Public Forum in the Bronx: Citywide Call for Ideas for Civic Equality – April 25th

Design Trust for Public Space will launch an open call for project ideas—Public for All: Rethinking Shared Space in New York—at a public forum in the Bronx. Community activists , City leaders, and Design Trust Fellows and Partners from Bronx’s New Roots Community Farm managed by International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Kelly Street Garden, Staten Island Arts, and NYC Department of Transportation will provide insight on transforming neglected urban spaces into productive community assets, strengthening the voice of communities and creating more inclusive and equitable city.

In today’s political climate, we must affirm and ensure that New York City’s public realm provides places of refuge and play, congregation and demonstration, and dialogue and exchange. Keeping these spaces thoroughly public poses challenges and opportunities at every turn—be that site selection, funding, design, governance, or operations.

We invite local community groups, NYC agencies, and individuals across the five boroughs to submit proposals for research, design, and planning projects to unlock the potential of NYC’s shared spaces, including underutilized and under-resourced community assets.

The Design Trust for Public Space—the nonprofit that jumpstarted the High Line, pioneered a model Community Design School in Queens, helped bring about New York’s first custom-built Taxi of Tomorrow, and developed the sustainability guidelines that paved the way for PlaNYC—is dedicated to catalyzing public space to better serve people, and create a vibrant and sustainable city.

• Sheryll Durrant, Farm Coordinator for New Roots Community Farm managed by International Rescue Committee (IRC) & resident Garden Manager at Kelly Street Garden in the Bronx, and Design Trust Fellow for Five Borough Farm;
• Neil Gagliardi, Director of Urban Design at NYC Department of Transportation—Design Trust Partner for Under the Elevated;
• Jane Greengold, Artist and Design Trust Fellow for Opening the Edge: Reimagining Green Space at Wald Houses;
• Monica Valenzuela, Deputy Director of Staten Island Arts—Design Trust Partner for Future Culture: Connecting Staten Island’s Waterfront.
• Susan Chin, FAIA, Hon. ASLA, Executive Director, Design Trust for Public Space