Rohit Aggarwala
{{Short description|American environmentalist (born 1971)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Rohit Aggarwala
| image = ENX 3241 (40944254083).jpg
| caption = Aggarwala (2019)
| office1 = Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection
| 1blankname1 = Mayor
| 1namedata1 = Eric Adams
| term_start1 = January 31, 2022
| education = Columbia University (BA, MBA, PhD)
Queen’s University (MA)
| termend1 =
| preceded1 = Vincent Sapienza
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|06|18}}
| birth_name = Rohit T. Aggarwala
| birth_place = New York City, NY, U.S.
| residence = New York City
}}
Rohit T. "Rit" Aggarwala{{Cite web|title=Rohit Aggarwala {{!}} Columbia SIPA|url=https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/rohit-aggarwala|access-date=2022-02-04|website=www.sipa.columbia.edu}} is an Indian-American environmental policy adviser, transportation planner, historian, and civil servant who is New York City’s Chief Climate Officer as well as the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.{{Cite web|date=January 31, 2022|title=Mayor Adams Announces Appointments of Climate Leadership Team|url=http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/053-22/mayor-adams-appointments-climate-leadership-team-streamlines-multiple-city|access-date=2022-02-04|website=The official website of the City of New York}}{{Cite web|last=Sommerfeldt|first=Chris|date=2022-02-01|title=NYC Mayor Adams taps ex-Bloomberg aide to lead climate change fight|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-nyc-mayor-eric-adams-rohit-aggarwala-chief-climate-officer-20220131-slhatpkucnc3fjcc6eobjvf3dy-story.html|access-date=2022-02-04|website=nydailynews.com}}
Biography
Aggarwala grew up in White Plains, New York.{{Cite web|last=Butchy|first=Laura|date=January–February 2008|title=Rohit Aggarwala '93 Works To Implement PlaNYC|url=https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/jan_feb08/updates4.html|access-date=2022-02-04|website=www.college.columbia.edu}} 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. He also earned a MA in Canadian history from Queen's University at Kingston. 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.
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.{{Cite web|last1=University|first1=© Stanford|last2=Stanford|last3=California 94305|title=Rohit T. Aggarwala|url=http://sprie.gsb.fsi.stanford.edu/people/rohit_t_aggarwala|access-date=2022-02-04|website=sprie.gsb.fsi.stanford.edu|language=en}}
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.{{Cite web|last=Kim|first=Elizabeth|date=2022-01-31|title=Adams Taps Former Bloomberg Adviser To Head DEP, Lead On Climate Change|url=https://gothamist.com/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Gothamist|language=en}} He also helped author the PlaNYC blueprint, a sustainability plan for the city.{{Cite news|last=Lueck|first=Thomas J.|date=2007-04-23|title=Bloomberg Draws a Blueprint for a Greener City|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/23/nyregion/23mayor.html|access-date=2022-02-04|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|last=Fried|first=Ben|date=2010-04-01|title=PlaNYC Mastermind Rohit Aggarwala Leaving NYC|url=https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2010/04/01/planyc-mastermind-rohit-aggarwala-leaving-nyc/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Streetsblog New York City|language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web|date=2014-03-25|title=RPA Announces Leadership, Advisory Body for Fourth Regional Plan |url=https://rpa.org/latest/news-release/rpa-announces-leadership-advisory-body-for-fourth-regional-plan?token=MwP7ori4yN2_lEQH_OGMvlTEOym0qjR6|access-date=2023-01-14|website=Regional Plan Association |language=en-US}}; {{cite web|date=2017|title=The Fourth Regional Plan: Acknowledgments |url=http://fourthplan.org/about/acknowledgments|access-date=2023-01-14|website=Regional Plan Association |language=en-US}}; 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,{{Cite web|last=Hawkins|first=Andrew J.|date=2016-02-22|title=Sidewalk Labs hires 'dream team' to tackle city design in the self-driving age|url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/2/22/11081968/sidewalk-labs-google-smart-city-product-link-nyc|access-date=2022-02-04|website=The Verge|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Bergen|first=Mark|date=2016-02-22|title=Sidewalk Labs, Google's Company for Cities, Builds Its Inaugural Executive Team|url=https://www.vox.com/2016/2/22/11588096/sidewalk-labs-googles-company-for-cities-builds-its-inaugural|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Vox|language=en}} head of urban systems, and remained a senior advisor.{{Cite web|last=Wray|first=Sarah|date=2022-02-03|title=Urban tech leader appointed as NYC's Chief Climate Officer|url=https://cities-today.com/urban-tech-leader-appointed-as-nycs-chief-climate-officer/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Cities Today|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|last=Gibson|first=Eleanor|date=2018-06-04|title="It takes 40 or 50 years to update an industrial landscape. We want to speed that up," says Sidewalk Labs urban planner|url=https://www.dezeen.com/2018/06/04/alphabet-sidewalk-labs-toronto-future-city-interview-rohit-aggarwala/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Dezeen|language=en}} For his role at Sidewalk Labs, he was named one of the "Politico 50" by the eponymous magazine in 2018.{{Cite web|title=Rohit Aggarwala - POLITICO 50 2018|url=https://www.politico.com/interactives/2018/politico50/rohit-aggarwala/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=POLITICO}} 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.{{Cite news|last=O’Kane|first=Josh|date=2021-12-16|title=Sidewalk Labs disbanding and CEO discloses likely ALS, 19 months after abandoning Toronto urban-tech project|language=en-CA|work=The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-sidewalk-labs-disbanding-and-ceo-discloses-likely-als-19-months-after/|access-date=2022-02-04}}{{Cite news|last=O’Kane|first=Josh|date=2020-05-07|title=Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs abandons Toronto smart-city project|language=en-CA|work=The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/technology/article-google-affiliate-sidewalk-labs-abandons-toronto-smart-city-project/|access-date=2022-02-04}}{{Cite web|last=Behar|first=Rose|date=2018-03-20|title=Sidewalk Labs' Rohit Aggarwala on building Toronto's first smart neighbourhood|url=https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/03/20/sidewalk-labs-rohit-aggarwala-toronto-first-smart-neighbourhood/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=MobileSyrup|language=en}}
In 2020, he was named Senior Urban Tech Fellow at Cornell Tech.{{Cite web|date=2020-12-15|title=Cornell Tech - Rohit T. Aggarwala Joins Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute's Urban Tech Hub|url=https://tech.cornell.edu/news/rohit-t-aggarwala-joins-jacobs-technion-cornell-institutes-urban-tech-hub/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Cornell Tech|language=en}} 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.{{Cite news|last=Barron|first=James|date=2022-01-21|title=A First Payday for a Mayor, and for Cryptocurrency|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/nyregion/a-first-payday-for-a-mayor-and-for-cryptocurrency.html|access-date=2022-02-04|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|title=Rebooting NYC – Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech|url=https://urban.tech.cornell.edu/rebooting-nyc/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=urban.tech.cornell.edu}}{{Cite web|title=Cornell urban tech hub updates proposals for 'rebooting' NYC|url=https://www.smartcitiesworld.net/regulation/regulation/cornell-urban-tech-hub-updates-proposals-for-rebooting-nyc|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Smart Cities World|language=En}} He is also an adjunct associate professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, where he teaches urban policy.
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.
See also
References
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{{Eric Adams cabinet}}
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Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni
Category:Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Category:Columbia Business School alumni
Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni
Category:Commissioners in New York City