A Conversation with Daniel Doctoroff ’80 and Thomas Dyja
We are delighted to offer a conversation between two distinguished experts on New York City – Daniel L. Doctoroff ’80, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding during the Bloomberg administration, and Thomas Dyja, author of the New York, New York, New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess, and Transformation. Both are transplanted Midwesterners who have become New Yorkers in their hearts and to the core.
Dan was the leader of, and the indispensable catalyst for, a wholesale reimagining and rebuilding of the City after 9/11 – he compiled an extraordinary portfolio of accomplishment in only six years at City Hall. You can read about Dan and his projects in an August 2023 profile in New York magazine, here. And we’ve compiled a list of highlights from his City Hall tenure, here.
Tom Dyja captures and evaluates it all, and puts it in a broader context. “He looks at the city from all points of view, from that of the poorest outsiders to the Masters of the Universe,” said The New York Times Book Review. “Best of all, he brings to life the volunteers, the everyday New Yorkers, who stepped forward to save their city when it needed them most …. A tour de force, a work of astonishing breadth and depth.”
But this conversation will not be about the past, so much as the present and future for New York City. Registration is required for this free Zoom livestream, which will be held on Thursday, October 26 at 7 p.m. This is a hybrid event, with in-person attendance (at the Desmond-Fish Public Library in Garrison) restricted to Harvard alumni who live in the mid-Hudson region served by our Harvard-Radcliffe Club of the Hudson Valley. Half the seats at the library also are being reserved for the library’s patrons. In-person attendance requires prior registration; walk-ins will not be admitted. We can, however, put you on a waiting list for in-person attendance, if you email us at HRCHVdoctoroff@yahoo.com.
We are very grateful to Dan and Tom for bringing us this remarkable event. We also acknowledge and thank Dan’s brother, Mark Doctoroff ’82, a longstanding member of our Club’s Executive Committee; and Dan’s wife Alisa Robbins Doctoroff ’80. Dan and Alisa met their freshman year, in Ec 10 (did you have a similar experience?).
Collegially yours,
Henrietta W. Lodge ’73
President, Harvard-Radcliffe Club of the Hudson Valley
Daniel L. Doctoroff ’80, former New York City Deputy Mayor, will speak about his experiences as head of economic development for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. From the
High Line to Hudson Yards, and beyond – during Dan’s reign the City was transformed. Dan will give us his thoughts about the City today, and ideas for its future.
Thomas Dyja, author and editor, will lead the discussion from a perfect perch, having devoted seven years to research and write his highlyacclaimed history of the City since
Mayor Koch’s administration. The book, New York, New York, New York, is a “psychedelic express subway ride, from pre-1970s fiscal crisis to post-pandemic,” says Sam Roberts of The New York Times.
A Zoom Livestream – Free – Registration is required Thursday, October 26th at 7 p.m. Click here to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrf-uhqDsvE92mOVp5cM_BL9ZT2hFUIW1s#/registration