Reynoso Received the Lawrence M. Orton Award for Leadership in City and Regional Planning
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New York, NY (October 29, 2025) – Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso’s The 2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn received the Lawrence M. Orton Award for leadership in city and regional planning from the American Planning Association’s New York Metro Chapter’s (APA-NYM). Reynoso accepted the award at APA-NYM’s Annual Chapter Conference at the NYU Kimmel Center in Manhattan.
“I am deeply grateful to the American Planning Association’s New York Metro Chapter (APA-NYM) for honoring Brooklyn’s efforts to push New York City towards comprehensive planning,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “For too long, New York City has defaulted to zoning as our primary mechanism for planning. We cannot afford piecemeal solutions to boroughwide problems. Good planning leads to better cities, and Brooklyn is forging a new path forward to bring New York City’s planning practices up to date. APA-NYM has long been at the forefront of advocating for good planning in New York City, and I sincerely thank them for recognizing these efforts.”
The Lawrence M. Orton Award is given to individuals and projects that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing regional and city planning. It recognizes visionaries who have significantly contributed to shaping cities and regions through innovative planning practices and policies
“On behalf of the American Planning Association’s New York Metropolitan Chapter, I am thrilled to present the Lawrence Orton Award to Borough President Antonio Reynoso and his entire planning team for creating Brooklyn’s first truly comprehensive plan,” said APA-NYM President Paul Onyx Lozito. “What makes this remarkable isn’t just that it’s the first plan to aspire to comprehensive coverage of an entire borough—it’s how they did it. They have built a framework that doesn’t just map Brooklyn’s future but gives communities the tools to envision the borough’s future. This is the kind of collaborative, equity-centered planning that fits into our city and our region’s needs.”
About The 2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn
The 2025 Plan is a roadmap for long-term, equitable growth across the borough. Building on the first Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn, released in 2023, The 2025 Plan offers a deep analysis of existing inequities in the borough as well as an expanded set of policy priorities that outline a blueprint for ensuring every Brooklynite is healthy, housed, and supported. The 2025 Plan guides the Borough President’s land use recommendations and serves as a tool for other elected officials, city agencies, community boards, local organizations, and community advocates fighting for change.
New York City is one of the only major cities in the world that does not have what is known as a Comprehensive Plan. There is no holistic, long-term vision that guides the City’s growth, investments, or how resources are directed. Instead of planning, New York City zones. This incremental, piecemeal approach has contributed to displacement and record-breaking levels of inequality. Today, New York City is home to the world’s highest concentration of millionaires. At the same time, New York City’s poverty rate is twice the national average with a staggering 2 million New Yorkers, or 25% of the city’s population, unable to afford basic necessities. A majority of renters in New York City are rent burdened and over 30% are severely rent burdened, spending more than half of their earnings on rent. New York City public schools remain among the most segregated in the country and more than half of NYC families with children aged four and under cannot afford child-care. All of these inequities are interconnected and compound upon themselves, yet they are often treated individually in the absence of comprehensive planning.
You can learn more about the Borough President’s 2025 Comprehensive Plan for Brooklyn by visiting our website at www.brooklynbp.nyc.gov/the-comprehensive-plan-for-brooklyn/
