Above: BQE BYO: Park(ing) Day After Party!

Thank you Park(ing) Day organizers for all of your hard work and participation in Park(ing) Day NYC 2010! Your enthusiasm and creativity are what makes this day a success year after year. As we traveled from the Upper West Side to Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn we saw so many creative spaces including Park(ing) Spots encouraging children to re-imagine their streets, others demanding more community space, and organizations and students promoting sustainable practices such as composting and green design. And all the spaces in between gave us a place to relax and enjoy some good conversations about public space with you.

We really hoped you enjoyed Park(ing) Day as much as we did and will participate next year. If you had fun out on the streets please consider hosting a space next year. Again, all that you do makes this day an eye opener for New Yorkers and an opportunity to show the potential for building up our communities.

And thank you to Architecture for Humanity, Design Trust for Public Space, DoTank: Brooklyn, Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project, and all the volunteers who made the BQE BYO: Park(ing) Day After Party such a success. And be sure to check out next months Public Space Potluck courtesy of Design Trust for Public Space, http://designtrust.blogspot.com/, to continue the dialogue about creating more public spaces in our neighborhoods.

Here is some press coverage of the event and check Flickr for photos of spaces across the city:
Flickr photos

New York Times The Local Coverage

Columbia Spectator

Columbia Spectator Video Coverage

DNA Info: Upper West Side

Alt Transport Blog

Gothamist

Upper West Side on Streetsblog:

Queens Coverage on Streetsblog:

L Magazine Coverage of the Time’s Up Garden Space @ Bloombergs

L Magazine Coverage of BQE BYO: A Park(ing) Day After Party

Gamma Blog Video of Lower Manhattan Park(ing) Spots

Your work has helped greatly in opening the minds of New Yorkers to the possibility of reclaiming their streets from the private automobile!
Thanks again and we’ll see you on the streets next year!

We are ecstatic that tomorrow is Park(ing) Day and though we won’t be able to visit every space we hope you’ll take a lot of pictures. Tag photos on Flickr with “parkingdaynyc” or join the Park(ing) Day NYC Flickr group and add photos. Also be sure to tweet all the fun things happening at a Park(ing) Spot near you and tag your tweets with #parkingdaynyc

And come join us down under the BQE on Park and Washington Aves in Brooklyn from 6:00 to 8:00pm for the BYO BQE: Park(ing) Day After Party!

Transportation Alternatives is partnering with Architecture for Humanity, Design Trust for Public Space, DoTank: Brooklyn and Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project to reclaim a portion of a parking lot for a communal potluck in celebration of Park(ing) Day NYC!

Bring a dish to share since the best dish will win a $200 gift certificate from Body by Brooklyn, a local spa. Fresh Fanatic will also be providing a small amount of fresh food.

Bring some of your old and new found friends and come relax alongside other Park(ing) Day folks at the giant communal dinner table made of recycled wooden pallets from the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

And we’d like to give Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project, DoTank: Brooklyn, Design Trust and Architecture for Humanity serious props for their hard work building this amazing installation.  And be sure to check out next months Design Trust for Public Space Potluck.

Directions:
C or G Train to Clinton Washington and walk north to Washington and Park Ave.
Or use the Park(ing) Day NYC Map in Google to get biking directions!

Tomorrow is Park(ing) Day! There are over 50 amazing spaces throughout all 5 boroughs of New York City and we suggest you take a short walk during your busy work day and enjoy a Park(ing) Spot near you!

As part of our series highlighting Park(ing) Day NYC organizers we spoke with Josef Szende an Urban Planning student at Columbia, an active member of the Manhattan Young Democrats and a long time Transportation Alternatives supporter. He helped create two Park(ing) Spots last year surrounding environmental issues such as open space and sustainable transportation. This year he is helping organize a political forum on transportation in a Park(ing) Spot through the Manhattan Young Democrats (Broadway and 93rd Street, Manhattan). And he is also working with other students in Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation to create a dorm room in a Park(ing) Spot. Amazing! We had the opportunity to ask this very busy urban planner and livable streets activist about his experience with Park(ing) Days past.

Park(ing) Day NYC: What do you enjoy most about Park(ing) Day?

Josef Szende: I love so many things about Park(ing) Day. Teaching people about America’s vast parking epidemic is wonderful but I think the greatest joy of Park(ing) Day is bringing people together to make a Park(ing) spot.

PDNYC:How has Park(ing) Day helped promote Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and local issues in New York?

