Reshaping Streetscapes

Fine Arts Federation 2018 Annual Meeting

Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at 6:30 pm

New York Foundation for the Arts

20 Jay Street, Suite 740

Brooklyn, NY 11201

 

On the occasion of its 2018 Annual Meeting, The Fine Arts Federation of New York, in collaboration with the New York City Public Design Commission, explored strategies to promote design excellence for one of the most unruly areas of the public realm: sidewalks and streets.

Famous as the stage for New York’s sidewalk ballet, today our streetscapes host a proliferation of urban infrastructure: bioswales, wi-fi kiosks, security barricades, pop-up cafes, bike-share stations, sundry street furniture, public art, and more. Can this cacophony of uses in the public right-of-way be reimagined through smart and sensitive streetscape design? A multidisciplinary panel explored the challenges and opportunities our streetscapes represent to advance health, safety, resilience, and civic life.

 

Presenters include:

Neil Gagliardi, Director of Urban Design, New York City Department of Transportation

John Massengale, Urban Designer and Author, Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns

Regina Myer, President, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership

 

Members of the New York City Public Design Commission served as respondents:

Signe Nielsen, PDC Landscape Architect and Founding Principal, MNLA

Ethel Sheffer, PDC Mayor’s Representative and Principal, Insight Associates

Shin-pei Tsay, PDC Lay Member and Executive Director, Gehl Institute

 

Moderated by:

Justin Garrett Moore, Executive Director, NYC Public Design Commission