Using NYC’s streets for all New Yorkers

Daily News—Zohran Mamdani’s campaign captured the attention of voters by promising to address the city’s affordability crisis and by connecting with New Yorkers on our streets.

You don’t have to look hard to find city streets in just about every image of his campaign. He walked the length of Manhattan four nights before the primary. His streetside interviews with New Yorkers across the five boroughs circulated widely on social media. He had 50,000 New Yorkers pounding the pavement to share his vision for a more affordable New York.

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The pandemic sparked enormous creativity on our streets. A central goal was to prevent restaurants and small businesses from shuttering, but New Yorkers also leaned into their love of outdoor dining, stoop life, mutual aid distribution, and sidewalk thrifting. We realized how much we need adequate space for block parties, protests, and festivals.

Since then, red tape, costly permits, and eliminated programs have eroded many of our gains. The quality of our streets and public spaces is vastly uneven. Wealthy neighborhoods have business-led organizations that improve public spaces and champion capital investment, while the rest of the city is left to volunteers and underresourced organizations. The solution for equitable public space must be driven by city government — not private partnerships alone.

We have found answers to these challenges through our experience funding and leading the Local Center. The Local Center connected community organizations and design professionals to bring public spaces to life in eight neighborhoods across the five boroughs.

Read the full article here.