URBAN COLLOQUIUM I FALL 2025
This fall, the MS Design and Urban Ecologies’ Urban Colloquium I explores the urgent need to rethink our relationship to land. It examines how treating land solely as a commodity has failed most communities across the city, showing how concentrated control and rising housing costs have become root causes of the homelessness and housing crisis in New York City. This speaker series will bring together progressive policymakers, land defenders, and community members to share their stories of struggle and resilience. Through these conversations, guest and students will discuss strategies and tactics that challenge existing norms and build a shared vision for the just, inclusive city we all want to live in.
The Demolition of Public Housing with Luana Green and Layla Law-Gisiko
Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 4:00 to 6:40pm
Room 601, New School University Center
63 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
Luana Green, born in Harlem, has dedicated her life to community service. She moved to NYCHA Elliott-Chelsea Houses in 1970 and lived in public housing for over 40 years before purchasing a co-op nearby. Raised by her great-grandmother, she learned the values of faith, family, and community responsibility. In the early 1990s, she co-founded Kids Club, an outreach program offering mentorship, arts, travel, and support services for inner-city youth and families. Luana later served as President of the Chelsea Reform Democratic Club and now sits on the boards of First Fruit Community Outreach, Penn South, and Midtown South Community Council. Through food distributions, youth mentorship, and housing advocacy, she continues to uplift and serve New York communities.
Layla Law-Gisiko is a writer, documentary filmmaker, and civic leader with over 20 years of public service in New York City. A Sorbonne graduate with a Master’s in French literature, she served two decades on Manhattan Community Board 5, chairing its Land Use Committee and guiding major zoning and preservation issues in Midtown. She is President of The City Club of New York and District Leader in Assembly District 75, where she champions transparency, good governance, and equity in city planning. A leading advocate for public housing, Law-Gisiko has worked with tenants, attorneys, and organizers at Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses to challenge NYCHA’s demolition and conversion plans, stressing accountability, fiscal oversight, and housing as a public good.
This lecture is a part of the Urban Colloquium I program Fall 2025.
