Walking Through Foodscapes: Food, Frontage, and Public Space in NYC

Food 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. 

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.