What is asylum?

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What is asylum?

Education Rights for Families

Technical Assistance

Education Rights for Families

If You Can Make It Here...

Urban Investigations

If You Can Make It Here...

Get Support in Housing Court

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Get Support in Housing Court

The Water Underground

Urban Investigations

The Water Underground

Welcome to Health Care!

Making Policy Public

Welcome to Health Care!

Former Board Members

Kofi Aidoo (In Memoriam)

Kofi Aidoo (In Memoriam)

In 2019 we were heartbroken to learn of the sudden passing of our Board Member and dear friend, Kofi Aidoo. Kofi had a ... more

Kofi Aidoo (In Memoriam)

In 2019 we were heartbroken to learn of the sudden passing of our Board Member and dear friend, Kofi Aidoo. Kofi had a passion for community engaged design and helped make CUP stronger through his service. His kind words, thoughtful remarks, seemingly boundless energy, and profound sense of joy lifted all of our spirits. We are grateful to have known Kofi and will continue to honor his memory in our work. Rest in power, Kofi.

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Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson, one of CUP’s co-founders, is an architectural designer in New York City. Originally from Seattle, ... more

Jason Anderson

Jason Anderson, one of CUP’s co-founders, is an architectural designer in New York City. Originally from Seattle, Jason has worked and taught in New York and Beijing, where he lived for four years after being awarded the Henry Luce Scholarship in 2005. Jason holds a Master of Architecture from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University. Jason served on CUP’s board and as Treasurer from 1997-2006. He continues to be a supporter and a huge fan.

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AJ Blandford

AJ Blandford

AJ Blandford is a former co-founding CUP board member. As a designer/builder she has worked together with artists including ... more

AJ Blandford

AJ Blandford is a former co-founding CUP board member. As a designer/builder she has worked together with artists including robbinschilds,
AL Steiner, Fritz Haeg, Shannon Ebner, Manfred Pernice, and Davide Balula. She is currently a doctoral student in the History program at
Rutgers University where she studies the cultural history of 19th century American arts and sciences.

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Joshua Breitbart

Joshua Breitbart

Joshua Breitbart is the Director of Field Operations for the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute. ... more

Joshua Breitbart

Joshua Breitbart is the Director of Field Operations for the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute. Through participatory media, collaborative design, and open source tools, OTI and its partners are building an Internet that people can shape to meet their needs and dreams. In his job, Josh uses the lessons he has learned as a founding board member of CUP and as a collaborator on projects like “The Internet is Serious Business” and “What the Cell?"

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Stella Bugbee

Stella Bugbee

Stella Bugbee is a creative director specializing in identity and publication design. Studio projects might range from ... more

Stella Bugbee

Stella Bugbee is a creative director specializing in identity and publication design. Studio projects might range from logos, web sites and books, to self-published projects and collaborations. In addition to running her studio she teaches Advanced Publication Design to seniors in the degree program at Parsons School of Design. Prior to founding a company of her own in the summer of 2005, Stella founded Honest with Cary Murnion and Jon Milott while the three were attending Parsons School of Design. After five years at Honest, she left to work for The New York Times Magazine and then went on to be a Design Director with the Brand Integration Group at Ogilvy and Mather.

Stella’s work has been featured in Print, Res, How, Step, Black Book, Nylon and Eye. Stella Bugbee has worked on Building Codes, Important Housing Rights, and Code City. 

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Sarah Dadush

Sarah Dadush

Sarah Dadush, a CUP co-founder, is a lawyer currently serving as legal counsel at the International Fund for Agricultural ... more

Sarah Dadush

Sarah Dadush, a CUP co-founder, is a lawyer currently serving as legal counsel at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, Italy. She is also a member of the Rome-based faculty of Loyola University Chicago, where she teaches a class on the Architecture of International Development. Her research explores the legal, economic, and political dimensions of marketizing philanthropy and the growing field of social investing.

