Proposals

Maintenance is vital to the well-being and longevity of our urban open spaces. We advocate building maintenance plans into park projects from the start.

We need a game plan for funding the maintenance of New York City’s iconic parks, obscure parks, and could-be parks. Sports ticket sales could be the answer.

By leveraging public-private partnerships and sharing maintenance responsibilities between advertisers and retail lessees, we can deliver modern transit hubs that combine transportation and retail.

In neighborhoods with fewer resources, the BID model can be unpacked and adapted—sharing its functions among community organizations, government, and other supportive partners.

Partnership is possible—and importantly, fruitful—between residents, community organizations, and BIDs. If we want Myrtle Avenue to be the anchor for a healthy, thriving neighborhood, we know that intentional partnership is essential to achieve it.

To maintain a common ground between Gowanus veterans and newcomers, we must rehabilitate the public spaces that connect the dots between the old and the new.

Instituting a citywide stewardship strategy for resiliency infrastructure— a Conservancy 2.0—will help deliver resilient open space projects to the physically and economically vulnerable areas that need them the most.

Business Improvement Districts often act as vital points of contact for communities. Local Development Corporations could be established to supplement BIDs, marshaling services that directly address neighborhood needs.

Community Land Trusts can maintain housing affordability for generations. We’re working to achieve this in New York City.

Digital technologies can augment, rather than replace, neighborhood retail.

City government should create a non-profit commercial development fund to combat small business displacement.

Time-based zoning encourages more efficient land use and balanced growth for dynamic 24-hour neighborhoods.

It is time cities consider a range of criteria - user equity, economic viability, and health – and light in nighttime design and planning initiatives.

City governments should advocate for nighttime cultural and commercial spaces by actively managing the urban night through regulation, design and infrastructure.

Cities must update codes and regulations to keep up with transformation in retail.