The Potential of the Public Realm

City life doesn’t stop at the door of a building. Our waterfronts, parks, plazas, streets, and sidewalks are some of New York’s largest public assets.

Over the last 16 months, as many New Yorkers have increasingly relied on the public realm, it’s never been more evident that safe, accessible open space is not equitably distributed across neighborhoods. In response, we have seen a creative expansion of street use through the City’s Open Culture program and the Department of Transportation’s Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs. These ideas and others have inspired many to reimagine the potential of the public realm to better serve New Yorkers.

Join Council Member Keith Powers and MAS’s Livable Neighborhoods Program for a free, virtual program about two community proposals to expand and better manage open space for a more livable, equitable city.

The joint call by MAS and New Yorkers for Parks for the creation of a new Director of the Public Realm position, as a component of our Fight for Light campaign; and the challenge set forth by Transportation Alternatives in their NYC 25 x 25 report to rethink the allocation of streets for people. Following the program, there will be a Q&A opportunity with Council Member Powers.1CM credit will be available for AICP members (event #9217191).

This program is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.