Joseph B. Rose

Joseph B. Rose has been engaged in planning and real estate development in the public, private and non-profit sectors for four decades.

As Chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and Director of the City’s Department of City Planning for eight years, Mr. Rose was the public official with primary responsibility for the physical redevelopment of the city. He initiated a broad range of strategic initiatives including extensive rezonings throughout the city which spurred a tripling of the city’s annual housing production. Other major undertakings initiated during his his tenure included the expansion of the city’s business district to the Far West Side and the extension of the #7 Subway line with the concept of funding the project with revenues from future adjacent development; the introduction of mixed-use zoning districts; a comprehensive plan for the preservation of the Broadway Theaters utilizing a new approach to transferrable development rights; the planning and creation of the new Hudson River Park; and the adoption of citywide adult-use regulations. Among the major projects in which Mr. Rose played a central role was the redevelopment of Columbus Circle including the creation of the Time Warner Center with the establishment of the performance complex for Jazz@Lincoln Center and the redesign of the traffic patterns and public spaces of the circle itself.

Before his tenure at City Planning, Mr. Rose worked as Executive Director of Citizens Housing and Planning Council, served three terms as Chairman of Manhattan Community Board #5, and was Special Assistant for Urban Affairs to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Mr. Rose currently serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village of East Hampton and on the Executive Committe of the Flatiron/NoMad Business Improvement District.

As a private sector real estate developer Mr. Rose has partnered in a wide range of office, residential and recreational properties throughout the United States. While General Partner at The Georgetown Company Mr. Rose initiated and led the development of the iconic IAC Building, the waterfront corporate headquarters that catalyzed development in Manhattan’s West Chelsea and was Frank Gehry’s first building in New York City.

Mr. Rose was Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and a Visiting Scholar at NYU’s Robert Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He has lectured at The Harvard Graduate School of Design,The Yale School of Architecture, Princeton University, NYU Law School and The Urban Land Institute. His publications include articles in The Public Interest, The New York Times, The New Republic, The City Journal, and The Journal of the American Planning Association.

Joseph Rose is a graduate of Yale College and did his graduate work in the Department of Government at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.