Christine Berthet co-founded CHEKPEDS, (Chelsea, Clinton Hell’s Kitchen Coalition for Pedestrian Safety) in 2005, which has worked with NYC DOT, Port Authority, NYPD and elected officials to redesign traffic flows on the west side and obtain crucial safety and ADA improvements on the streets.
Ms. Berthet is also the Chair of Manhattan Community Board 4‘s Transportation Committee and has previously served as Chair of the Board. Additionally, she Chairs the Planning Committee of the Hudson Yards/Hell’s Kitchen Alliance Business Improvement District and is member of the Empire Station Complex Community Advisory Committee’s Working Group. Christine lectures at the Earth Institute of Columbia University and trained community board members on transportation planning as part of the Manhattan Borough President annual training program. She serves on the boards of Transportation Alternatives and Open Plans.
Ms. Berthet has contributed to various city-wide efforts to improve transportation: she was an early champion of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing campaign. She has also negotiated with the City for reductions in parking in Hudson Yards and contributed to the Mayor’s Midtown Citizen’s Committee Tour and Charter Bus Parking Initiative. She campaigned for idle free New York to reduce idling and improve air quality which resulted in state legislation limiting idling time around schools. She designed a widely used software, Crashmapper.org, to analyze traffic crashes in New York City.
Previously, in her 30-year corporate career, Ms. Berthet has held executive positions in the technology and financial industries, ran technology start-ups as well as global companies. She started as a Systems Engineer at IBM after getting an MBA in organization and strategy from HEC France. She presently works part time at Sunnyside Records, her family-owned independent jazz label.
Ms. Berthet was named to the Trust Board by the Manhattan Borough President in November 2023.