Tuesday, April 19, 2011

By the city, for the city

Does your neighborhood need a facelift?

Does that empty lot on the street corner need some fresh design attention?

What sites in your borough have unrealized potential or need a thorough re-imagining?

Want to give your input and help to create a better New York?

Well, you can. From now through April 30, the Institute for Urban Design (IfUD) will turn to the New Yorkers to reframe the debate about the future of the cityʼs public spaces. By the City / For the City (BtCFtC) is an innovative two-part open call for ideas that asks New Yorkers where they see potential for improvement in the cityʼs physical fabric. Nominate an untapped opportunity somewhere in the five boroughs today.

Then IfUD will ask the international design community to respond to the challenges set forth by the public. Together, ideas from citizens and designers alike will represent an atlas of possibility for the cityʼs future, which will provide the foundation for the first-ever Urban Design Week from September 15–20.

We'd like to get a wide range of ideas submitted, spread out in every neighborhood across the five boroughs.

For more information, contact Brendan Crain at IfUD at 212-366-0780 or crain@ifud.org.


Ok folks, I asked whether this applied to private spaces as well as public spaces, and I was told both. So, send them your thoughts or leave your suggestions below and I will submit them to the organizers. Abandoned lots that could become community gardens or parks, strips of concrete that should be prettied up, etc. You know your neighborhoods best.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

you can read a three paragraphs oF M. Sorkin's book "twenty minutes in Manhattan" by googling his name and scrolling to"artform.com/500words".

he write that bloombergs planyc is enlightening and in the right direction.

he also writes that Jannette Sadik-Kahn is bringing to the streets their first fruits of her fascination with Copenhagen.

also communities structured, to move distances at speed will wean us from our automobile addiction.

is he a bike lane and pedestrian mall obstacle course advocate?

Anonymous said...

Michael Sorkin is chairman of Institute for urban design.

Malba Gardener said...

The service road of the Whitestone Expressway from the 3rd avenue exit (5th avenue) all the way down to 3rd avenue. Maybe some greenery, a decoative sound barrier wall, and general clean up.

Francis Lewis Park which is one of the prettiest parks in the area and is seriously neglected by the Parks Department. It could use some Shrubs at the entrance, the cracked and sinking sidewalk could be replaced, the paths around the park need to be redone with a cleaner safer design. The grass needs to be leveled and resoded or seeded. The beach area needs to be cleaned up and better safeguards need to be put in place to prevent children from easy access to the beach area.

And Finally, the old CYO/Whitestone Jewels site in Whitestone. This site has sat empty for over 10 years. It is boarded up and a serious eyesore. As we have proposed in the past, it should be converted into a community park as in Grammarcy Park. The community is full of overdevelopment and a new community park, for the community, with garden paths and maybe a small community building that fits the design of existing homes.

As always Thank You,

Anonymous said...

"By the city, for the city"
----------------------------------------------

Don't ya mean

Buy the city, for the city elite?


Just sayin'.................................

Anony2 said...

Wow, now the developers don't even need to hire location scouts, they get the inside info from us for free!

Anonymous said...

RE;Malba Gardener, you might be letting the fox into the hen house?

check out the background of M.Sorkin ,his non-profit is international.

Anonymous said...

I don't live there anymore (thank god) but in Ridgewood, the corner of Fresh Pond Rd and Metropolitan Ave. has got to be the ugliest corner in the entire city.

Anonymous said...

wow... you have never been to any hood in your life if you say that... I live by metro and forest and pass by that corner every single day... the TD bank there looks like it belongs in Malba queens and you have a nice car dealership across the street on the other side... i'll give you the other half of that overall intersection is not that attractive but to say ugliest corner in all the city... give me a break...

In regards of this plan... obviously it sounds like a nice idea but i just think that this city's priorities are out of whack... they tend to focus so much on overdevelopment and creating these bike lanes, and making happy little gardens for every neighborhood, meanwhile 10% of this city is still without a job... and so many others even with a 70-80,000 salary are still not making enough to get by because they are being taxed up the ass...

Why do you think we have the money for all these wonderful things... Thank Bloomberg and his system of tax first ask questions later for the reason why theres 75 mexicans living in one apartment... "se renta cuarto" should be the slogan for NYC...

Anonymous said...

the TD Bank is a foreign one from Toronto,Canada eager for Maspeth ,n.y.c. citizens deposits.

is the car dealership an american produced car business ?

buy american to keep the jobs here in the U.S.

Queens Crapper said...

Last time I checked, Chevy was an American car company.

Anonymous said...

did not the american shareholders of General Motors lose 90% of their investment ,when the Obama administration gave the company to its union leaders?

is not the Chevy "Volt" a financial disaster in this market ?

is the business now directed by its third obama approved car czar?

Anonymous said...

It's directed by the GM Board of Directors.

Anonymous said...

Please direct them to the LaGuardia Community College complex in LIC/ Sunnyside! There are thousands of high school students, college students, non-credit students and CUNY workers in the space each day. Nevertheless, it is surrounded by the Blvd of Death, zero green space and desolate side streets!

Brendan Crain said...

Thanks to everyone who's shared ideas so far! I've uploaded suggestions made here in the comments--the three from Malba Gardener, as well as the corner of Metropolitan & Fresh Pond and the LaGuardia CC campus, too.

We're getting some really creative ideas from folks around Queens, and we're heading into the last week of the public submission phase. If you've got an idea for improving your neighborhood, I hope you'll share it! http://www.urbandesignweek.org/by-the-city

--Brendan Crain, IfUD Program Coordinator

(Thanks to the QC for posting about our project!)

Anonymous said...

can you bring the dead motorists, who were detoured to death at the Bridge Plaza exit of the Former queensboro bridge ,back to life?

this is a $43,000,000.project for bike &pedestrian safety,instituted by your boss's M.Sorkin's guru ,Bikeo_Psycho Sadie -Kahn.will your boss pay the law suit settlement against nyc taxpayers,when the court cases are final?

your dumb ideas are unsustainable in this financial era.

Brendan Crain said...

Our idea is to ask New Yorkers (yourself included) what *their* ideas are. What's unsustainable is a lack of civic engagement, so if you have strong opinions on how the city should be shaped in the coming years, please share them!