The first roundtable discussion in this series looks at how government responds to citizens’ needs, particularly when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is moderated by Louis Zacharilla, a co-founder of the Intelligent Community Forum.

The Big Apple is the wrong name for New York this summer.

No one knows what will come to New York this autumn and beyond. It will not be the World Series, Tracy Letts’ new play or a fraction of our 65.2 million annual visitors. New York will not be as fine as apple pie by Columbus Day or Thanksgiving. These two holidays might not even be around by Christmas! Without its theaters, restaurants, museums and the everyday energy of vendors and street life, New York is a harsher, more hollow place, and no place for epicureans hungry for its unique slice of American culture.

In this video, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla discusses COVID-19 with Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network’s Pat Schou.

She hears it every night precisely at 7:00 PM.

But tonight, she was running late for her shift and talking on her phone as briskly as she was scurrying to confront what is left of “The Beast” inside New York Presbyterian Hospital. She and her colleagues – and those of us shouting our thanks at her from balconies, windows & the street - have managed to put this son-of-a-bitch of a virus on the run and bend it with the authority of a blacksmith pounding hot steel to a more desired shape.

Finally.

In this episode of The New Abnormal series, ICF Co-Founders Lou Zacharilla and John Jung speak with Cyrus Tehrani of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Paddy Harrington of Frontier Co., and Institute without Boundaries at George Brown College graduate students Hardeep Kaur and Madalynne Lawrence. Their "Transforming into Ethical Smart Cities" playbook, website, and video launches this Friday, May 29 at 4pm EST - more information can be found at www.ethicalsmartcity.com

In this #NoPlaceButHome discussion, we move away from the topic of physical space and density in communities and move to another topic: privacy. ICF Co-Founders Lou Zacharilla and John Jung speak with Kristina Verner, Monique Crichlow and Jean-Noé Landry in the third discussion of The New Abnormal series.

“If you’re going through Hell, keep going,” Winston Churchill supposedly said.

For sure, we took that advice in New York. Some of us stayed here but kept going, grinding away in what now is recalled as an exhausting attempt to keep some shreds of the familiar life in the Great City close. But as a friend who left, returned for a few days recently but left again said, “Lou, I could not stay. It’s too heartbreaking.” Many left town to flee far away from what appeared to be Hell. The Epicenter is either the worst place to be or, for some, the only place to be. It depends on your core and your love of your town. You can leave it and still love it. I understand. I just have a hard time grasping or respecting it.

In this video, ICF Co-Founder Lou Zacharilla speaks with James Stifler, Chief Economic Officer of Hudson, Ohio, USA - a Top7 Intelligent Community of 2020.

In this video, ICF Co-Founder Robert Bell talks about COVID-19 and Caledon with Mayor Allan Thompson.