Arthur H. Kunz

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Arthur H. Kunz (born June 8, 1934 in Floral Park , Long Island , New York , † June 19, 1993 in Smithtown , Long Island, New York) was an American city ​​planner . As a government planner, he helped direct the development of Long Island as one of the largest suburban areas in the United States.

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Arthur H. Kunz was born on June 8, 1934 in the village of Floral Park on Long Island, New York, and grew up in neighboring Hempstead . At the Virginia Polytechnic Institute , Kunz received his academic training and completed his studies first with a bachelor's degree and then with a master's degree in architecture with a specialization in planning. Early in his career he met Lee Koppelman (* 1928), urban and spatial planner on Long Island, who then became his mentor . From 1969 he appeared as the Suffolk County Planning Department's deputy director . Kunz was also the successor of Koppelman in 1989 in the office of Planning Commissioner (in German roughly planning officer ) of Suffolk County and was parallel to this function also planning coordinator at the Long Island Regional Planning Board , the regional planning committee of Long Island. In his 35-year career, Kunz also appeared as chief planner in neighboring Nassau County from 1958 to 1969 .

He was considered an expert in various matters and issues, such as duck farms , property tax , birth rates , property on the north shore of Long Iceland , multiplex cinemas , water supply , golf courses , real estate prices , sewers , hurricane patterns , automobile ownership and shopping malls . Kunz was active under republican and democratic governments in both counties and thus achieved the reputation of an independent expert; even if the politicians did not always obey his advice. His recommendations for more public housing and private housing creation were considered unpopular recommendations for politicians. When the population in the two counties had grown to almost three million inhabitants, Kunz was looking for a way to reconcile the development pressure with the need to preserve and maintain environmental protection. He analyzed economic, population, environmental, transport and housing trends and helped formulate government broadcasts. In the winter before his death, he assessed the severe erosion on the beaches of Long Island, with which the region has always struggled. Kunz refused to spend public money on the maintenance of buildings and land in the risk areas on the coast, as he was of the opinion that the ongoing erosion could not be stopped anyway and that the buildings should not be there anyway.

On June 19, 1993, Kunz died at the age of 59 in a hospital in Smithtown on Long Island of complications after a kidney transplant . About six weeks earlier he had received a donor kidney from his daughter and, while he was recovering from the transplant, suffered a heart attack, which he subsequently succumbed to in said hospital. He left his mother Lydia Juckes, his wife Sharon Kunz (nee White), with whom he was married for almost 35 years, the Scott Kunz and the daughter Tracey Femminella, as well as his sister Linda Ann Kunz.

In memory of Arthur H. Kunz, the Arthur H. Kunz Memorial Scholarship , a grant from the Long Island section of the New York Metro Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA), was launched. Kunz himself was a long-time member of the organization founded in 1978 and also regularly took part in the annual APA conferences. A memorial fund set up in his memory was to help buy books and other materials for a research library in the offices of the Suffolk Planning Department. This is how the Arthur Kunz Memorial Library came into being , which is now an important resource for planners and researchers on Long Island and contains many unique historical documents as well as reference works and reports from the APA's Planning Advisory Service . In the mid-1990s, this commemorative fund was expanded to include a scholarship for urban planning students. From the start of the program in 1995 until the 20th anniversary in 2017, over 30 planners have benefited from the grants from this scholarship. As early as 2005, the LI section turned to the Long Island Community Foundation , a non-profit organization , to manage the scholarship fund and ensure its continued existence. In his honor, 93 acres of wooded area on the west bank of the Nissequogue River was also designated as Arthur Kunz County Park .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur H. Kunz at familysearch.org (English), accessed December 29, 2018
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i LI Section of NY Metro Chapter Marks 20th Anniversary of Arthur H. Kunz Memorial Scholarship , accessed August 18, 2018
  3. ↑ Arthur H. Kunz Scholarship - deadline extension to Feb 14 (English), accessed on August 18, 2018
  4. ↑ The Arthur Kunz Memorial Library on Suffolk County's official website , accessed August 18, 2018
  5. ↑ Arthur Kunz County Park on the official Suffolk County website , accessed August 18, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Kunz, Arthur H.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American city planner
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Floral Park , Long Island , New York , United States
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1993
Place of death Smithtown , Long Island , New York , United States