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Rohit Aggarwala
Aggarwala (2019)
Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection
Assumed office
January 31, 2022
MayorEric Adams
Preceded byVincent Sapienza
Personal details
Born
Rohit T. Aggarwala

(1971-06-18) June 18, 1971 (age 53)
New York City, NY, U.S.
ResidenceNew York City
EducationColumbia University (BA, MBA, PhD)
Queen’s University (MA)

Rohit T. "Rit" Aggarwala[1] is an Indian-American who was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams as New York City’s Chief Climate Officer and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.[2][3]Aggarwala's policy choices on behalf of New York City's Department of Environmental Protection regarding commercial vehicle idling, and its associated health and environmental risks around schools and other areas of New York City, have been the subject of controversy. </ref>"New City Rules Would Give More Idlers A Free Pass". nyc.streetsblog.org. Retrieved 2024-06-16.</ref></ref>"Adjacent Definition Rule (public comments available)". rules.cityofnewyork.us. Retrieved 2024-06-16.</ref> Aggarwala has overseen policy changes by the DEP including a policy of not prosecuting engine idling offenses where commercial truck operators have removed the trucks' license plates. </ref>"City Now Allows Plateless Vehicles to Break Idling Law". Aggarwala has also granted exemptions ("variances") from New York City's idling law to three armored car companies. </ref>"Idling Variance Request Tracker". Aggarwala, a government official, has limited public commentary and access to his own comments through the use of 'blocking' on his @Rit_Aggarwala 'X' account.

Biography

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Aggarwala grew up in White Plains, New York.[4] He received his B.A. in history from Columbia University in 1993, before going on to earn his MPhil, Ph.D. in history as well as an M.B.A., all from Columbia over a span of ten years.[4] He also earned a MA in Canadian history from Queen's University at Kingston.[2] At Columbia, he was a reporter for Columbia Daily Spectator and president of the College Democrats. His advisors included Richard Bushman, Kenneth T. Jackson, and Elizabeth Blackmar.[4]

Aggarwala began his career in Federal Railroad Administration and worked for McKinsey & Company, New York State Assembly, Virginia Railway Express, prior to joining public service.[5]

Aggarwala was tapped by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to create the Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and served as director of the office from 2006 to 2010.[6] He also helped author the PlaNYC blueprint, a sustainability plan for the city.[7][8]

From 2010 to 2015, he worked at Bloomberg Philanthropies, heading its sustainability practice division. He served as Chair, Committee on the Fourth Regional Plan, for the Regional Plan Association from the inception of the process in 2014 until the publication of the Fourth Plan in 2017.[9] He was president of the board of directors of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and was a member of the founding team of Sidewalk Labs, where he served as chief policy officer,[10][11] head of urban systems, and remained a senior advisor.[12][13] For his role at Sidewalk Labs, he was named one of the "Politico 50" by the eponymous magazine in 2018.[14] He led a high-profile smart city-building project in Waterfront Toronto before it was cancelled in May 2020 due to stakeholders' disagreements, privacy concerns, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which also led to his exit from the company.[15][16][17]

In 2020, he was named Senior Urban Tech Fellow at Cornell Tech.[18] He is the lead author of the Rebooting NYC report, published by Cornell Tech in 2022, which proposes urban tech solutions to New York City's biggest challenges.[19][20][21] He is also an adjunct associate professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, where he teaches urban policy.[1]

In January 2022, he was tapped by Mayor Eric Adams to serve as chief climate officer and commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Rohit Aggarwala | Columbia SIPA". www.sipa.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  2. ^ a b c "Mayor Adams Announces Appointments of Climate Leadership Team". The official website of the City of New York. January 31, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  3. ^ Sommerfeldt, Chris. "NYC Mayor Adams taps ex-Bloomberg aide to lead climate change fight". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  4. ^ a b c "Rohit Aggarwala '93 Works To Implement PlaNYC". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  5. ^ University, © Stanford; Stanford; California 94305. "Rohit T. Aggarwala". sprie.gsb.fsi.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Kim, Elizabeth (2022-01-31). "Adams Taps Former Bloomberg Adviser To Head DEP, Lead On Climate Change". Gothamist. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  7. ^ Lueck, Thomas J. (2007-04-23). "Bloomberg Draws a Blueprint for a Greener City". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  8. ^ "PlaNYC Mastermind Rohit Aggarwala Leaving NYC". Streetsblog New York City. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  9. ^ "RPA Announces Leadership, Advisory Body for Fourth Regional Plan". Regional Plan Association. 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2023-01-14.; "The Fourth Regional Plan: Acknowledgments". Regional Plan Association. 2017. Retrieved 2023-01-14.;
  10. ^ Hawkins, Andrew J. (2016-02-22). "Sidewalk Labs hires 'dream team' to tackle city design in the self-driving age". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  11. ^ Bergen, Mark (2016-02-22). "Sidewalk Labs, Google's Company for Cities, Builds Its Inaugural Executive Team". Vox. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  12. ^ "Urban tech leader appointed as NYC's Chief Climate Officer". Cities Today. 2022-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  13. ^ ""It takes 40 or 50 years to update an industrial landscape. We want to speed that up," says Sidewalk Labs urban planner". Dezeen. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  14. ^ "Rohit Aggarwala - POLITICO 50 2018". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  15. ^ O’Kane, Josh (2021-12-16). "Sidewalk Labs disbanding and CEO discloses likely ALS, 19 months after abandoning Toronto urban-tech project". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  16. ^ O’Kane, Josh (2020-05-07). "Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs abandons Toronto smart-city project". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  17. ^ "Sidewalk Labs' Rohit Aggarwala on building Toronto's first smart neighbourhood". MobileSyrup. 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  18. ^ "Cornell Tech - Rohit T. Aggarwala Joins Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute's Urban Tech Hub". Cornell Tech. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  19. ^ Barron, James (2022-01-21). "A First Payday for a Mayor, and for Cryptocurrency". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  20. ^ "Rebooting NYC – Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech". urban.tech.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  21. ^ "Cornell urban tech hub updates proposals for 'rebooting' NYC". Smart Cities World. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
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