2007 Annual Luncheon

On May 24, 2007, CHPC hosted its 70th Anniversary Luncheon. Nearly 800 of New York’s real estate, affordable housing, and community development professionals enjoyed the opportunity to network with colleagues and honor some of the leaders in the industry.

This year CHPC, along with Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, instituted the Ibo Balton Community Planner Award. The inaugural recipient was Michael Polo, Director of Queens and Staten Island Planning for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Bill Stallworth, Councilman for Ward Two in Biloxi, Mississippi, and founder of the East Biloxi Coordination and Relief Center, then spoke about the financial and political barriers to recovery on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. Sports legend Tiki Barber introduced the keynote speaker, Cory Booker, mayor of Newark. Assemblyman Vito Lopez received the Roger Starr Public Service Award for his tireless work on behalf of affordable housing, and executive director Drew Becher accepted the Public Service Award on behalf of himself and founder Bette Midler for the New York Restoration Project’s contributions to the quality of life in New York City’s neighborhoods.