In the heart of Kensington, one of NYC's most diverse immigrant neighborhoods, Avenue C Plaza stands as a testament to community-driven transformation. What was once a neglected asphalt triangle has become a multilingual, multigenerational gathering space where 33+ languages and cultures converge. The Kensington Cultural Council's collaborative stewardship has created a rare truly public space in the neighborhood—hosting everything from Bengali New Year celebrations to multicultural Iftars, ESL classes to youth-led art exhibitions. Their work demonstrates the power of people coming together across difference, especially in moments of struggle and resilience, proving that physical limitations can spark cultural abundance.

The weather is just starting to turn, but New Yorkers have summer on the brain. More than 20 elected officials, in all five boroughs, have now written letters to DOT in support of Summer Streets, the long-running program that opens streets to people for four Saturdays in August. Their letters echo what Open Plans has been urging for years—more weekends, more hours, more streets for people.

In case you missed it, we spent last Friday outside C&B Cafe on East 7th Street, operating a technically illegal curbside cafe. Technically illegal because New York City’s current curbside dining law requires that those spots revert to parking from December to March. We got some great coverage and have launched a campaign to fix the issuesonce and for all. We had a chat with our co-executive director Sara Lind for more on why we care about curbside dining. 

Last week, the Open Plans team shipped up to Albany! Early one morning, my colleagues and I hopped on a train heading north toward a full day of meetings with State legislators. We talked about the importance of Open Plans’ priority bills for the session, including: Universal Daylighting, Automated Curb Enforcement, Speed Limiters for Reckless Drivers, and the Get Around NY Act

This May 1st—May Day—we celebrate not only the spirit of renewal and collective action, but also the people who make our city’s streets and public spaces more welcoming, vibrant, and joyful. We’re excited to invite you to the 2025 Public Space Awards at Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg.

Looking at the cars in your neighborhood, you probably assume that most are coming to or from somewhere nearby. But actually, a majority is cut-through traffic. These drivers aren’t your neighbors, and they’re not visiting a resident or a local business — they’re just using your small, residential streets kind of like a thruway. In Brooklyn's Community Board 6, it's at 76%! That's three out of every four drivers just using those streets to get somewhere else. 

Think the traffic outside your window is from your neighborhoods? Actually, up to 90% of drivers in NYC neighborhoods are just using local streets as a shortcut. 'Cut-through driving' is turning residential blocks into miniature unofficial thruways and creating chaos, pollution, and unsafe streets for residents.

We have helped 21 community boards pass daylighting resolutions, demonstrating to DOT that New Yorkers want safer intersections and they're willing to trade some street parking to get them. These grassroots efforts are extremely powerful, but our best chance at widespread change is a new bill, now in the City Council, that would mandate New York City daylight all intersections and put items - like planters, seating, or bike racks - in the spots.

Our 2025 Agenda for a Livable City is live! These are the policies we'll be working to get enacted before the year is through. Among a bunch of bills and bright ideas are five priorities we see as the biggest opportunities for making real change in 2025.

New York City’s streets are world-renowned for their culture, vitality and dynamism. But these qualities don’t materialize out of thin air – they’re a product of dedicated leadership and bold imaginations right in our own backyard. It’s this work, day-in and day-out, that builds a more equitable, people-centered future for our city. This year, we’re recognizing seven neighborhood leaders and groups doing the extraordinary, too-often unseen work of creating and caring for spaces in their local communities.

Happy first week of congestion pricing to all who celebrate! Who should celebrate? Literally everyone, because whether you're waiting on a late bus, playing Frogger to cross the street, or stuck in record-setting car traffic, congestion pricing will be good for you. But the City can't just sit back and celebrate. We must put the newly freed street space to work, reclaiming and reusing it to double down on congestion pricing's impact. 

The dust has settled on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity City Council vote and we can clearly see the new picture of parking requirements across the city. So what did we get?

Halloween has to be one of our most public space-y holidays, right? It's all about strolling your neighborhood, seeing and being seen, soaking up the festival atmosphere as you visit with fellow revelers. This tradition hinges on having a walkable community where people aren't too far apart, you know the folks who live next door, and the sidewalks and streets are safe for kids to wander at night. In other words - it hinges on livability.

We’ve talked a lot during the lengthy public review process about why lifting parking mandates in City of Yes is crucial to building more affordable housing and a more livable city. With a just a few weeks left before City Council votes on a final version of this historic text amendment, we want to talk specifics.

Halloween has to be one of our most public space-y holidays, right? It's all about strolling your neighborhood, seeing and being seen, soaking up the festival atmosphere as you visit with fellow revelers. This tradition hinges on having a walkable community where people aren't too far apart, you know the folks who live next door, and the sidewalks and streets are safe for kids to wander at night. In other words - it hinges on livability.