With the election of Bill Deblasio to mayor of New York City prgressive possibilities could emerge that have been dormant for the past 25 years.  As part of the Brecht Forum's "Re-Imagining the City" series, in this event on creating a vision for a new city charter, particpants will learn about the function of a city charter and be guided by facilitators through a process that will help New Yorkers develop a vision for a new city charter that reflects teh interests of everyday New Yorkers rather than capital. 

Led by Peter Marcuse, Rachel Laforest, and Matt Birkhold, participants in this workshop will develop a vision for what New York's city charter should look like.   They will also develop an understanding of what a city charter does and an understanding of how the city is constituted by the relationships between single issues.

Peter Marcuse is the author of several books and article on urban planning and the right to the city.  He is professor emeritus of urban planning at Columbia University. 

Rachel Laforest is executive director of Right to the City Alliance.  Prior to becoming ED of right to the city, she worked with progressive labor, directing the Organizing and Public Policy departments of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 and Actors Equity Association (AEA).

Matt Birkhold is executive director of the Brecht Forum.  He is also a co-founder of Growing Roots and has long been a member of the national organizing committee of the Boggs Center to Develop Community Leadership in Detroit.

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