In August 2018, City Planning’s Chair Marisa Lago appointed Anita Laremont as the new Executive Director of the Planning Department. Laremont joined the Department as General Counsel in 2014 and has served New York City and State in public positions for over 35 years.
Laremont grew up in Canton, Ohio during the Civil Rights Movement which strongly influenced her views and shaped her desire to use her education and skills toward the public interest. Laremont graduated magna cum laude from Mount Holyoke College in 1976 and went to NYU Law School on a Root Tilden Scholarship, a competitive, full-tuition public interest scholarship.
While at law school, Laremont interned with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund where she worked on an appeal of a capital punishment case. Laremont said that she saw firsthand in this work a “systemic inequity in our legal system.” Laremont had a second internship with the City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. That second internship sparked her interest in neighborhood development and land use that has stayed with her.
Laremont’s first job out of law school was as an associate with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCoy LLP where she found that she most enjoyed the real estate department. After three years Laremont left Milbank for the Empire State Development Corporation.
Over the next 28 years Laremont rose from Senior Counsel to Deputy General Counsel before serving as General Counsel from 1995 to 2010. At Empire State, Laremont worked on several transformative economic development projects, including Battery Park City, Queens West, and the 42nd Street Development Project. Laremont said that working on large projects taught her how to balance different interests while still furthering broader public goals.
At City Planning, Laremont was heavily involved with the drafting of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, the de Blasio Administration’s plan to ensure that the private sector provided affordable housing. Laremont measured the success of the program in two ways. It ensured that permanently affordable housing will be required regardless of market forces. Second, it changed the conversation from if there will be new affordable housing to how much. The public conversation about housing has been advanced with Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, and that was success in itself.
Recently, Laremont worked on the successful completion of the Bay Street Corridor rezoning. Laremont sees this rezoning as an opportunity to create a dynamic corridor in Staten Island’s North Shore with new and affordable housing, jobs, and commercial development, and also ensure that the area will be resilient to climate change. The rezoning affects the St. George, Stapleton, and Tompkinsville neighborhoods of Staten Island. Opposition to the project had focused on increased density and traffic. Laremont, who is a long-time Staten Island resident and previous resident of St. George, said that she understands that many people wish to keep the area largely suburban. At the same time, Laremont said that the availability of the Staten Island Ferry, the Staten Island Railway and multiple bus routes makes the North Shore a prime location for increased density. Adoption of this initiative means each of the five boroughs will have a neighborhood plan with requirements for permanently affordable housing.
Another major project that will enter the public review process at the end of 2019 is the Gowanus rezoning. The rezoning of the area around Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal will address environmental remediation, waterfront access, climate resiliency, mixed-use neighborhoods, affordable housing and job creation. For Laremont, climate resiliency is a key issue and she is proud of the City’s efforts to address climate resiliency in a way that is more advanced than other major cities.
In 2019, Laremont testified before the City Council Charter Revision Commission where she cited three essential ingredients to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure: balance, predictability, and transparency. Laremont in general supported the City’s current allocation of powers, and believed that for a dynamic City like New York a strong executive is necessary to maintain City-wide objectives even when considering local interests.
Laremont enjoys gardening with her husband and is a proud grower of 20 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, scores of orchids and perennials. Laremont is a member of many associations in the City and is especially pleased to serve as the First Vice-Chair and Chair of the Development Committee at Staten Island’s Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Gardens.
By: Viktoriya Gray
“At City Planning, Laremont was heavily involved with the drafting of Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, the de Blasio Administration’s plan to ensure that the private sector provided affordable housing.”
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the various horrfic rezonings past and present.
We observe:
1. City Planners have not been neutered.
2. They have been weaponized.
3. In service of Big Developers.
4. “Disparate Impact” and ethnic cleansing be damned as evidently UPZONING is the policy and outcome of the present.
5. “Laremont enjoys gardening with her husband and is a proud grower of 20 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, scores of orchids and perennials.” but doe snot mind bulldozing poor people’s gardens such as the Nelson Mandela Garden or the soon to be obliterated Elizabeth Street Garden.
6. Urban Planning is class warfare of the rich by oher means.