Scott M. Stringer, a native New Yorker, has dedicated himself to making Manhattan more affordable, livable…and breathable – preserving the sense of neighborhood for the 1.6 million residents of what is best known as a world capital of culture and commerce.

The foundation for much of the borough president’s work is the change he’s brought to Manhattan’s community boards.  Energizing these formal institutions of neighborhood democracy was a top priority of Stringer’s upon becoming borough president. A new merit selection process, combined with an infusion of badly needed resources – such as dedicating to each board a graduate student from the city’s architecture and planning schools – has served to strengthen the voice of Manhattan’s neighborhoods in debates over city planning.

The impact of this reform is already visible around the borough: A rezoned West Harlem will maintain the neighborhood’s character and increase its stock of affordable housing while benefiting economically from Columbia University’s expansion. New commitments for public schools in the Flatiron district, East Midtown and other neighborhoods are part of a larger plan to add school seats before, not after, high-rise residential towers crowd classrooms with additional students.

Stringer’s community-based approach also has succeeded in accelerating New York’s urban greening effort. The borough president has launched “Go Green” campaigns in three Manhattan neighborhoods – East Harlem, the Lower East Side, and Washington Heights – to improve residents’ health, and to serve as a model for other environmentally neglected neighborhoods. East Harlem now has new farmers’ markets, a growing number of street trees, its own Go Green cookbook, and is looking forward to a stand alone, state-of-the-art asthma treatment center created with the goal of reducing asthma hospitalizations by 50 percent.