September 16, 2016

Department of Design and Construction Transforms a Queens Parking Space for PARK(ing) Day 2016

DDC transforms current parking space into a parklet in observance of Park(ing) Day 2016

Dan Leibel
Junior Public Information Officer
718-391-1251

Long Island City, NY—The New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC) today transformed a parking spot in Queens into a micropark in the celebration of PARK(ing) Day, an annual open-source global event where community members, artists, designers and organizations transform parking spaces into temporary public places for a day.  Created in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, the mission of PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the potential benefits of broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. 

In observance of the global event, DDC converted a parking space on Thomson Avenue in front of its Long Island City, Queens headquarters into a temporary parklet featuring astroturf, tables, chairs, plants and posters showcasing DDC projects. Throughout the day, employees from DDC’s Office of the Chief Architect and the Science, Technology, Engineering, Art/Architecture and Math (STEAM) education division discussed with passersby the importance of equity, resiliency, healthy living, and sustainability. 

DDC employees engaged in conversation with Long Island City community members during Park(ing) Day 2016

“Participating in this year’s PARK(ing) Day was a great opportunity to foster spontaneous interactions with our neighbors about the importance of public spaces and adding to the vitality of the Long Island City streetscape. This activity helped us get closer to the community to showcase the work we are putting into practice such as applying our guiding principles to projects pertaining to equity and sustainability, said DDC Commissioner Feniosky Peña-Mora.  

“In Paris, Park(ing) Day is a world-wide initiative and usually only private companies participate in the activities. It’s so interesting to see the public administration wanting to get involved to celebrate today’s event,” says Dominique Alba, Director of the Atelier Parisienne d'Urbanisme (APUR).

Additional images from the event can be found here.

About the NYC Department of Design and Construction
The Department of Design and Construction is the City’s primary capital construction project manager. In supporting Mayor de Blasio’s lenses of growth, sustainability, resiliency, equity and healthy living, DDC provides communities with new or renovated public buildings such as such as firehouses, libraries, police precincts, new or upgraded roadways, sewers, water mains in all five boroughs. To manage this $10 billion portfolio, DDC partners with other City agencies, architects and consultants, whose experience bring efficient, innovative, and environmentally-conscious design and construction strategies to city projects. For more information, please visit nyc.gov/ddc.