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Design Trust Releases Public Space Management ‘Toolkit’
Group seeks to smooth way for small-fry community and business organizations in 'placemaking' efforts.
April 29, 2022
City Will Extend Tiny Clean Curbs Program to All Boroughs
A pilot program to get trash bags off sidewalks will move beyond Manhattan — first, to Brooklyn. But can it do enough fast enough to curtail 'NY's 5 o'clock shadow'?
April 21, 2022
Adams’s Blueprint for Recovery is Vague on Public Space, Trash, Parking Reduction and Other Key Initiatives
Mayor Adams on Thursday revealed a pretty hefty — but not-so-detailed — blueprint for reviving the city. But what's in the "Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent" blueprint for the livable streets crowd? Here's what we found...
March 10, 2022
Hearing Day: Could Fees for Outdoor Dining Lead to Proper Pricing of City’s Curbs?
The DOT envisions charging for space now given away in the Open Restaurant program. But its piecemeal approach shows the need for public space management.
February 9, 2022
Outdoor Dining Under Fire: Advocates Want Equity at the Curb, Not Parking
The City Council will hear testimony on Tuesday from many opponents of the Open Restaurants program — and livable streets activists agree on one thing with the NIMBYs: curbside space should generate the most public benefit (in other words, it isn't for free parking).
February 7, 2022
STANDING ORDER: Legislators Demand Public Seating at the Moynihan Train Hall
Every bum needs a place to relax.
February 4, 2022
Op-Ed, Part II: Conversion to EVs is a Once-in-a-Century Chance to Fix Many Car Culture Problems

January 6, 2022
Streetfilms: ‘Talking Public Spaces’ in the Meatpacking District
See it: Gorgeous plazas with lush plantings in movable containers. Refurbished 19th-century factory buildings on quaint cobblestone streets. People sipping drinks under red cloth umbrellas — and hardly a car to be seen. Are we really in the Manhattan? Yes.
December 1, 2021
OPINION: Let’s Make the Open Culture Program Permanent

November 3, 2021
Sanitation Dept. Urged to Get Garbage out of Pedestrians’ Way
Nineteen months after 'Clean Curbs" was announced with great fanfare, not a container has been sited anywhere. The next mayor ought to get cracking.
October 8, 2021