We believe youth living in New York City public housing deserve to rest, move, gather and grow in open space in their communities.
Our team researched what is impeding this vision today, and how youth-centered spatial futures at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) can become a reality. Making Space proposes pathways for young people and NYCHA communities to collaborate and advocate for improved quality, communication and accountability in the design, construction, operations and management of public housing.
We learned from an array of stakeholders and collaborated with three core partners: City Polytechnic High School, the Committee for Independent Community Action (CICA) and Red Hook NeighborhoodSTAT. With City Polytechnic High School, we piloted a four-part youth workshop curriculum. We developed these workshops with and learned from CICA, a resident-led group organizing to preserve public housing in NYC. Red Hook NeighborhoodSTAT leadership collaborated with us to share their experiences at Red Hook Houses, our city’s second largest public housing community. With their support, we translated lived experiences at Red Hook Houses into visions for design and policy that uplift resident wellbeing, agency and power.
The report offers recommendations and imagines new futures related to three key issues that impact the current and future experiences of young people in NYCHA communities: environmental injustice, construction impacts and privatization.
The youth workshop facilitation guide offers a blueprint for generating even more youth-centered recommendations, and amplifying youth voices in design processes.
We drafted our recommendations with NYCHA and City leadership, NYC elected officials, NYS legislators, nonprofit organizations, and organizers in mind. By adopting and organizing toward the recommendations in our report, our hope is that NYCHA residents, advocates and partners can shape spaces, policies, and processes that elevate youth.
We extend gratitude to our partners and supporters and look forward to each continuing this work in our practices.
Meet the Project Team
Camillia Brown
Staff Attorney, Juvenile Rights Practice, The Legal Aid Society
Camillia is an attorney in the Queens trial office of the Juvenile Rights Practice of The Legal Aid Society, where she represents children in both juvenile delinquencies and child protective cases. She also holds a Masters in Social Work and is currently an adjunct professor at Brooklyn Law School. Camillia is passionate and curious about the intersection between design, healing, and justice.
Gina Massari
Senior Planning Manager, NYC Administration for Children’s Services
Gina is a project manager and policy analyst passionate about fostering health equity in New York. She has experience working at both city and state government agencies, as well as in direct client service delivery and advocacy at nonprofit organizations focused on public health and child welfare. Gina holds a Master of Public Administration from CUNY Baruch College and currently works in the Office of Strategy, Innovation and Planning at ACS.
Eamon O’Connor
Associate and Urban Planner, Gehl
Eamon believes cities are at their best when they bring people together in spaces of solidarity and coexistence. As an urban planner, designer, and strategist at Gehl, he brings expertise in people-first planning and design, visual and written storytelling, and multi-method research to projects that span geographies, scales and disciplines.
Amy Obonaga
Team Leader Urban Designer, Department of City Planning
Amy works at the Department of City Planning in the Staten Island Borough Office as the Team Lead Urban Designer. She has previously worked as an architectural designer in New York and on a project with Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI), designing a mixed-use housing development in Kampala, Uganda. Amy received her Bachelor’s degree from Hunter College and her Master’s of Architecture from the Parsons School of Design.
Janaira Ramirez
Program Manager, Friends of the High Line
Janaira is a proud New Yorker and environmental organizer. Her love for people and nature led her to pursue a career in environmental policy. She is particularly interested in how we can design urban environments that mitigate the effects of climate change and facilitate positive health outcomes.
Melody Stein
Founder, studio VISIT; Visiting Assistant Professor, Pratt Institute
Melody Stein is a landscape architect and the founder of studio VISIT: a creative practice for land-based research, strategy, and design. Melody believes that public space is a human right, that environmental justice is foundational, and that intentional and ongoing community involvement is essential to the design process. As an interdisciplinary agency, studio VISIT works alongside public and private partners to develop and implement environmental and landscape projects across scales.
C. Meranda Surmanek
Theater Artist, Urban Planner, Freelance Consultant
C. Meranda is a theater artist, urban planner, and the co-founder of Why Wow, a design practice for the social sector. As a facilitator, Meranda works with people to understand complex systems, reimagine our relationship to the built environment, make decisions, foster relationships, and create visionary work. With Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia, Meranda helps organizers share untold stories. Meranda is a researcher with the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine and is a longtime collaborator of the award-winning community-engaged theater Ping Chong + Company.