Last night, AN was over at the National Museum of the American Indian in Lower Manhattan, to hear the Design Trust for Public Space announce the winners of Energetic City: Connectivity in the Public Realm—its open call for proposals to reimagine the city’s public space. Out of over 90 submissions that came from individuals, city agencies, and community groups, the jury selected four winning plans that should collectively include programming in all five boroughs.
In a statement, the trust said the proposals “will develop new ways of connecting diverse people, systems, and built, natural and digital environment of New York City. Each project, which will receive seed funding to begin immediately, will respond to the needs and aspirations of community users.”
Here’s some information on each project all courtesy of the Design Trust for Public Space:
Design Guidelines for Neighborhood Retail ( The New York City Department of Housing, Preservation & Development)
The NYC Department of Housing, Preservation & Development needs design guidelines to achieve successful mixed-use developments that include high-performing ground-floor spaces. The resulting manual will generate immediate changes to HPD’s development process for mixed-use projects, but also for other entities focused on creating vibrant local economies through design.
FMCP Creative / Reconnect the Park (Queens Museum and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation)
Queens Museum and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation will investigate new ways of connecting public parks to communities through a pilot study that will analyze Flushing Meadows Corona Park (FMCP). Envisioned as an active learning framework for park users, the project will support community participants in developing proposals to improve FMCP’s connectivity with surrounding neighborhoods, focusing on the park entrances, wayfinding system, and new uses for the World’s Fair infrastructure.
Future Culture: Connecting Staten Island’s Waterfront Staten Island Arts (Staten Island Arts)
Staten Island Arts seeks to establish a replicable model of inclusive development through public art to link neighborhoods, starting with Staten Island’s North Shore. The project will provide planning and policy recommendations to stabilize the cultural assets of neighborhoods.
Opening the Edge (Jane Greengold with the support of New York City Housing Authority)
Brooklyn artist Jane Greengold aims to activate underused public spaces surrounding public housing developments with the residents. The project will develop new ideas and a prototype to transform inaccessible landscapes around NYCHA developments into lively places to gather for residents and visitors alike.
