Raju Mann, The BPCA’s New Pres., Plans on Charting The Future of Lower Manhattan

Raju Mann, the Battery Park City Authority’s new President and Chief Executive, told Our Town Downtown that growing up “in and around New York City” means that it’s a place that he “cares a lot about.” That’s why he finds his job at the BPCA, which he describes as “getting people together to chart the future of a place,” so promising.

After all, Mann will shepherd the public corporation’s massive Resiliency Action Plan into existence, and in doing so he says the BPCA will “protect Lower Manhattan from climate change and sea-level rise.” He said he believes that will “create a better place, better parks and better neighborhoods in the process.”

He added that in a “very big and overwhelming” metropolis, the 92-acre Battery Park City feels like a “very tight-knit community.” It’s essentially a “high-rise village,” he said, and it’s nice “to be a part of that village.”

The aforementioned Resiliency Action Plan is essentially a vast undertaking to fortify the BPCA’s shore against future climate disasters. A southern portion of the project, which involves what the BPCA deems a “flood coastal flood risk management system,” is currently being constructed. The northern and western portion of the project is in the design stage.

Part of being the designated head of a village, of course, means listening to village stakeholders. “It’s really important to have as many voices at the table as possible” when it comes to initiatives such as the Resiliency Action Plan, Mann observed.

Sometimes community meetings are “a time-consuming process, and a challenging process, but there’s no way around it in NYC. It makes projects better,” he said.

“With the climate change adaptation work, there’s a sort of ongoing public education process here, where New Yorkers need to understand why we’re doing this projects. They need to get it. That’s part of our job. Engagement is not just ‘here’s what we’re up to,’ but it’s really explaining what the risks [of climate change] are in the long-term,” he elaborated.

The construction of affordable housing is also integral to the BCPA’s goals, even though it involves overcoming some trickier hurdles. There are two strategies on this front that Mann wants to highlight.

The first advantage the BPCA has is that it owns Battery Park’s land, “and has long-term leases with buildings that sit on the land.” This means that during “lease discussions,” the BPCA ”looks for every opportunity we can to increase” affordable supply. Sometimes it’s a “modest” increase, Mann concedes.

The more “impactful bit,” he notes, is the BPCA using “excess proceeds that are generated from our ground rent” to contribute to “affordable housing citywide.” This is likely a reference to the Joint-Purpose Fund, which directs millions in pooled proceeds towards the city’s Housing Development Corporation. The HDC uses this money as gap funding for affordable housing programs that apply to all NYC residents.

Prior to arriving at his leadership role at the BPCA, Mann was involved in urban planning projects in both the public and private sectors. He had a notable stint at the design firm Arup, where he served as an Associate Principal and as the City Planning Leader for the East Coast. He was also the New York City Council’s Director of Land Use from 2014 to 2022.

As much as he’s focused on the transformation of Lower Manhattan, Mann also has an eye on Battery Park City’s present. He promises that the BPCA will “continue to provide the highest quality parks, open space, and programming to our residents and visitors. We don’t miss a beat there.”