2024: The FAR, Federal Acquisition Regulations, Part 30
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The Future of Parks and Public Space
1. Photo:NYCParks
The Future of Parks
and Public Space
Mitchell Silver, FAICP, Hon. ASLA
Email: Mitchell.silver@parks.nyc.gov
Twitter & Instagram: @mitchell_silver
2. NYC Parks By the Numbers
30,000 acres of parkland
10,000 acres of natural areas
1,900 parks
1,000 playgrounds
1,000 buildings
155 miles of coast
14 miles of public beaches
2 million trees in parks
650,000 street trees
67 pools
48 recreational facilities
17 nature centers
1,200 monuments
28 art exhibits
2,500 miles of GreenStreets
1,772 basketball courts
800 athletic fields
600 community gardens
500 tennis courts
13 golf courses
9 ice skating rinks
23 historic houses
14 green roofs
400 concession contracts
1,800 community groups
7,000 Full Time Equivalents
(FTEs)
$532M FY18 Expense Budget
$4.0B 10-year Capital Budget
Over 570 active projects
10. 1. Parks are not just green spaces,
but public spaces for people
2. Spaces for physical and mental
well being
3. Not just an amenity, but city
infrastructure that must be
integrated with the economy,
environment and people in mind.
4. First line of defense against
climate change
Parks in the 21st Century
Photo: NYC Parks
13. Capital in Context
โข NYC Parks spent ~ $5.7 billion
on capital improvements over the
past two decades
โข Acquired 1,168 acres since 2001
โข 81.5% New Yorkers live within
a walk of a park
โข Proximity vs. Quality
Photos: NYC Parks
15. Equity in Context
โข 215 parks across the city
received minimal capital
investment - less than
$250,000 over 20 years
Map: NYC Parks
16. CPI Capital Program
Invest $318M to re-create 67 community parks
Targeted Physical Improvements
111 smaller-scale physical park improvement projects
โข All work done with in-house crews
โข Repainting/repairing play equipment
โข Repainting handball courts and multi-purpose play areas
โข Repainting/repairing benches
โข Improving horticultural areas and lawn restoration
โข Sports coating
Community Parks Initiative
16
43. โข Experience of Place
โข Memory of Place
โข Authenticity of Place
โข Donโt just create a park or public
space, MAKE A PLACE.
Placemaking and Spacemaking
Photo: Ken Bowers
44. Source: Mitchell Silver adapted from various sources Photos: NYC Parks
Plan for the Consumers
Greatest Generation 1901-1924
Silent/Mature Generation 1923-1945
Baby Boom Generation 1946-1964
Generation X 1965-1981
Generation Y 1982-1995
Generation Z 1996-today
45. Future Consumer Demand
Photos: xxxxxxxSource: James Chung, Reach Advisors
Future consumer
preferences and
market demands
46. Generational Profiles: New York City
Greatest Generation 1901-1924 1.9%
Silent/Mature Generation 1923-1945 10.9%
Baby Boom Generation 1946-1964 24.5%
Generation X 1965-1981 22.6%
Generation Y 1982-1995 22.3%
Generation Z 1996-today 17.8%
XYZ total (53 and under) 62.7%
Source: Methodology developed by Mitchell Silver based on 2013 U.S. Census
47. Previous generations were
consumers of goods.
New generations are
consumers of experiences.
We should not be just
designers and planners, but
experience builders
Consumer Preferences
Photo: Mitchell Silver
48. People may eat and sleep in their
homes or apartments, but they
live in the public realm.
53. What about the Public Realm?
Streets, sidewalks, bike lanes,
parks, and public spaces are
viewed as separate systems and
managed by different agencies.
Parks 14%
Streets and sidewalks 26%
NYC Public Realm 40%
Photo: ny.curbed.com
54. 54Parks Without BordersThe sidewalk adjacent to the park should be considered the outer park
- Frederick Law Olmsted
55. 55Parks Without Borders
NYC City Charter, Chapter 21
Parks: to manage and care for all parks,
squares, public places, the sidewalks
immediately adjoining the same..
