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CityAndStateNY.com
October 17, 2016
Where did you go to college? Barnard College, currently at NYU Wagner
If you didn’t work in politics/government, what would you do? I’d travel around the country and consult on regional planning projects.
Eftihia Thomopoulos GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT, NYU FURMAN CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE & URBAN POLICY
Birthday: 3/27
Q
UEENS IS BOOMING, a n d E f t i h i a Thomopoulos wants to b e a pa r t of it. “ I ’m p a r t i c u l a r l y interested in economic development in the outer boroughs,” says the newly minted NYU Wagner urban planning student. “I’m looking for ways to bu ild upon t hat a nd figure out what makes sense for the neighborhood. … I think the BQX is a fascinating project, and all the waterfront development.” A l i felong Q ueen s resident, T h om op o u l o s s p e nt f i ve ye a r s promoting development in her home borough and across New York City with the Association for a Better New York. At ABNY, she partnered with Google and Citi to launch a massive report about the city’s growing tech economy, and even played a role in hosting Vice President Joe Biden’s announcement of the redevelopment of LaGuardia airport. It wasn’t all marquee events, t hough – Thomopoulos says t he hardest part of working at ABNY was the “accumulation of little challenges” that members would bring in every day. Inevitably she would figure out how to leverage the association’s resources and networks to help them. Her involvement with development there led her to the Wagner School of Public Service and a job as a research assistant at the school’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Through it all, she’s keeping an eye on Queens. “I don’t think we’re in a bad place in the outer boroughs, but I think the work that’s being done should be capitalized on and more of it should be done at a faster clip,” she says.