Aliyya Swaby Photo
New city engineer Giovanni Zinn plans to build the city greener.
Mayor Toni Harp announced Zinn’s appointment Tuesday morning at a City Hall press conference.
Zinn (pictured), a 2005 graduate of Yale, has been a project manager in the city government’s Office of Sustainability. He said he plans in his new post to bring a focus on energy conservation to his new office by building infrastructure that will last longer and save the city money.
The city engineering department “has to make sure buildings don’t fall, bridges hold and up … and almost everything in between,” Harp said in introducing Zinn. She said New Haven should be a leader in alternative energy and “lead by example in sustainability.”
Zinn noted that New Haven has 232 miles of road, 373 miles of sidewalk, 50 bridges and innumerable buildings in New Haven. His task will be to continue to physically expand the city while prioritizing conservation. “Green infrastructure” will move the city “into the future,” he said.
During his time in the Office of Sustainability, Zinn has spearheaded projects to install LED streetlights in Newhallville, improve East Rock sewage and drainage systems, and place an energy-saving fuel cell behind City Hall.
Zinn’s predecessor, Dick Miller, held the post for 17 years.