Dan Garodnick, appointed by Mayor Eric Adams, began serving as Director of the New York City Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission in February 2022.
Dan represented the East Side of Manhattan in the New York City Council for 12 years, and was known as one of New York's most independent voices and effective legislators. Garodnick is best known for his skill in negotiating complicated land use matters, such as the rezoning of East Midtown and the Vanderbilt Corridor.
Garodnick also negotiated the largest affordable housing preservation deal in New York City's history – 5,000 middle-class homes in Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village. His book on that subject, Saving Stuyvesant Town, was released in 2021.
Immediately before joining City Planning, Garodnick was President and CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy.
Prior to his public service, Garodnick was a litigator at the law firm of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP. He has a B.A. from Dartmouth College, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He lives with his wife and two sons in Manhattan.