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Laura Hansen

Laura Hansen

Laura Hansen is the Executive Director of Neighborhood Plaza Partnership, a new initiative of the Horticultural Society of ... more

Laura Hansen

Laura Hansen is the Executive Director of Neighborhood Plaza Partnership, a new initiative of the Horticultural Society of New York, providing resources and assistance to  neighborhood plaza managers across New York City.  From 2003 to 2013, Ms. Hansen served as Director of the City Life Program for The J. M. Kaplan Fund where she was responsible for awarding grants to non-profit organizations working to improve the common infrastructure of public life:  the parks, waterfronts, plazas, and streets of New York City.  As a co-founder of Place Matters (a project of the Municipal Art Society and City Lore), Ms. Hansen helped pioneer a multi-disciplinary approach to documenting and preserving the city’s cultural landscape.

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Julie Hertzog

Julie Hertzog

Julie Hertzog is Executive Director of the Affordable Housing Investors Council, an association of companies that invest in ... more

Julie Hertzog

Julie Hertzog is Executive Director of the Affordable Housing Investors Council, an association of companies that invest in the US housing tax credit.  Prior to joining AHIC, she was Chief Operating Officer for Seedco; Amnesty International of the USA; and The After-School Corporation.  She also served as Program Director for the New York City office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, overseeing $100 million in annual investments in community development projects and the asset management of over $850 million in investments in affordable housing.  Julie joined the Board of CUP in 2010 and became Treasurer in 2011.

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Mike  Hickey

Mike Hickey

Michael Hickey currently serves as Director of Strategy and Partnerships for the NYC Office of Community Schools, an ... more

Mike Hickey

Michael Hickey currently serves as Director of Strategy and Partnerships for the NYC Office of Community Schools, an initiative to address poverty and inequity in public education by embedding non-profit social services in schools.  Prior to this, Mike consulted as Man About Town for nonprofit, foundation, public sector and private partners in project development, strategic planning, and organizational change.  From 2008 to 2011 he served as the founding executive director of the Center for NYC Neighborhoods (CNYCN):  the nation’s single largest foreclosure prevention intermediary.  Before stepping up to lead CNYCN, Mr. Hickey spent ten years as a community development banker and philanthropic program manager with Deutsche Bank, providing loans and investments to leading non-profit partners revitalizing low and moderate income communities throughout New York City and beyond. 

Mike has served on many boards and advisory committees over the years, and currently acts as board chair and Resident Composer for Downtown Art, and as board Treasurer for Civic Consulting USA. Mike has a B.A degree in English Literature from Ohio University and a Masters of Science in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

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Anisa Keith

Anisa Keith

Anisa Keith is a Managing Director at BRP Companies, which specializes in green, urban, multi-family housing in the NY ... more

Anisa Keith

Anisa Keith is a Managing Director at BRP Companies, which specializes in green, urban, multi-family housing in the NY Tri-State area. In this capacity she is responsible for the development and expansion of BRP’s relationships with institutional investors. She joined the firm from Mumbai-based Khambatta Securities where she was Head of Global Sales for the firm’s Institutional Brokerage Group and worked on placements of real estate investment vehicles for the Tata Group (India’s largest conglomerate). She has 15 years of experience in the financial services sector, mainly as an analyst and sector fund manager with the $400 billion pension and insurance company, TIAA-CREF. Ms. Keith has held CFO and COO roles at two NY-based service companies, for one of which she also directed new business activities, including an expansion into the Mid-East/Gulf region. Additionally, as an independent consultant, she has provided advisory services to financial companies. Ms. Keith started her professional career as an analyst at Booz Allen and Hamilton.

