Current Affairs for April 2026: Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Improving Infrastructure in America
The Current Affairs group will meet on Thursday, April 16 at 2PM in the Lillian Gade Room at the DCA and on Zoom. If you have not received the Zoom link, please contact Barry at silver.barry@gmail.com or Doug at dbernacchi@gmail.com.
How many times have you traveled internationally and wondered, “How come they can [run these trains/build these stations/maintain these roads/keep these cities clean/provide public services/provide sufficient energy] so well in this crappy little country but we can’t seem to do it in the USA?” Dan Kolakowski will bring his engineer’s eye view to the infrastructure challenges we face in this region and in the country, and I look forward to a lively discussion. Dan’s background is amazing:
Dan Kolakowski received his BS degree in Civil Engineering from the United States Air Force
Academy. Following his military stint, he worked another 39 years building construction
projects in NYC. The infrastructure projects included the AirTrain from Jamaica and Howard
Beach to JFK Airport, LIRR’s Train Maintenance Facility in Queens, the United Nations
Headquarters, airport terminals for US Air (LGA), Terminal One (JFK) and Delta Terminal C (LGA).
His projects also included the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, Pier 79 Ferry Terminal, piers and
parks along the Hudson River for the Hudson River Park Trust as well as Brooklyn Bridge Park.
But we think of him as “the DMA member who made the miracle happen at La Guardia Airport.” Bring your thoughts and questions! Can you and Dan together bring a little bit of hope to our despair???
Here are a couple of pre-reads that Dan has suggested:
– Four ways to make wiser infrastructure investments | Brookings
– How much does the US federal government spend on infrastructure each year | USAFacts
And this on the California High-Speed Rail Debacle:
– https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/us/high-speed-rail-california.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZlA.zMjT.lvz0otw-6cX2&smid=url-share
– The 60 Minutes segment from April 5, 2026 – https://youtu.be/9Hm0_-bOB4Y?si=IIs2h2CzZmNl_gzP
Thanks to Charles Salmans for suggesting that Dan present this topic!