AF-DC & Manhattan Institute: The American City is Worth Fighting For

Join AF-DC and the Manhattan Institute on Wednesday, September 23!

GET YOUR TICKETS ON EVENTBRITE HERE

For too long, many American urban cores have been plagued by issues surrounding basic maintenance, management, and public safety. In too many of them, local governments seem uninterested in tackling these foundational challenges, ignoring government’s most basic purpose. These developments have frustrated many residents, visitors, and business owners who may otherwise embrace everything cities have to offer.

America is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. Our cities should be beacons of innovation, creativity, and human potential.

Despite these issues, many still are, and practical examples of urban revival abound, including Northwest Washington’s Meridian Hill Park, once a haven for crime and drug dealing, and now, thanks to neighborhood-scale activism as well as government investment in critical infrastructure, the thriving backdrop of our discussion. But so much potential is held back.

In this conversation, we’ll talk with Nicole Gelinas and Daniel Gollier, urbanism experts at the Manhattan Institute, to tackle how we got here, what it will take for American cities to reach their full potential, and why we shouldn’t give up on them. Gelinas has done extensive work on urban infrastructure and won the Gotham Book Prize for her 2024 urban-transportation history, Movement: New York’s Long War to Take Back its Streets from the Car. Golliher is the founder of Maximum New York, a new civics academy that educates participating citizens about the mechanics of local and state government.

Please note that our programming and reception are at two different addresses:

**PROGRAMMING: Meridian Hill Park: 16th St NW &, W St NW, Washington, DC 20009

**RECEPTION: Camden Roosevelt Apartments Lobby: 2101 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20009

Moderator: Ed Tarnowski

Panelists:

Nicole Gelinas is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times. She writes on urban policy and politics, ranging widely on matters such as transportation, public safety, infrastructure, and public finance.

Gelinas is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and the author of Movement: New York’s Long War to Take Back its Streets from the Car, winner of the 2025 Gotham Book Prize. She has published analysis and opinion pieces in the New York Post and Wall Street Journal, among other publications. Gelinas holds a B.A. in English literature from Tulane University.

Daniel Golliher is a Cities and AI Policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute, focusing on housing, public order, and the institutions that shape everyday life in New York. He is the founder of Maximum New York, a civics school launched in 2022. Golliher’s programming has taught hundreds of New Yorkers how their government actually works. He teaches classes on New York City law and government, New York State, the federal government, American history, and legislative drafting.

Through his writing and teaching, Golliher seeks to make the machinery of city politics legible and persuade New Yorkers that they can and should wield civic power themselves. Golliher originally grew up on a farm in Indiana, earned a B.A. in government from Harvard University, and moved to New York City in 2019.