Senior Environmental Planner Division of Building and Land Development Services

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) oversees housing standards across all 3.7 million homes in New York City.

As the nation’s largest municipal housing agency, HPD is responsible for building and preserving affordable housing, protecting tenants from harassment and displacement, and holding landlords accountable across the five boroughs. Under Commissioner Dina Levy and the Mamdani Administration, HPD is pursuing an ambitious housing agenda focused on the needs of New York’s tenants. With a broad set of tools including standards enforcement, tenant resources, and the creation of new affordable housing, HPD is committed to making New York City a more affordable place for renters and homeowners alike.

The Office of Development (OOD) leads the agency’s effort to create and preserve affordable housing in collaboration with other HPD offices as well as other city, state and federal agencies. The OOD is comprised of eight divisions that administer a range of programs. These divisions include New Construction Finance, Special Needs Housing, Housing Incentives, Building and Land Development Services (BLDS), Home ownership Opportunities and Preservation, Preservation Finance, Portfolio Management and Conversions, and Compliance and Enforcement.

The Division of Building and Land Development Services leads the agency’s effort in providing architectural, engineering, cost valuation, environmental planning, and construction support services to the various divisions within OOD. The Office of Development utilizes a public-private partnership model and provides loans, grants and/or incentives to assist in the finance of housing development projects that will benefit low- and moderate-income New Yorkers.

The Division of Building and Land Development Services is the largest division within the Office of Development with over 100 staff composed of seven units which include: the Bureau of New Construction Design Review Services, the Bureau of Preservation Design Review Services, the Bureau of Engineering, the Bureau of Construction Services, Environmental Planning Unit, the Policy Unit, and the Program Management Unit.

As a Senior Environmental Planner, you will work with the Environmental Planning Unit and under the supervision and direction of the Director of Environmental Planning to conduct environmental assessments of new construction and rehabilitation projects in accordance with City, State and Federal environmental regulations, including reviewing site contamination assessment and investigation reports in order to build and preserve housing that is not only affordable, but also healthy and safe.

This position will contribute to the SPEED initiative (Streamlining Procedures to Expedite Equitable Development). The roles hired to advance this initiative aim to reduce timelines for the development of affordable housing through reforming four major phases of the development process: environmental review and planning, pre-development and financing, permitting and approvals, and marketing and lease-up.

The ideal candidate should have a Bachelor, or Graduate Degree in Urban or Environmental Planning, Environmental Studies or Environmental Science are strongly preferred. S/he should be able to negotiate with diverse technical specialists and apply sound judgment in technical matters.

• Assist the Deputy Director and Director to prepare and review federal environmental assessments, pursuant to the regulations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), with particular focus on U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) environmental reviews.
• Assist the Deputy Director and Director to prepare CEQR…