Left: Josef Szende being interview on Park(ing) Day 2009

JS: The timing of Park(ing) Day is great for the urban planning school year. For two years in a row we have brought together 2nd year planners and architecture students to design and build Park(ing) Spots. Both years it has served as an excellent introduction to a key lesson of urban planning: we give over too much space to cars both when they are moving and especially when they are parked. Students interested in parking or (more likely) in public space can go on to research this more during their degree.

PDNYC: Do you have any stories or memorable events from Park(ing) Day 2009?

JS: Getting on to the news with New York 1 was really amazing. They only took a short clip of me explaining Park(ing) Day and they really featured one of our spots which was great: Park(ing) Space becomes Public Place The other great thing was how people just walked up to us and started talking about transportation and cars. No matter what their opinion, the conversation is welcome and critically important to the future of the city. Even if people walk up and they seem to be very pro-car, a brand new park right in your backyard is pretty hard to argue with!

PDNYC: Has Park(ing) Day changed your view of what public space is and  can be in New York City?

JS: Yes. I think it has such far-reaching potential. New York was made for Park(ing) Day. The city has truly dense and diverse uses of its streets, which are very contentious. There is no better vantage point than an on-street Park(ing) Spot for provoking debate about what can and should be in the street. It pushes us even further to consider the entire area from one row of buildings to another as a space that we don’t have to travel through but can actually stop in and enjoy. Maybe we need a new word to name these places instead of “streets”? What about Bleeker Space or Amsterdam Area?

Right: Columbia Students create green space for Park(ing) Day 2009

PDNYC: Can you tell us a bit about the spaces you’ll be creating in Morningside Heights for Park(ing) Day NYC 2010?

JS: This year we have been wondering: can you fit an entire dorm room into a parking spot? We think so. We’ll be at 113th and Broadway with a bed, desk, chairs, and a bulletin board, and we are pretty sure they’re all going to fit in there nicely. We’ll also be creating instant college memories for passers-by where we’ll take their picture and pin it up with their caption of what they would rather use a parking spot for (of course, no cars allowed!).

PDNYC: What advice can you give new Park(ing) Spot hosts?

JS: Meet as early as you can - beginning of August is a good time. I’d say it’s also nice to have a bit of a diverse team. Though not necessary, it’s really nice to have at least one person who is handy with tools and stuff. Outgoing and friendly people are really important on Park(ing) Day itself. At the end of the day any group of people can pull off an amazing Park(ing) Day spot! In terms of designing it, the more creative it is, the better. I loved last years’ Park(ing) Pit. Parks are about play and so is Park(ing) Day. We forgot to take enough photos, so please remember to do that!

PDNYC: Why do you think people should host a Park(ing) Spot?

JS: It is pure joy. Everything about it is enjoyable: thinking of crazy Park(ing) ideas with friends, gathering or building whatever materials are necessary, and being outside all day on the streets of New York. It is just so much fun.

Upper West Siders be sure to stop by and get a snap shot of your custom designed dorm at P.A.R.K (Pick A Room, Kid) on Broadway and 113th Avenue in Manhattan!

David Kim and Mike Seto, two Masters in Industrial Design students at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, spent a month traveling the country in a camper exploring small mobile living spaces. They traveled the US touring industrial assembly lines from rail car restoration plants to the classic Airstream RV factory. This experience inspired them to create temporary community spaces for people displaced by natural or man-made catastrophes. By converting shipping containers into temporary habitable tech-hubs, displaced communities can connect to their families and friends abroad when all possibility of communication seems lost.

The essence of (project) PL is to provide human friendly temporary spaces for disaster victims through sustainable “green” design.
“When examining emergency management efforts post-response / recovery, we noticed that many of the designs are innately de-humanizing… We’ve not seen the social aspect addressed in either response or recovery. In this day-in-age of social-networks, growing public spaces, and added connectivity, it’s clear that we as humans need to be social in various communities.

