Who We Are
Brooklyn Greenway Initiative Board of Directors
Chair – Andrew Simons
Principal, Emphas!s Design
Vice Chair – Amy E. Turner
Senior Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School
Secretary – Kate Collignon
Partner, HR&A Advisors
Treasurer – Ted Weissberg
Executive Chairman, Digital Marketing Institute
Board Members
Terri Carta, Executive Director, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy
Scott Demel AIA, LEED AP BD+C, CPHD, Marvel
Deborah Flynn, Design Consultant
Paul Gertner, CEO, Starborn Industries
Gordon Hill, Climate Index Quantitative Researcher, Gro Intelligence
Richard B. Miller, Vice President, Regulatory, Consolidated Edison Company of New York
Sumner Pingree, Environmental Consultant
Robert Pirani, Director, NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program Hudson River Foundation
Eric Pitt, Chief Commercial Officer, Emergent Climate
Kati Solomon, Vice President of Operations, Bryant Park Corporation / 34th Street Partnership
Brooklyn Greenway Initiative Staff
Hunter Armstrong, Executive Director
Hunter Armstrong is the Executive Director of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative where he calls on nearly two decades of experience improving public spaces and the public realm in New York City. Most recently, he was Deputy Director of Development and Communications at the Natural Areas Conservancy, a park non profit that stewards New York City’s nature trails program. Previously, he was the executive director of CIVITAS, a community-based planning organization in Manhattan, where he organized multiple environmental and open space programs, and he led an ideas competition to improve the East River Esplanade. He has a masters degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia and a certificate in nonprofit management from Columbia University. When he’s not exploring New York City’s parks and neighborhoods, Hunter enjoys cycling, swimming, and hiking as well as running on the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.
Avvah Rossi, Naval Cemetery Landscape & Horticulture Manager
Avvah works at the Naval Cemetery Landscape with the staff to help maintain the space and its plantings and support visitors' engagement with its biodiversity and ecology. She also works on BGI's stewardship and greening projects along the greenway. She is a horticulturist and ISA-certified arborist with experience from many botanical gardens, public parks and and historical gardens. She enjoys teaching people about plants as part of her work in public gardens: including horticulture, arboriculture, and agriculture practices. She is excited to work with BGI to foster thriving habitat for native plants and community involvement in everything from seed saving to street tree care.
Brian Hedden, Advocacy & Greenway Projects Coordinator
Brian coordinates advocacy & project development for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway and citywide greenway network, liaising with elected officials & greenway leads at government agencies, and coordinating the NYC Greenways Coalition meetings, member outreach, & campaigns. Before joining BGI, Brian was a co-founder of Bike South Brooklyn, where he organized actions that resulted in the largest expansion of bike lanes in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. Brian was born in New York State, and biked from his native Western New York to his home in Brooklyn along the Empire State Trail the first spring after it opened.
Leah Retherford, Naval Cemetery Landscape Gardener
Leah Retherford is a gardener at the Naval Cemetery Landscape and works closely with the NCL team to steward the space and welcome visitors. Prior to joining the BGI team, she worked as the Project Manager at the NYC Compost Project hosted by Big Reuse and before that as the Farm Manager at the Queens County Farm Museum. She began urban gardening in Detroit in 2002 where she cofounded Birdtown Community Garden with Bashir Ali Hakim, and realized putzing in the garden is what she's best at.
Laura Marie Ruocco, Naval Cemetery Landscape Gardener
Laura Marie Ruocco is a gardener at the Naval Cemetery Landscape where she works to steward the land and welcome visitors. Previously, she has worked growing ginseng in the Catskill Mountains, farming organic flowers and vegetables in the Hudson Valley, and maintaining residential native plant gardens. Laura Marie came to gardening through the study of herbal medicine, and works with clients as a clinical herbalist.
Charles Cochran, Communications Manager
Charles Cochran is the Communications Manager at the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, helping promote BGI's mission through digital platforms and community outreach. Previously, Charles worked at the Natural Areas Conservancy and before that at the division of Environment and Planning at NYC Parks, also in a communications role. He holds a master's degree in Environmental Policy from The New School. Charles enjoys swimming, biking, and nurturing his native plant garden.
Support
Jon Orcutt, Advocacy
Jitasa, Bookkeeping and Accounting
Tech4Results, Website and IT Support
NCL Advisory Committee
Anna Bakis
Sarah Kornbluth
Jeffrey Longhenry
Penn Marchael
Andrew Ullman