Samuel Turvey, Chairperson 

Samuel Turvey is a long time community activist and Board member in the Not for Profit Community. He recently retired from TIAA where he served as a Managing Director in the firm's legal department. Sam continues to provide consulting services to the Financial Services Industry.  

Sam was a founding member of the East Village Parks Conservancy, a founding member and producer of New York's Charlie Parker Jazz Festival ('93 to '02) and presently a board member of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and the John Noble Maritime Collection on Staten Island.

Parenthetically, advocacy came to Sam early. As a grammar school student during the '60’s, Sam participated in protests and rallies to save Staten Island's Greenbelt, including High Rock, from expressways Robert Moses hoped to link to the newly opened Verrazano Narrows Bridge. That effort was successful. 

Sam majored in Urban Studies at Fordham University and also graduated from Fordham's Law School where he served as an Associate Editor of the Law School's Urban Law Journal.  

Sam is a native of Staten Island and has lived and worked in each of New York City's  five boroughs. He also has commuted at one point or another from Westchester,  Fairfield, Essex, Morris and Monmouth Counties.

Jim Venturi, Vice-Chairperson 

Jim Venturi is the Founder and Prin­ci­pal Designer of ReThink Studio and ReThinkNYC.  Through his expe­ri­ences in infor­ma­tion tech­nol­ogy, plan­ning, and archi­tec­ture, Venturi focuses on solv­ing the infra­struc­tural, social and eco­nomic chal­lenges of trans­porta­tion  plan­ning. 

This holis­tic approach is reflected in both his work at ReThink Studio and his past work as a net­work archi­tect, bridg­ing ana­lyt­i­cal and cre­ative assets by build­ing early tech­nol­ogy net­works and devel­op­ing soft­ware. Since the launch of ReThinkNYC in  2014, Jim has been recognized as a thought-leader in the fields of transportation  planning, innovative design, and entrepreneurship. 

Venturi’s work expe­ri­ence in archi­tec­ture and urban plan­ning comes from work­ing with archi­tects in his early career and teach­ing archi­tec­ture stu­dents CAD soft­ware at Parsons School of Design. He gained fur­ther expe­ri­ence more recently from the produc­tion of Bob and Denise, a fea­ture film in post-pro­duc­tion about the renowned architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. 

Venturi is the 2015 recip­i­ent of the James Parks Morton Promise for the Future Award,  which was given in part to rec­og­nize the ReThinkNYC project.

Richard W. Cameron, Architectural Advisor 

Richard W. Cameron is Lead Architectural Designer and Advisor to ReThink Penn Station NYC, and is a member of its Board of Directors. He is the founder and principal designer at New York firm RWC Atelier and Co. The firm has been responsible for the design of major institutional and commercial projects as well as some of the largest residential projects around the country. He is renowned for his skill as a draftsman and architectural artist.

Richard has been passionately focused on the problem of Pennslyvania Station since 1993 and was the originator of the idea that the original Penn Station—designed by Charles McKim, which opened in 1910 and was demolished from 1963-1967—be rebuilt. He has appeared on the Brian Lehrer television program and Metro Focus with Raphael Pi Roman and given many public talks in recent years to discuss the proposal, the global precedents for similar reconstructions and the possibilities for an enhanced design of modernized station based on the original.

Richard holds degrees in architecture from the University of Toronto and Princeton University. One of the co-founders of the Insitute of Classical Architecture and Art, he has been at the forefront of the revival of the teaching of classical architecture and design, and advocating for its return to public buildings, He also serves on the board of directors of the Grand Central Atelier, a New York City art school dedicated to the revival of traditional figurative art.

His work has appeared in Architectural Digest, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications. He is the recipient of the Arthur Ross Award and Standford White Awards from the Insitute of Classical Architecture and Art, a lifetime achievement award from the Classic Planning Institure, well as an award from the Royal Oak Foundation for his work as a designer and educator.

Cezar Nicolescu, Architectural Advisor and Urban Designer 

Cezar Nicolescu joined ReThink Studio as a Senior Urban Designer with demonstrated expertise in mobility planning, animation design, and art history. As an architectural  designer, Cezar previously worked at Gachot Studios in New York, and Kilo Architectures in France and Morocco. He also worked as an archeological surveyor at  the Villa Magna Archeological Excavation in Anagni, Italy. 

Cezar graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with a Bachelor of  Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He also attended the Graduate School of  Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP) at Columbia University where he  earned a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design. Since then, Cezar has continued to take on a varied assortment of research projects at Columbia University.

Damyanti Radheshwar, AIA FIIA LEED AP, Architectural Advisor

Damu is an architect, urban planner, and strategist with experience working on a complex range of building typologies and planning of public spaces.

She served in Manhattan's Community Board 4 from 2008-2012, as co-chair of the Landmarks Committee. As a result, she has an intimate familiarity with the rapidly changing neighborhoods of Chelsea, Clinton, and Hell's Kitchen. During this time, she became aware of the movement to reconstruct original Penn Station. Presently, as a commuter to NYC, she understands the travails of traveling through Penn Station.

During her consultancy as a graduate student at the London School of Economics and Political Science, Damu worked with ReThink NYC on the relocation study of the Sunnyside Railyards. She now advises and consults with ReThink Penn Station NYC's lead architect, Richard Cameron and Cezar Nicolescu. Her focus--environment, equity, and economy, in addition to issues involving adequate and affordable housing and open space.

Richard James, Board Treasurer

Richard James, a graduate of the New York Institute of Technology, has been involved in creative businesses his entire life. A copywriter by trade, Richard began his career at ad agency giant, J. Walter Thompson Co. After a stint at ABC-TV Network, Richard rose-up the ranks of the competitive New York ad agency world to become an owner guiding creative direction on business that included clients: Volvo NA, Coca-Cola, Black & Decker, and others. In the 1990s, Richard exited the industry after the successive sale of two ad agency brands he built from the ground up.

Anthony Salvia, Board Secretary/Special Advisor 

Anthony Salvia has extensive experience in strategic PR and corporate communications, including in a university setting. He served in the U.S. Department of State as Special Advisor to the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs and Acting Director for Congressional Affairs in the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. He also worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the largest broadcaster to the ex-USSR, in Munich and Moscow. He translates books and articles from French, German, Russian and Spanish into English, and makes films and videos, including an (unpublished) documentary about New York’s original Pennsylvania Station, of which he has fond and vivid memories.

Howard Hemsley, Special Advisor, Planning & Communications

Howard Hemsley helps keep ReThink Penn Station NYC’s planning strategy and communications in top shape.

A former NYS Operations Manager for Obama 2008 and delegate to the Denver Convention, Howard is a passionate community organizer with more than 30 years of experience. Howard has spearheaded numerous efforts for the betterment of his Lower East Side neighborhood. Among those he’s most proud of, is that of co-founder of the Lower East Side Girls Club—a guiding force in the lives of young women. An avid jazz fan, Howard Hemsley is also a co-founding member of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival.

Ben Hansen, Technical Support / Social Media Consultant

Ben is a recent graduate of the City College of New York where he studied digital media, specializing in audiovisual technology.

In addition to his recent work with ReThink Penn Station NYC, Ben currently operates as a Publicity Coordinator for Breadhouse Records. He also works on various audiovisual support positions in film, recorded music, live sound, and photography. Projects in which Ben has acted as sound editor and composer have seen release at numerous festivals internationally.