The Manhattan Borough President’s Community Planning Fellowship is designed to engage outstanding second year graduate planning students in public service and enhance the capacity of community boards to undertake planning activities. The following four NYU Wagner students were selected from a pool of applicants to serve as Fellows for the 2006-07 academic year.

Russell Lang helps create urban planning and land use policy initiatives for East Harlem’s Community Board 11. Such research topics include 421-a, Community Benefits Agreements, Randall Island Sport Fields, and the Shabazz Market relocation. Russell analyzes local development proposals that apply to NYC’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.

Samelys Lopez works for Community Board 12, which covers Washington Heights and Inwood. Her major project is surveying businesses along Audubon Avenue to assess the potential impacts of a possible re-zoning from residential to commercial. Samelys is also helping to identify landmarks and points of interest throughout the district.

Eric Goldwyn works at Community Board 1 in Downtown Manhattan. Currently, the Board wants to develop a comprehensive planning process that envisions the district’s future and documents its needs. Eric assists the Community Board by assessing its need for affordable housing, transportation, schools, open space, hospitals, and libraries.

Mike Davis works at Community Board 3, which includes the East Village, Lower East Side and part of Chinatown. He is conducting a rezoning study in the East Village. Mike compiles data on built and allowed Floor Area Ratios, existing uses, building heights, and calculates conformance and compliance rates for re-zoning study area. He will also be doing 3D modeling to show how the proposed rezoning will affect the built environment.