History

Open Plans began as a project to create a more connected relationship between New Yorkers, their streets, and their city government. Officially founded in 1999, the organization spent its early years focusing on leveraging technology tools to inspire civic understanding and engagement. The staff developed mapping tools that could analyze the issues that impacted New Yorkers on a block-by-block basis – public transportation, using street space for community use, public safety from car dominance, mobility and pedestrian infrastructure, and access to public space. Using the information gathered, the organization began to not only map the issues but develop and propose solutions. 

As time went on, Open Plans began to focus on New Yorkers’ experience of city streets and the joy of using streets as public spaces. In 2008 and 2009, the organization collaborated with Transportation Alternatives and Project for Public Spaces to launch the New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign. The campaign challenged the auto-centric policies that create unsafe, inhospitable streets. Across the city (with special focus in several neighborhoods including Chelsea and the Upper West Side), the project hosted visioning events, block parties, walking tours, panel discussions with planners, architects, and city officials including DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn and renowned Danish architect and urban designer Jan Gehl. This work led to the first protected bike lanes in New York City, along Manhattan’s 9th Avenue, as well as years of streetscape changes on the Upper West Side. 

Between 2010 and 2015, Open Plans built on their success and merged their tech and advocacy approaches. Working directly with municipalities and the latest open-source technology, the organization created maps allowing people to indicate issues in their neighborhoods, specifically around mobility and public space. These maps helped shape and inform advocacy campaigns related to addressing the evident issues. Working with schools became a major focus; a new education and advocacy arm of the organization taught students how to identify safety issues on their commutes to school and empowered them to navigate their paths more safely. This work often led to students learning more about urban design and civics. Through drawings, petitions, and letters, students spoke at community boards and even engaged with elected officials, learning the power of civic engagement.

Late in 2018, motivated by the city’s plans – and once in a generation opportunity – to redesign the Robert Moses-era 79th Street Rotunda, Open Plans launched their StreetopiaUWS project. Rooted in grassroots advocacy and Open Plans’ long-standing work on the Upper West Side, StreetopiaUWS fought for a people-first approach to redesigning this critical infrastructure.  Though the city pushed forward and ultimately got approval for their car-first $150-200MM plan, Streetopia elevated the conversation and secured some people-centered changes to the city's plans. This work highlighted the need for an entire culture shift around who we build our neighborhoods for and how we support them. Today, Streetopia continues to advocate for the reimagining of our streets and local parks, pushing the city and our elected officials to see the life-reinforcing opportunities when streets are designed to support people and their lives and not solely dedicated to the movement and storage of automobiles. 

Around the same time that Open Plans relaunched work on the Upper West Side, Open Plans also launched the Neighborhood Empowerment Project, a campaign to educate New Yorkers about the lack of care in our public spaces and what public space management is (and could be). The project aimed to illuminate the harms of car-centric planning and to inspire everyday people to start advocating for the city to care for public spaces, especially in residential areas. Open Plans produced a report outlining these issues, and months later, the Covid-19 pandemic reinforced the need for more public space. 

The Covid-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for New York City but ushered in a new era for Open Plans. As the city was forced to repurpose street space for safe public gatherings, many guiding principles of livability and people-centered space became commonplace. Suddenly, congested streets were transformed into car-free community space; curb lanes once relegated to parking were transformed into business-saving outdoor cafes. Open Plans seized on this spirit of innovation, using it as a novel opportunity to call for systemic reprioritization that would last long after bans on indoor gathering were lifted. Across the city and especially on the Upper West Side, Open Plans and StreetopiaUWS used outdoor gatherings as a connecting tool. The new Open Streets program offered a first-ever opportunity for communities to reprogram their own streets for strolling, playing, dancing, and learning; and Open Plans was there to share the potential of streets and sidewalks directly with communities. This work brought new energy and clarity to the public space goals of the Neighborhood Empowerment Project. Building from those goals and early pandemic experiences in public space, Open Plans’ launched an ambitious campaign calling for a central Office of Public Space Management in 2020. This city office would address the care and management of burgeoning public spaces systemically, and reprioritize our streets for diverse uses.

As momentum grew, the organization hired new policy expertise to pursue long-lasting change in city government. This policy work augmented, and was informed by, the connections made directly with communities at the grassroots level. This dual focus is a hallmark of Open Plans’ unique approach. Today, the parallel work at the community and policy levels takes a broad lens on livability. With a focus on generally reducing driving and dismantling car culture, Open Plans pursues diverse projects. Advocacy for mobility infrastructure and people-centered street design directly targets how our roadways are planned; while campaigns for public space management, parking policy, and curb reform aim to reimagine the way government can actively create more optimized and enriching communities. Underpinning every campaign is a deep belief that New York City’s streets can and should be central to leading a healthy, happy, and enriching life.