Ms. Keith received her MBA from Columbia Business School in New York City and her Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

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Aaron Koffman

Aaron Koffman

Aaron Koffman leads The Hudson Companies’ affordable housing pipeline and portfolio. Aaron relishes the challenge of ... more

Aaron Koffman

Aaron Koffman leads The Hudson Companies’ affordable housing pipeline and portfolio. Aaron relishes the challenge of putting Hudson’s best feet forward on public and private competitions for development sites and building lasting partnerships with public, private and non-profit organizations. Aaron is continually inspired by his Hudson colleagues and loves working to bring transformative mixed-use developments like La Central, The Peninsula, BEC II and Greenpoint Hospital to reality. Aaron is a New York State Volunteer Firefighter who earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from UC Berkeley and his Master of City Planning from MIT. Aaron also serves on the NYC Waterfront Management Advisory Board as well as the Board of the NYU Furman Center, Coro New York, and the Center for Urban Pedagogy. He remains a diehard Los Angeles Lakers and Angels fan.

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Faizah Malik

Faizah Malik

Faizah Malik is an attorney and social justice advocate. The daughter of South Asian Muslim immigrants, Faizah grew up in ... more

Faizah Malik

Faizah Malik is an attorney and social justice advocate. The daughter of South Asian Muslim immigrants, Faizah grew up in Southern California and went to school in New England and the Midwest before settling in Brooklyn. Currently, she is Legislative Counsel at the New York City Council where she works on public housing and housing-related policy and legislation. Prior to joining the City Council, she was Counsel and Manager of Special Projects at Single Stop USA, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping people access the safety net. Faizah has also worked at at the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, and the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan. She is a member of the Council of Urban Professionals and the Muslim Bar Association of New York. Faizah graduated from Brown University and the University of Michigan Law School, where she received the Jane L. Mixer Memorial Award for her contributions to advancing the cause of social justice. 

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Sam Marks

Sam Marks

Sam Marks was born and raised in New York City. After graduating from Brown University, Sam founded Summerbridge at The ... more

Sam Marks

Sam Marks was born and raised in New York City. After graduating from Brown University, Sam founded Summerbridge at The Town School, an educational enrichment program for motivated NYC public school students (now called Breakthrough New York). He received a Masters in Public Policy & Urban Planning from the Harvard Kennedy School and then entered the community development field, working at WHEDCo in the South Bronx and at the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation. He is currently the executive director of LISC New York City. He joined CUP’s board in 2011.

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Suzanne Menghraj

Suzanne Menghraj

Suzanne Menghraj teaches writing in NYU’s Liberal Studies Program, where her courses emphasize the imaginative ... more

Suzanne Menghraj

Suzanne Menghraj teaches writing in NYU’s Liberal Studies Program, where her courses emphasize the imaginative possibilities of critical reading and writing. Prior to joining NYU’s faculty, Suzanne taught at Columbia University, and served as director of its Writing Center, as well as assistant director of its Undergraduate Writing Program. She has also worked for the Vera Institute of Justice, where her research focused on reentry programs for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated parents. Suzanne is a contributing writer for Guernica and is at work on a book of essays on art, as well as experimental translations of French interventionist criticism. She served on CUP’s board from 2008-2009. 

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Damon Rich

Damon Rich

Damon Rich is a designer, artist, and the founder of CUP. In his exhibitions, graphic works, and events, sometimes produced ... more

Damon Rich

Damon Rich is a designer, artist, and the founder of CUP. In his exhibitions, graphic works, and events, sometimes produced in collaboration with young people and community-based organizations, Rich creates fantastical spaces for imagining the physical and social transformation of the world. His work represented the United States at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale, and has been exhibited at PS 1 Contemporary Art Center, Storefront for Art and Architecture, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Netherlands Architecture Institute. In 1997, he founded CUP, and was Executive Director for 10 years. Damon currently serves as the Urban Designer for the City of Newark, New Jersey, where he leads design efforts with public and private actors to improve the city’s public spaces.

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Kate Rubin

Kate Rubin

Kate Rubin is Director of Policy & Community Development at The Bronx Defenders, a holistic public defender office in ... more

Kate Rubin

Kate Rubin is Director of Policy & Community Development at The Bronx Defenders, a holistic public defender office in the South Bronx.  She leads the office’s legislative and administrative advocacy activities and partnerships with community based organizations. She also manages Reentry Net/NY, an online resource center that helps individuals and advocates navigate the consequences of arrest, criminal convictions, and incarceration.  Kate’s prior experience is in education and supporting grassroots organizing campaigns that fight for criminal justice reform and accountable in economic development.  She holds a BA in history from Cornell University and served on the board of CUP from 2006 to 2012.

