Skip to content

Who Are You Nominating for the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal?

The Rockefeller Foundation has opened up the nomination process for the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal. The deadline to submit a nomination is February 1.

jjmedal_small.jpgThe Rockefeller Foundation has opened up the nomination process for the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal. The deadline to submit a nomination is February 1.

The award, launched last year, recognizes “two living individuals whose creative vision for the urban
environment has significantly contributed to the vibrancy and variety
of New York City.” Last year, Transportation Alternatives co-founder Barry Benepe received the Lifetime Leadership award and Omar Freilla of Green Worker Cooperatives won the Medal for New Ideas and Activism. The medal is accompanied by prizes totaling $200,000. Not too shabby!

Here is the award criteria:

The Jane Jacobs Medal will be given each year to two living
individuals whose creative vision for the urban environment has greatly
contributed to the vitality of New York City and who exemplify the
following values and ideas:

  • Make New York City a place of hope and expectation that attracts new people and new ideas
  • Challenge traditional assumptions and conventional thinking
  • Promote dynamism, density, diversity and equity
  • Generate new principles for the way we think about development and preservation in New York City
  • Take a common sense approach to complex problems
  • Provide leadership in solving common problems
  • Respect neighborhood knowledge
  • Generate creative use of the urban environment
  • Demonstrate activism and innovative cross-disciplinary thinking
  • Give us new ways of seeing and understanding our city

And, again, here is where you can find the online nomination form. What names are people kicking around this year?

Photo of Aaron Naparstek
Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.

More from Streetsblog New York City

Two Little Too Late: Mamdani Shifts Private Carting Reforms Toward Safety for Last Two Contracts

April 22, 2026

Keep New York Moving: Antonio Reynoso’s Six-Point Plan for Transit That Matches Our Reality 

April 22, 2026

Exclusive: Mamdani Picks Construction Chief Eager to Speed Up Street Redesigns

April 22, 2026

‘Stop Super Speeders’: Preventing The Next Fatal Crash Is Up To You

April 22, 2026

Waymo Is Not In The ‘Vision Zero’ Toolbox: Data

April 22, 2026
See all posts