Walk Bike LI Summit: Meet the Panelists
While the coronavirus contagion recedes, the “epidemic” of pedestrian injury/death on Long Island streets is getting worse.
On Thursday, June 8, Walk Safe Long Island will host its first Walk Bike LI Summit at Farmingdale State College. An expert panel of traffic safety professionals, advocates, and engineers will respond to our keynote speaker and other thought-provoking questions related to safety surrounding walking and biking on Long Island.
Panelists will touch on the proliferation of micromobility devices like e-bikes, laws and regulations surrounding active transportation on Long Island, and how we can more safely share our streets to ensure safety for all road users.
Meet our keynote speaker and additional panelists:
Keynote Speaker: Diana Alati, Families for Safe Streets Advocate
Diana Alati works closely with Families for Safe Streets, confronting traffic violence head on through advocacy here on Long Island and in Albany. Diana's 13-year-old son Andrew was struck and killed in Levittown while riding home on his bike in 2019. Hear Diana’s story and learn more about the vital work she does to improve road safety for all on June 8 at the Summit.
Paul Steely White, Executive Director, Parks & Trails New York
Paul Steely White is the executive director of Parks and Trails New York, a non-profit membership organization that strives to make park and greenway trail experiences part of our everyday lives. Paul has devoted his career to improving bicycling, walking and public transit. While executive director of Transportation Alternatives from 2004 - 2018, he grew New York City’s network of greenways and bike paths and led campaigns to reclaim city parks from automobile traffic. For this work he received (with co-awardee Janette Sadik-Khan) the Rockefeller Foundation’s Jane Jacobs Medal, which recognizes those whose creative uses of the urban environment build a more diverse, dynamic, and equitable city. In 2015, Paul was recognized by the New York Academy of Medicine for his work to make streets safer and healthier. In addition to his work at Parks and Trails New York, Paul currently serves as board president of the New York-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, a global organization that works for healthier and more equitable transportation systems in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the US. Learn more about Paul here.
Daniel Flanzig, Esq., Flanzig & Flanzig, LLP; Board of Directors, New York Bicycling Coalition
Daniel Flanzig is an accomplished Trial Lawyer as well as an avid cyclist, runner, and competitive Triathlete. Mr. Flanzig is the founder and Chair Person of the New York State Trial Lawyers Bicycle Ligation Sub-Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors and legal advisor to the New York Bicycling Coalition, the State's leading bicycle advocacy group where he chairs the Coalitions legislative and advocacy group. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Coalition for Transportation Safety. Taking his advocacy efforts to the most local level, Daniel serves as the Chair of the Sea Cliff Traffic and Safety Committee helping to make his Village a safer place to walk, bike and run. Daniel has been invited by the County of Nassau to represent the interests of cyclists and pedestrians at the Nassau County Traffic and Safety Board where he works with a Coalition of transportation agencies and local law enforcement to implement vision zero policies in the County. Learn more about Dan here and here.
Matthew T. Carmody, PE, RSP1, Vice President, Traffic & Transportation, AKRF, Inc.
Matt Carmody is a Vice President in AKRF’s Traffic and Transportation group with 25 years of experience on Long Island, in New York City, and across New York State. He is a registered Professional Engineer in New York and is a Level 1 Road Safety Professional. He was in the first class of Road Safety Professionals certified by the Transportation Professional Certification Board. He participated in the master plan for Suffolk County’s Countywide Hike Bike project, has developed road safety audit guidelines, managed Safe Routes to School engineering studies, and enjoys leading walk/bike safety talks to facilitate discussion and learn from others. Learn more about Matt here.
Rosemary Mascali, Co-Chair, USGBC-LI Sustainable Transportation Committee; Co-Founder, Let's Move LI Initiative
Rosemary Mascali is an active volunteer for several organizations since her retirement in 2018. She is Co-Chair of the USGBC-LI Sustainable Transportation Committee and Chair of the Education & Outreach Subcommittee of the Drive Electric Long Island electric vehicle coalition. In addition, she volunteers with AARP as Co-Lead of the Town of North Hempstead team and is President of the Plandome Heights Civic Association.
In her role as Co-Chair of the Sustainable Transportation Committee, Rosemary launched Let’s Move LI in 2021, a collaboration among municipalities, schools, businesses, and other organizations to promote active transportation across Long Island including walking and biking, to encourage bike and pedestrian safety education for students, and to support safe walkability and biking infrastructure.
Rosemary also helped launch Drive Electric Long Island, a coalition of electric vehicle stakeholders led by the Long Island Chapter of the US Green Building Council dedicated to accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure on Long Island. Rosemary recently secured a sponsorship from Electrify America for a brand neutral electric vehicle education and outreach campaign for Long Island to educate Long Islanders on the basics and benefits of electric vehicles through Ride and Drives and virtual and in-person “EV 101” events at local libraries, workplaces, and major Long Island public events. Prior to retiring in 2018, Rosemary was Program Manager for Transit Solutions since 2006, a federally funded program of the MTA whose mission is to promote transit ridership to improve the air quality on Long Island and reduce traffic congestion. In this role, Rosemary launched Car Free Day LI, an annual event on September 22 to call attention to transportation alternatives to single occupancy vehicles, and later launched Long Island Mobility Week, a weeklong series of events to showcase sustainable transportation options.
Prior to her advocacy work, Rosemary worked for 17 years at IBM in sales and marketing, rising to Branch Manager of the Long Island branch office, and later launched Quantum Plus, a database marketing division of Rapp Collins, a leading direct marketing advertising agency. Rosemary has a bachelor’s degree in management and computer applications and information systems from the NYU Stern School of Business. Learn more about Rosemary here.
Kazem Oryani, PhD, A.M. ASCE, Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Engineering Technology; Former Manager, Transportation and Emergency Preparedness; Farmingdale State College
Dr. Kazem Oryani is an Adjunct Assistant Professor within Farmingdale State College’s School of Engineering Technology, teaching students about intelligent transportation systems, transportation planning and engineering, traffic flow theory, and more. Dr. Oryani also specializes in toll road modeling, travel demand-transit analysis, and transportation/land use interaction, and he puts this expertise to work as a consultant. At FSC, he previously served as Manager of Transportation and Emergency Preparedness, and he was a consultant for a feasibility study of the college’s Infrastructure, Transportation, and Security Center (ITSC).
You don’t want to miss this opportunity to hear our keynote speaker and panelists' insights on pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist safety on Long Island’s roadways. Click here to register.
Questions? Email lihc@nshc.org or call 631-963-4167.