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Victoria Shire

Victoria Shire

Victoria Shire has over 20 years of experience mobilizing public, private and philanthropic investments to advance ... more

Victoria Shire

Victoria Shire has over 20 years of experience mobilizing public, private and philanthropic investments to advance community, neighborhood and organizational development. She is the Chief Program Officer at Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, where she leads and develops programs that reach over 3,000 youth each year. Victoria holds an MPA from Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and a BA in philosophy from Wittenberg University. She lives in Harlem with her husband, daughter, and son, and has never given up on the Chicago Cubs. Victoria joined the CUP board in 2012.

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David Smiley

David Smiley

David Smiley teaches architectural design and urban history at the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and ... more

David Smiley

David Smiley teaches architectural design and urban history at the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. His research and teaching focus on the ways the discipline of architecture overlaps with planning, policy, preservation, finance and community-based initiatives. His book, Pedestrian Modern: American Architecture and Shopping, 1925-1956, (Minnesota, 2013) examines how architects joined modernist design and planning ideas with new programs and scales of retailing. Smiley has organized conferences on the use of public spaces and streets in New York City and has written about malls, urban design and suburban housing. He previously taught at Barnard College were he organized symposia including “Rights of Way” in 2009 and “Moving Toward Utopia” in 2010, at which invited planners, architects, community advocates and public officials examined bikeways and other changes to public space in the NYC. Previous publications include Redressing the Mall: Sprawl and Public Space in Suburbia (2002) and Hell’s Kitchen South: Developing Strategies (2001). David is a member and the Chair of CUP’s Board.

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Stacey Sutton

Stacey Sutton

Stacey Sutton is an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, ... more

Stacey Sutton

Stacey Sutton is an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), and the Founding Director of the Community & Capital Action Research Lab (C2ARL). Stacey’s research and teaching engages questions broadly related to social, economic and spatial equity within cities.  More specifically, Stacey examines local economic development concerns, retail landscapes, neighborhood change and community planning processes with a strong New York City focus. Stacey joined the CUP Board in 2011 and hopes to expand the CUP methodology within the academy.

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Althea Wasow

Althea Wasow

Althea Wasow is a filmmaker and a Ph.D. student in Film & Media and Critical Theory at UC Berkeley. ... more

Althea Wasow

Althea Wasow is a filmmaker and a Ph.D. student in Film & Media and Critical Theory at UC Berkeley. Her research focuses on the intersection of media transition, theories of racial difference, and crime. “the wannabe,” a film she wrote and directed, won Best Short at HBO’s New York International Latino Film Festival. Her work also includes “The Whole World Revolved Around Her,” featuring Wangechi Mutu, and has screened at national and international film festivals, the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Queens Museum of Art, and other institutions. Althea has collaborated on documentary films, museum exhibitions, photography books, and multimedia projects including: “For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights” (media researcher & consultant), “An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar” (co-writer & senior editor), "Rikers High" (co-producer), “The Autobiography of Malcolm X Multimedia Study Environment” (assistant editor), “The Innocents” (producer & project editor), and “The Mark of Cain” (associate producer). Althea is a co-founder of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) and served on its board of directors for nearly ten years.

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Tenants' Rights to Repairs

Making Policy Public

Tenants' Rights to Repairs

Bottled Up

City Studies

Bottled Up

We Own It

Making Policy Public

We Own It

What You Need To Know About ACS

Making Policy Public

What You Need To Know About ACS

Parents' Rights During COVID-19

Technical Assistance

Parents' Rights During COVID-19

Predatory Equity

Making Policy Public

Predatory Equity

Blunt Conversations

Urban Investigations

Blunt Conversations

What Does It Mean To Live In My Own Place?

Making Policy Public

What Does It Mean To Live In My Own Place?