At right: Concept rendering of (project) PL

Place, abbreviated is “PL”, and we want to encourage these community spaces. (project) PL does this by modifying shipping containers for use as public parks, market places, squares, etc. by any community…The containers are retrofitted with solar powered wi-fi antennas, and are shipped with modular platforms as well as hand-held touchscreen computer tablets. In conjunction with relief efforts, our desire is for the communities receiving PLs to take ownership of them, which is why we’re called (project) PL. Project is intended to be substituted with the location - e.g. (New Orleans) PL. We’re dedicated to designing this environmentally sustainable electronic system for community spaces, because we live in an exciting new world where “Green Design” isn’t simply a buzz-word for the future - it’s the new standard for all design.” (courtesy of (project) PL)

Below: (Brooklyn) PL under Construction

(Brooklyn) PL will be on display in conjunction with Park(ing) Day at Pratt Institute’s 2nd Floor Main Gallery on DeKalb Avenue between Steuben Street and Grand Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. The Opening Reception is Thursday September 16th from 6-9pm and will also be a potluck where people are encouraged to bring anything to add to the community: food, seating, art, or even something to trade.

Though (Brooklyn) PL is displayed indoors Park(ing) Day NYC feels this project hits at the heart of public space creation. We talked a bit further with David Kim about (project) PL and how the ideas behind this event coincide with Park(ing) Day.

Park(ing) Day NYC: (Brooklyn) PL is being exhibited indoors how does this installation promote the ideas behind Park(ing) Day?

David Kim: To us, Park(ing) Day is a reclamation and celebration of community space. Whether that be transforming a parking space, or any space not commonly used primarily for community. In this, we feel a strong connection to the spirit of Park(ing) Day. Our exhibit is an exercise of the same idea, but creating an outdoor park space inside a gallery.

PDNYC: Usually we experience our computers indoors. In what ways can technology and open spaces be integrated?
DK: Eventually, we want to incorporate how people use virtual communities outdoors; which is why we want to retrofit shipping containers into Wi-Fi antennas. Presently, people are connected in so many ways; we believe our physical spaces should reflect that.

PDNYC: Have you experienced Park(ing) Day in the past and did it transform your view of public space?

DK: I personally experienced Park(ing) Day last year, and I thought it was such a thoughtful way of implementing Experiential Design with a message in a non-preachy, fun way. The wonderful and eclectic community I witnessed is something I’m really excited to participate in this year!

Our exhibit will be open to the public this Thursday, Sept 16th at 6:00pm - 9:00pm and Friday from 10:00am to 5:00pm. We’d love to have anyone join us!

At right: (Brooklyn) PL platform raising in Pratt Gallery

To share this map link to http://blog.parkingdaynyc.org/2010map

View Park(ing) Day NYC 2010 in a larger map

Need to find a Park(ing) Spot near you, check out the Park(ing) Day NYC Map!

Check the blog later this weekend for a full interactive online map of all the Park(ing) Spots in NYC with hours and descriptions listed!

With 50 spaces in New York City we’d like to take a moment to thank the amazing individuals and organizations bringing these new amazing public spaces to our city.

Bronx

Sustainable South Bronx

South Bronx Watershed Alliance

The Point CDC

Nos Quedamos

Southeast Bronx Neighborhood Center

Brooklyn

Sustainable Flatbush

Academy of Urban Planning

Spread Art

Architecture for Humanity

Do Tank

Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project

Design Trust

Gnarly Vines

Neighbors Allied for Good Growth

SPACECRAFT

Bags for the People

Hosh Yoga

Grey’s Studio Cafe

New York Compost Project in Brooklyn

Manhattan

New Yorkers for Parks

Project for Public Spaces

Council Member Gale Brewer and her staff

Democracy Now! in Spanish

Van Alan Institute

Performance Space 122

Neighborhood Initiative Development Corporation

No Longer Empty

Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP)

Green Builders at Columbia

Columbia University GreenBorough

Barnard EcoReps

Street Easy

Manhattan Young Democrats

West 75th Street Block Association

Upper West Side Street Renaissance

Fordham University Architecture and Theater Departments

NYU Earth Matters

NYU Green

NYU Wagner Transportation Association

Urbanitis

Time’s Up

Art for Change

Queens

Queens Botanical Garden

New York City Compost Project in Queens

Queens Harvest Food Coop

Staten Island

New York City Compost Project in Staten Island

Park(ing) Day NYC is on Septmeber 17th, 2010 and there will be transformed spaces throughout all 5 boroughs of New York City!

This year we have just shy of 50 Park(ing) Spots, including 3 new spaces in Staten Island. We are excited to see the 5th borough back on the Park(ing) Day NYC map.

We will have Park(ing) Day maps available at all spaces on September 17th and you may also see a few around your neighborhood or in your local coffee shop in the coming weeks! Contact alyssa@transalt.org if you’d like to pass out Park(ing) Day flyers or maps in your neighborhood.

And this year there will be a Park(ing) Day After Party, more info coming soon!