July 2011
12 posts
6 tags
There's More to Public Art than Sculptures and...
In By the City / For the City many residents spoke up for the need to beautify New York through color, light, and other non-traditional (read: not-a-sculpture-in-a-plaza) public art. One resident wants people to find new ways to add beautiful color to their neighborhoods.Leni in the West Village hopes that strategically located vacant lots could be filled with light. Laura simply wishes...
6 tags
Better Buses: Going Where the Subway Won't
In 1998, Mayor Giuliani proposed a $1.2 billion package that would build an airtrain to JFK and extend a subway line to La Guardia. The airtrain surived; the N line connection to La Guardia was scrapped. By 2003 the project had been shelved: short on funds, the city succumbed to “Not Above My Backyard” opposition from residents and local political leaders who organized to block elevated track...
5 tags
Creating and Connecting Social Spaces in Forest...
Queens is comprised of distinct neighborhoods that represent an eclectic history and diverse landscapes. Forest Hills, which boasts historic Tudor Architecture with an urban-suburban feel just 20 minutes from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, is no exception. Two ideas submitted to By the City / For the City addressed major public spaces: one New Yorker wished that Station Square, on the south...
Competition Deadline Extended to July 31st, 2011
Over the past few weeks, with the deadline for the By the City / For the City design ideas competition drawing closer, we have been contacted by many planners, artists, and architects about entering, but for whom early July is a particularly busy time. As a result, we have decided to extend the deadline to July 31st to give everyone working on entries some breathing room!
Our goal in creating By...
8 tags
Greening the Heart of Brooklyn
One of the most ethnically, culturally and economically diverse areas in New York City, Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood is truly worth exploring. Colonial Dutch settlers, rapid urbanization, and immigration are just some of the most influential factors that laid the foundation for this eclectic neighborhood. One By the City / For the City submitter wished that Flatbush had a green and...
5 tags
Public Seating Beyond Parks and Playgrounds
We’ve all been there: exhausted, hot, annoyed, and just looking for a seat! With over eight million people calling New York City home, finding a place to sit outside of parks and playgrounds can be a bigger challenge than one might imagine. Megan in Clinton Hill wishes there were places to sit in public space besides in parks: free, public resting spots on every block for a coffee,...
6 tags
A Stroll Through Herald Square
Several years ago, New York pedestrianized Times Square. In 2009, Broadway was closed to traffic between 42nd and 47th streets as part of the DOT’s “Green Light for Midtown” pilot project. The plaza-ization of Times Square included the initial installation of chairs and tables and painting of the pavement, while IfUD Fellow Craig Dykers’ firm Snøhetta works on a more permanent re-design....
5 tags
Expanding Access to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, located at the mouth of upper New York Bay, connects Brooklyn and Staten Island and serves as a major link in the interstate highway system, providing the shortest route between the middle Atlantic states and Long Island. The earliest plan for a crossing at the narrows came in the form of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad’s 1888 proposal to build...
6 tags
Crossing the Gowanus: Rethinking the Canal and its...
The Gowanus Canal (aka the Lavender Lake) was once an industrial hub for the city, even serving as one of the primary transportation routes for the Brownstone used to construct much of Brooklyn’s iconic housing stock. Unfortunately, the canal was built without the lock systems that would have allowed flushing and the water quickly degenerated. Today the Gowanus is an infamously odiferous...
5 tags
Steinway Mansion: Uncovering History & Connecting...
Perched on a hill, invoking the feeling of an old country town, sits the historic Steinway Mansion of Astoria, Queens. Originally founded as a recreational and resort destination for Manhattan’s wealthy, Astoria has experienced significant change in subsequent years, but the Steinway Mansion remains as a relic of a forgotten age. The Steinway family, German immigrants who originally...
5 tags
Grand Concourse: Remembering the "Park Avenue of...
French-American engineer Louis Aloys Risse first conceived of the Grand Concourse in 1890, basing the design on the Champs-Élysées in Paris as the City Beautiful Movement swept the US. During the public crowdsourcing phase of By the City / For the City, Ace from Pelham Parkway called for “More Hotels in the Bronx. Why not make one of those beautiful old buildings on the Grand Concourse...
8 tags
Harlemites Call for Social Spaces
Harlem is well-known for its strong sense of community, but its physical landscape is divided by imposing features from towering housing projects to the elevated commuter rail line along Park Avenue. Many Harlemites submitted ideas to By the City / For the City for knitting the neighborhood more tightly together by creating public spaces geared toward building up the existing community and...
