Chen, who also served as Deputy Director, has served as Manhattan Director since 2008, under two previous mayors.

Hsu-Chen has a BA in Design of the Environment from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Urban Planning from Harvard University.

Like so many of her fellow New Yorkers, Hsu-Chen is a first-generation immigrant. She was born in Taiwan and emigrated to the United States with her family as a young child.