Saying goodbye to summer interns
Walker, Sabina, Marium and Henry at Jackson Heights’ Paseo Park.
Our first cohort of summer interns has officially wrapped up their time at Open Plans! It was such a pleasure to have these four students on our team. Since June, these industrious students have traveled the five boroughs, connecting with New Yorkers, city agencies and fellow advocates. They’ve been welcomed into communities and rained out at street fairs. They’ve led tours about people-centered design on Roosevelt Island and in Jackson Heights. Each intern focused on a single issue for the duration of the summer and they worked closely with a staff mentor to guide their process and final deliverables. On August 4th, each intern gave a presentation to Open Plans staff and other community members culminating the summer’s work.
We’re going to share those presentations and final reports, but we also wanted to hear directly from them about their experiences this summer. So we asked a few closing questions about their projects, their processes, and what they’re looking forward to next year.
We have really enjoyed having Henry, Marium, Sabina and Walker on the team this summer. Their curiosity, consciousness and fresh perspectives have enriched the work of everyone on staff. Read their answers below and you’ll see for yourself how thoughtful and capable they are. (If you haven’t read our first blog post introducing these four students and their internship projects, do that first!)
What surprised you the most about the process or the outcome?
Marium, who focused on parking placard abuse: I was quite new to the issue when I started researching placard abuse, but the most exciting part was finding out how people had advocated against it in the past.
Henry, who worked with members of the Corona and East Elmhurts communities: I was not expecting the vast majority, if not all, of the Corona residents that I ended up speaking and working with to be mothers. In almost every meeting and outreach session, I was the only man involved.
Walker, who researched curb reform: The curb is SO complex—I had no idea how complicated curb management and design can be! I could spend a lifetime studying the curb in NYC and never find all the "answers"—which was equally frustrating, exciting, and reassuring to realize throughout the project.
Sabina, who worked on street closures near schools: Everything is about funding. I guess it’s not surprising, but the extent to which schools are able to have programming and structural support (like parent volunteers to watch barricades) and are even able to agitate for change is so dependent on the robustness of their PTA is frustrating. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the city and the state could better resource schools so that every kid could benefit from loving school streets?
What ended up being most challenging?
Marium: Getting answers! Finding data!
Walker: Trying to find a definitive answer to how much curb space NYC has in all five boroughs—the jury's still out!
Sabina: Only having two months to work on such a compelling project!
Henry: The language barrier was the most challenging aspect of my internship; I had to brush up on my Spanish a lot this summer. Even though I am not fluent, the main language of communication between the mothers and I was Spanish. Though it was difficult at times, the effort was absolutely worth it. I have my slightly improved Spanish skills to show for it.
What's one new place you visited this summer?
Marium: The City Hall and the 34th Ave Open Street
Walker: I was thrilled to visit the 34th Ave Open Street and Corona Plaza for the first time! Big thanks to Henry for showing us around.
Henry: I had never been on the roof of a walkup before this summer!
Sabina: Ocean Breeze, Staten Island - which is home to no school or open streets - it’s a neighborhood that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy so the city and state bought out much of a residential neighborhood and so it’s now mostly overgrown vacant lots and a lonely neighborhood deli. Really interesting precedent and learning experience for a burgeoning public space practitioner!
Any new insights you walked away with?
Marium: I got to experience and contribute to urban advocacy campaigns at Open Plans. It was inspiring to see the work advocacy does in holding governments accountable. I also got to learn how campaigns are built gradually over years, every big and small effort contributing to their life, until the campaign has its moment. All the slow, gradual work is just as important as big breakthroughs.
Sabina: As I learn more about urban planning, I have become more critical of application processes - from open street applications to disaster relief funds to means testing. Besides often cutting off participants who operate in informality or who don’t understand the forms, in this information collection exercise is the assumption of fraud or dishonesty or noncompliance. What would urban planning look like if it were more trusting? How could we resource people better and more efficiently and more robustly?
Henry: Considering that all the Corona residents I worked with were mothers of public school students, we sometimes delved into discussions related to education and school policy. The mothers expressed how difficult it is for Hispanic parents to get involved in the local community education council and fight against administrative decisions that are made against the wishes of parents. I saw many parallels between their grievances related to education and the difficulties of creating new public space in neighborhoods lacking.
Walker: I feel like I have this new lens that's highly attuned to the curbside lane as invaluable public space. In just these two months with Open Plans I will forever see the curb as both a site of great constentation and also tremendous possibility. This internship was also a great reminder and behind the scenes look into how much work goes into advocacy and campaigns for livable streets and better public spaces across the city. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to learn from the staff and fellow interns!
What are you excited about for the new fall semester?
Sabina: I am most excited to continue this research and project with OpenPlans! [Ed. note: Sabina will be continuing her project with us into the fall semester and we’re thrilled to have her!]
Marium: I’m excited to start working on my graduate thesis. I have tons of ideas and inspiration from working at Open Plans and from being in the company of urban advocates who want to make city streets safe and lively.
Walker: I'm excited and nervous to finalize ideas for my thesis! I'm also really looking forward to my studio, where we'll be doing a land use planning study for a site in Atlanta, GA and working with the community to implement a participatory planning process.
Henry: I am excited for the chance to wear fall clothes again; my trenchcoat has been in my closet for far too long.
We’ll be sharing each intern’s presentation and report shortly, so you’ll have an opportunity to dive even further into their work and experiences this summer. In the meantime, please join us in saying goodbye and good luck to this smart, resourceful and joyful group!