Project for Public Spaces Awards Open Plans with Community Placemaking Grant: Streets as Places & Destination Stations to Transform Clarkson Street for Schools

New York, NY—Open Plans announced today that it has been selected by Project for Public Spaces to receive one of three Community Placemaking Grants: Streets as Places & Destinations Stations to transform Clarkson Street in Manhattan into a safer, more welcoming space for two area schools. Thanks to support from General Motors, Open Plans will receive $100,000 in direct funding, as well as planning, implementation, and capacity building assistance from Project for Public Spaces. 

A building on Clarkson Street in Manhattan, New York, is home to two diverse, specialized schools without a gym: City-As-School MS 560 and M721, a District 75 school. Without traffic calming measures or adequate pedestrian space, Clarkson Street is hectic, congested with cars during peak hours, and dangerous, with drivers using it as a cut-through to the nearby Holland Tunnel. The Community Placemaking Grant awarded to Open Plans will expand upon Clarkson Street’s success in NYC Department of Transportation’s Open Streets for Schools program, by improving the design of the street for a more lasting, engaging, and safe space for programming and usage by students and neighbors. 

"We are thrilled to continue our work with City-As-School and to partner with Project for Public Spaces to help the school realize a calmer and more student-centered Clarkson Street. Open Plans originally helped City-As-School secure an Open Street in early 2024 to allow students the space they deserve to come together as a community, navigate car traffic safely, and to allow them to move and play!” said Sabina Sethi Unni, Schools Planner at Open Plans. “With this partnership and funding, we are eager to support the school by making permanent infrastructure improvements that allow for a safer street and reduce the burden on administrators." 

Launched in fall of 2021, Project for Public Spaces’ Community Placemaking Grants enable US-based nonprofits and government agencies to address inequality of access by working directly with local stakeholders to transform public spaces or co-create new ones. This cohort of grantees, which includes the 20th project since the program’s inception, was awarded for project goals that align with one of two outlined initiatives of focus. One initiative, “Streets as Places,” will improve traffic safety while enhancing the role of streets as the most accessible public spaces across the U.S. and the other initiative, “Destination Stations,” will improve user experience and raise awareness of micro-mobility options, EV charging, and public transit at mobility hubs through public space amenities and programming. 

“We welcome our Community Placemaking Grantees and applaud their dedication to creating lively streets and vibrant public spaces that are safe, accessible, and enjoyable for everyone,” said Elena Madison, Project for Public Spaces’ Director of Projects. “We are excited to work together to bring out the full potential of each space and can’t wait to see the positive and lasting impact they will have on their communities.” 

The selection criteria required applicants to engage community groups, participate in an open-ended visioning process, demonstrate the ability to deliver the project on time and on budget, and form strong partnerships with relevant organizations and public agencies. The placemaking projects funded through this grant program will take a “lighter, quicker, cheaper” approach, which emphasizes high-impact, low-cost improvements that contribute to long-term community goals. 

The two other Community Placemaking Grant recipients are Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, for developing a mobility hub along the Joe Louis Greenway in Detroit, MI, and Atlanta Downtown, for enhancing mobility at Garnett Station in Atlanta, GA. 

Open Plans will begin working with Project for Public Spaces’ Placemaking team in April to organize visioning sessions with their respective communities, before conceptualizing an activation plan, designing, construction, and programmatic implementation take place. Projects are expected to be completed by May 2026. 

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