NEW YORK – Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Marisa Lago, Advocates for Privately Owned Public Space (APOPS) President Jerold S. Kayden, and The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) President Elizabeth Goldstein today released photographs of a ceremony held to honor the selected designs as well as the new official logo for New York City’s hundreds of privately owned public spaces, or POPS.

Photos and captions of the event, held at Knoll’s New York Showroom on Monday, June 3, are below, with additional shots from MAS available here.

Details about the competition and images of the three awardee logos and two notable mentions can be found at www.popslogo.nyc.

“Congratulations to Emma Reed for her exceptionally fun, welcoming design! It captures a critical POPS principle – that they provide abundant seating, a respite from walking through the hurly-burly of our streets. I can’t wait until the ‘Have a Seat’ logo is found on all our POPS,” said Director Marisa Lago.

"Selecting three awardees from 607 submissions from 60 or so countries was challenging. There were many possibilities, many ways to go. The logos had to tell members of the public that this public space on private property is theirs to use, and I think the selected logos accomplished that in different, thoughtful ways,” said Jerold Kayden, the Frank Backus Williams Professor of Urban Planning and Design at Harvard University and President of Advocates for Privately Owned Public Space.

“POPS offer more than 80 acres of open space in some of the densest neighborhoods of the city and our new logo, ‘Have a Seat,’ will help ensure that passersby feel welcome to enjoy them,” said Elizabeth Goldstein, President of The Municipal Art Society. “We’re grateful to Emma and the hundreds of graphic designers around the world who leveraged their creativity to help promote this essential urban resource.” 

The logo chosen to be the new official POPS logo was designed by Emma Reed and is one of 607 submissions from nearly 60 countries in an international design competition. The new logo establishes a symbol for the city’s wide variety of POPS, and old POPS logos will be gradually replaced. The public can expect to see the new logo at POPS beginning early next year. All POPS are required to post the new logo and other public information – including how to register a complaint about a POPS – by mid-2021.

Emma Reed was in attendance to accept her award and speak about her inspiration for “Have a Seat,” the new POPS Logo. The two other awardees, Gensler’s New York City Brand Design Studio with “More Than a Tree” and John Schettino with “Constellation,” were also present to receive their awards and share thoughts about their designs.

Several panelists from the competition and Council Member Ben Kallos also attended the ceremony and made remarks.

POPS are spaces dedicated to public use and enjoyment. They are developed, owned, and maintained by private property owners at no cost to the City. The city’s 550 POPS come in many shapes and sizes, located both outdoors and indoors. All POPS are now required to include public space signage, informing New Yorkers and visitors about hours of access, required amenities such as seating, and to report any complaints to 311.

POPS are the result of City zoning regulations aimed at ensuring that the densest areas of the city offer outdoor and indoor places that are usable by the public without charge. The POPS program has produced nearly 3.8 million square feet of additional public space in the City – equivalent to roughly 66 football fields, 13 Union Squares or half of Governors Island.

The seven members of the panel who, along with the public vote, selected the awardees and notable mentions are:

• Jerold S. Kayden, Frank Backus Williams Professor of Urban Planning and Design, Harvard University and President, Advocates for Privately Owned Public Space (Presiding Panelist)
• Glen Cummings, Creative Director, MTWTF
• Katherine Farley, Chair, Lincoln Center Board of Directors
• Elizabeth Goldstein, President, The Municipal Art Society of New York
• Marisa Lago, Chair, New York City Planning Commission and Director, New York City Department of City Planning
• Kim Mathews, Principal Emerita, MNLA
• Justin Garrett Moore, Executive Director, New York City Public Design Commission

More information on POPS can be found at DCP’s recently updated web page, http://nyc.gov/pops and its newly unveiled interactive map at https://capitalplanning.nyc.gov/pops, and at the APOPS|MAS website at http://apops.mas.org.

Media Contacts:
New York City Department of City Planning
Press Office
press@planning.nyc.gov, 212-720-3471

Jerold S. Kayden
Advocates for Privately Owned Public Space
jkayden@gsd.harvard.edu, 617-496-0830

Meaghan Baron
The Municipal Art Society of New York
mbaron@mas.org, 212-935-3960

All photos credited to Karen Seifert for The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS).

(from left to right) APOPS President Jerold S. Kayden; Andrea Plenter and Jessica Beck from Gensler NYC Brand Design Studio; Emma Reed, designer of the new POPS logo; John Schettino; DCP Director Marisa Lago; MAS President Elizabeth Goldstein; and Council Member Ben Kallos

(from left to right) Competition sponsors MAS President Elizabeth Goldstein, DCP Director Marisa Lago and APOPS President Jerold S. Kayden (APOPS)

Emma Reed accepts her award for designing “Have a Seat,” the selection for the new official NYC POPS Logo.

Council Member Ben Kallos speaks at the POPS Logo Design Competition Ceremony.

Competition Panelist Kim Mathews, Principal Emerita, MNLA, speaks about the decision-making process.

Andrew Kogan, Chairman and CEO of Knoll, welcomes everyone to Knoll’s New York Showroom for the POPS Logo Design Competition Ceremony.

(from left to right) The three awardees: “Constellation” by John Schettino, “Have a Seat” by Emma Reed (the new POPS logo), and “More Than a Tree” by Gensler NYC Brand Design Studio