Eating Through Streetscapes: Food, Frontage, and Public Space in NYC

Dining in New York City is not contained within the walls of restaurants. It extends across sidewalks, curbs, plazas, sheds, carts, markets, loading zones, and street corners, shaping how people move through, gather in, and experience the public realm. From produce markets and food carts to delis, restaurants, outdoor dining structures, and commercial corridors, food businesses play an active role in the life of the street.

Please join the AIANY Civic Leadership Program to explore the relationship between food establishments and NYC’s streetscapes, asking how restaurants, vendors, public agencies, BIDs, and designers influence the shared spaces where food and public life meet. Through a long-table format inspired by both the dining table and the street itself, participants will consider how frontage, curb use, sidewalk activity, accessibility, regulation, design, deliveries, sanitation, and public-space management shape the city’s food scene.

Bringing together voices from public realm stewardship, small business support, food vending, restaurant ownership, and design, the event will examine what happens when the street becomes an extension of the dining room, kitchen, market, and storefront. The conversation will ask who benefits from these spaces, what tensions emerge, and how NYC can better support a food landscape that is vibrant, accessible, local, and publicly minded.

Leading the event from this year’s CLP cohort are Harry Abrams, Jessica Mitchell, Samira Mohamed, and Sherry Aine Te.

Speakers:
Kyle Gorman, Director of Public Realm Programs, Operations, and Partnerships, New York City Department of Transportation
Nina LoSchiavo, Chief Operating Officer, Lower East Side Partnership
Andrew Marcus, Director of Neighborhood Planning at the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS)
Brady Rice, Economic & Community Development Director, Lower East Side Partnership

About the Speakers:
Kyle Gorman is the Director of Public Realm Programs, Operations, and Partnerships at the New York City Department of Transportation, where he oversees citywide initiatives that reimagine streets as inclusive, people-centered public spaces. He leads programs including Open Streets, Plazas, Street Seats, Programming, and the Public Space Equity Program, supporting operations across more than 300 public spaces and managing a $15 million annual budget. Gorman has worked at NYC DOT for over a decade, completing his Master of Urban Planning at Hunter College while advancing within the agency, and played a central role in launching and scaling the Open Streets program during the COVID-19 pandemic. His work focuses on translating policy into practice through program design, operations, and cross-sector partnerships that support long-term stewardship of the public realm.

Nina LoSchiavo, Chief Operating Officer, Lower East Side Partnership, is the organization’s first in-house creative and evolved her work over time to include the full spectrum of LESP’s service delivery. LoSchiavo is responsible for executing key initiatives for programming provision and guiding workplace strategy and operations in the fields of marketing, creative, community engagement, and public space management. She manages LESP’s community partner contract with Essex Market that deploys more than 400 public programs annually. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from CUNY Baruch College and a BFA in Graphic Design from the School of Visual Arts, reflecting her unique experience in communications, marketing, city governance, and placemaking.

Andrew Marcus, Director of Neighborhood Planning at the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), manages SBS’ portfolio of commercial revitalization grants and place-based planning projects that aim to strengthen and revitalize the streets, small businesses, and community-based organizations that anchor New York City neighborhoods. Among his diverse work, Marcus and his team launched the city’s first Public Realm grant in 2025, which provides funding to nonprofits to develop creative ways to enhance the public realm in commercial districts through lighting, public art, and wayfinding. Marcus has a BA in mathematics and physics from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from Hunter College. He is a lifelong New Yorker and proud product of NYC public schools.

Brady Rice, Economic & Community Development Director, Lower East Side Partnership, leads initiatives that enhance quality of life, support local businesses, and activate public spaces across the district. With a focus on sanitation, public realm improvements, and economic development, Rice works closely with merchants, residents, and City agencies to keep the neighborhood clean, vibrant, and welcoming. Through projects like Open Streets and waste containerization, Rice helps address the everyday challenges of streets that serve as places to dine, gather, do business, and move through the neighborhood. He brings a hands-on, community-first approach to supporting the Lower East Side’s restaurants and storefronts while keeping shared public spaces accessible and inviting.

About the Civic Leadership Program
The AIANY Civic Leadership Program (CLP) is a six-month mentorship and training program designed to develop design professionals into civic leaders. Eight selected participants will gain hands-on experience engaging with municipal agencies, community organizations, and local stakeholders through development sessions and a public event. The program fosters skills in communication, public speaking, community outreach, and consensus building, empowering participants to navigate and influence the civic process effectively.