It is common sense that the city should have a strong voice in the large-scale development that takes place across the five boroughs, even when it is not a city-funded project. After all, these projects—from Eastside Access and the Second Avenue Subway, to Atlantic Yards and the World Trade Center site—will have a profound effect on our infrastructure.  
Yet today, there is no city-level entity to coordinate the construction and maintenance of these projects, or to examine their impact. Without such oversight, the city cannot effectively prepare to meet the needs of inevitable growth.  
It is our hope that the City Council’s new Infrastructure Task Force can be that coordinating entity to work with state and federal agencies, and to speak up for the needs of our roads, schools and energy, among others.
The Infrastructure Task Force will assess crucial parts of the city’s infrastructure that are not dealt with in traditional oversight hearings conducted by the Council, and will focus on capital assets that are controlled by the federal government, New York state, public authorities and many private corporations.  
Unfortunately, many of these non-city entities do not publicly provide an adequate breakdown of their holdings, making it difficult to determine the condition of their facilities. This challenge will only get worse if new projects are implemented without any coordination with the city itself.  
We also need to be thoughtful about the effect of private development on our systems.  Where literally dozens of high-rise residential towers sprout up within the catchment zone of a single public elementary school, it stands to reason that there will be a need for new classrooms.  
With new residents come increased demands on mass transit and our already-congested roadways. We cannot pretend that we don’t see it coming.
Take, as another example, the impact of private development on our sewers. Because our storm water drainage and sewage lines are combined, intense rainfall can overload the system, diverting sewage away from treatment plants and directly into the city’s natural waterways. The proposed Atlantic Yards project alone is expected to produce an estimated 1.1 million gallons of extra sewage and rain runoff—and, of course, this has citywide implications.  
In his PlaNYC 2030 report, Mayor Bloomberg gave the city a roadmap toward a sustainable future. The Infrastructure Task Force, which was created by Speaker Christine Quinn, can play a significant role in turning these visions into reality.
None of these measures will come cheaply, but there can be little dispute for the need for investment in our systems. Last July’s steam pipe explosion cost local businesses $30 million in lost revenue, and August’s flooding of the subway systems cost the city millions more, as many people simply could not show up for work. The 2003 blackout that left the East Coast in the dark cost New York City $1 billion in lost economic activity and tax revenue. And, as the Partnership for New York City has reported, the cost of congestion amounts to $13 billion each year.  
One-time investments alone, however, will not bring our infrastructure to full health. A ribbon cutting won’t keep the lights on. To keep our systems in a state of good repair, we will have to study whether we have a sufficient supply of skilled labor, and we will have to budget funds for this critical work.
Our rapid growth presents significant challenges. For the city to continue to thrive, we will need to develop a set of best practices for accommodating growth in a way that will allow New York to continue to prosper. We have an opportunity to plan for the future—and we intend to make the most of it.

Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan) and Letitia James (D-Brooklyn) are co-chairs of the City Council’s Infrastructure Task Force.