About Us

Vital City seeks to improve civic life by finding great ideas and innovative research and making them available — and understandable — to those who shape urban policy. We also make relevant data accessible to anyone who wants to get a better understanding of how cities work, because we believe an informed citizenry is a crucial pillar of a healthy democracy.

Through a policy journal, special reports, data analysis, public convenings and more, Vital City creates space for a broad range of political perspectives to engage in civil conversation — and to share new ideas and enlightening data about how to promote thriving cities. Our work is motivated by our love for New York City, our belief in the power of evidence and our optimism about the future of cities.

Vital City is underwritten by the Achelis & Bodman Foundation, Arnold Ventures, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, Charles H. Revson Foundation, Teagle Foundation, Tiger Foundation and Tow Foundation, as well as by contributions from individual donors and readers. We are housed at Columbia Law School and the Fund for the City of New York serves as our fiscal sponsor.

Our Team

Elizabeth Glazer is the founder. Most recently, she served as the director of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, where she led the strategy to produce a dramatic reduction in the jail population and to create community-led safety strategies. She previously oversaw the criminal justice agencies in New York State as the governor’s deputy secretary for public safety. She is a former federal prosecutor and clerked for then-U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Greg Berman is the co-editor and the distinguished fellow of practice at the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. He previously helped to create the Center for Justice Innovation and served as its executive director for 18 years. He is the author of six books, including, most recently, “The Nonprofit Crisis: Leadership Through the Culture Wars” (Oxford University Press).

Josh Greenman is Vital City’s managing editor. He was op-ed editor of the New York Daily News from 2006 to 2022, and also served as the paper’s editorial page editor from 2016-2022. Prior to his time at the paper, he worked in political speechwriting and policy in New York City and in Washington, and did communications and strategy work in the nonprofit world. Many years ago when he was funny, he wrote headlines and a couple of fake news stories for The Onion. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughters.

Paul Reeping is the director of research and a dedicated gun violence prevention researcher. Before joining Vital City, Paul served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis, where he conducted in-depth research on political violence and gun-violence-related policies. He earned his Ph.D. in Epidemiology from Columbia University and an M.S. from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Earlier in his career, Paul taught environmental science in Chicago through the Teach for America program, an experience that continues to shape his commitment to public health and safety.

Anthony Esguerra is Vital City’s audience strategy director. He most recently served as head of audience engagement at BenarNews, part of Radio Free Asia, leading audience strategy across markets in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Previously, he was a Southeast Asia reporter for VICE World News, where he covered some of the region’s defining political and social issues. His work has also appeared on Al Jazeera, Rest of World, The Diplomat, the Voice of America, GMA Network, and INQUIRER.net.

Eva Silverman is the editorial production manager for Vital City. Outside of her work for Vital City, she has worked as a fact-checker for publications such as Poetry Magazine and Bookforum and edited and produced a self-published magazine centered on publishing interviews with independent artists and musicians.

Our team also includes:

Jamie Rubin is our senior advisor. He is the chief investment officer of Aligned Climate Capital and chairman of the board of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). He is host of “After Hours with Jamie Rubin: A Vital City Podcast.”

Harry Siegel is a contributing writer. He is a senior editor at the newsroom The City and the executive producer and co-host of the FAQ NYC podcast.

Errol Louis is a contributing writer. He is the political anchor of Spectrum News NY1 where he hosts Inside City Hall, a nightly prime-time show that focuses on New York politics.

Vishaan Chakrabarti is a contributing writer. He is an architect, urbanist and author based in New York City. He is the author of “The Architecture of Urbanity” and other books.

Marcos Soler is a contributor. He is the executive director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law at the University of Pennsylvania, and he previously served as deputy secretary for public safety for the New York governor.

What People Are Saying

A really cool new publication.

Christopher Hayes

MS NOW

An exciting new magazine on cities and urbanism.

Richard Florida

Urbanist

A model for a new type of examination of civic life.

Jelani Cobb

Dean, Columbia School of Journalism

The crime nerds’ New Yorker.

Thomas Abt

Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Prevention

Really great collection of articles on evidence-based policy and its perils.

Matthew Yglesias

Slow Boring

Must-read.

Scott Decker

Criminologist

By far the best journal out there for anyone interested in urban issues.

Peter Moskos

Professor, John Jay College

One of the things I love about Vital City is its ability to give space to sharp, well-articulated argument that’s backed up with data that can even move a hack like me on an issue.

Patrick Gaspard

Former president of the Center for American Progress and former executive director of the Democratic National Committee

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