63. OneNYC calls for greater
access to parks for all New
Yorkers. Parks Without
Borders is a key strategy to
achieve this goal.
$50 million has been set aside
to make it a reality.
Excerpt from OneNYC Report
64. Parks Without Borders is
a new design approach
focusing on improving the
areas where parks and
neighborhoods meet:
entrances, edges, and
park-adjacent spaces.
Entrances
Edges
Park-adjacent spaces
69. โข Map online
November 12โMarch 1
โข Over 6,100 nominations
โข 692 Parks
โข All 59 community boards
โข All 5 boroughs
Public Feedback
70. โข Faber Park
โข Seward Park
โข Jackie Robinson Park
โข Van Cortlandt Park
โข Hugh Grant Circle /
Virginia Park and Playground
โข Flushing Meadows Corona Park
โข Fort Greene Park
โข Prospect Park
8 Showcase Projects
50 Pipeline Projects
PROSPECT
PARK
FORT GREENE
PARK
FLUSHING
MEADOWS
CORONA PARK
FABER
POOL
AND
PARK
SEWARD
PARK
JACKIE ROBINSON
PARK
VAN CORTLANDT
PARK
HUGH J. GRANT
CIRCLE /
VIRGINIA PARK
& PLGD
80. Current Conditions
Prospect Park โ Flatbush Avenue Entrance
Budget: $3.2M
โข Design completion: January 2018 (Pending LPC Approval)
โข Anticipated construction completion: Winter 2019/2020
โข This project includes the construction of 2 new entrances into Prospect Park at the northern section of Flatbush Avenue. The scope incorporates new paving, benches, and
rustic stone work to respect the character of this Landmarked Park.
New Design
These initiatives also help us to speak to some of the criticisms that may arise about this program.
We are developing a number of other immediate approaches to help us better address our needs from an equity and resource-based perspectiveโsystematically and across the park system
These initiatives also help us to speak to some of the criticisms that may arise about this program.
We are developing a number of other immediate approaches to help us better address our needs from an equity and resource-based perspectiveโsystematically and across the park system
NYC Parks will plan with communities to facilitate catalytic projects at 35 existing local parks.
Analyze site condition and usage
Conduct community planning and outreach
Leverage partnerships with community groups as well as sister agencies and elected officials
Develop design principles and reprogram parks with community stakeholder input
We are here today to talk about Parks Without Borders,
which is an exciting new initiative to better connect parks with their surrounding communities.
OneNYC, which is the Mayorโs comprehensive plan for the city released in April of 2015, calls for greater access to parks as part of a plan for a Strong and Just City. Parks without Borders is a key strategy to achieve this. And $50million has been set aside to make it a reality.
For entrances, we are looking to widen entrances and move them to corners or other areas the better align with where people approach the park. We are improving sight lines into the park, and we are adding amenities such as entry plazas, seating, and decoration to help make the entrances places in their own right and to make them visible from far away. These changes will help make parks more welcoming and draw more people into the park.
Along park edges we are looking to lower fences and improve visibility into and out of the park. We also want to add seating, street trees, and other amenities along park edges to activate them and bring the beauty of the park out into the neighborhood. These changes will help make neighborhoods more beautiful and also make parks safer by improving natural surveillance of park spaces.
For park adjacent spaces, we are looking to open these spaces up where they are fenced off, and to add amenities to allow people to use them. For these efforts, we are going to target spaces with good connections to existing concentrations of activity, such as commercial streets or public institutions like libraries or museums. Basically, the spaces that hundreds of people walk by every day but currently aren't used for anything.
New Yorkers nominated sites for new Parks Without Borders projects through our online map.
NYC Parks also held 37 public meetings and presentations at community boards, libraries, and computer resource centers citywide.
