Photo credits: Urban Dip, Urban Swim in New York City. Drinking Water in the Public Realm, Water-On-the-Go at City Hall Park, courtesy of NYC Water. Just Water Futures in NYC: Shut-off notice chalk courtesy of NYC DEP. The Blue Zones Toolkit: Map from New York Botanical Garden. The Dissolving City: Flooding image by Field Form X Storrie X Mossel.
Last fall Design Trust for Public Space launched our 12th Request for Proposals on the theme of Water: Designing an Equitable Water Future for NYC. We invited New Yorkers to imagine solutions to water issues around the five boroughs, like the demand for access to the waterfront and the challenges to public life exacerbated by increased flooding and heavy rain, and to rethink our connection to our waterways and liquid infrastructure.
We received an abundance of creative and tangible ways to center design excellence in the public realm’s approach to water. From artists to architects, community organizers to your next door neighbor, from Rockaway to Orchard Beach, ideas spanning drinking fountains and public toilets, these project proposals reminded us that the story of New York is a story of water.
After a competitive review process by our staff, we are proud to announce 26 semi-finalist project ideas. Up to five winning projects will be selected from this list by our external Advisory Committee of experts working across water and public space sectors this spring, and receive a $10,000 stipend, the opportunity to participate with the RFP cohort in a nine-month guided project incubator, and the invitation to take part in a 2027 public convening about Water in NYC.
Annabel Finnkel/ Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners: “Drinking Water in the Public Realm”
This project examines how the city’s existing water infrastructure can be adapted to support reliable public drinking water in streets and neighborhood corridors. Through research and cross-agency collaboration, the project sets out to produce a clear action plan for expanding equitable water access. By addressing institutional and operational barriers, the work positions drinking water as essential civic infrastructure within the city’s climate resilience and public space planning efforts. Learn more about Annabel’s work | Follow Star Whitehouse @starrwhitehouse.
Ashrita Shetty: “Block Flood Guardians”
“Block Flood Guardians” investigates street flooding mortality as a crisis of spatial legibility and social infrastructure in neighborhoods experiencing climate vulnerability. The proposal envisions two interdependent forms of community flood resilience infrastructure: site-specific placemaking embedding flood memory and preparedness into everyday public space, and trained residential networks bridging gaps in maintenance and emergency coordination. This project aims to advance understanding of how designed environments can support collective adaptation while informing pathways for integrating community-led climate resilience into municipal planning practice. Learn more about Ashrita Shetty’s work.
Camila A. Morales: “Tides of Green: Reclaiming Medians as Living Infrastructure”
“Tides of Green” is a research and design–based pilot rooted in the Far Rockaways, a coastal community where flooding, storm surges, and long-term disinvestment have directly shaped how residents live and navigate public spaces. This project reimagines overlooked traffic medians in Arverne as community-led rainwater gardens designed to absorb stormwater, reduce heat, and mitigate runoff. Through workshops at Valé EcoLab, residents will receive hands-on training in soils, planting, and green infrastructure, building pathways toward workforce development and climate stewardship. Follow Camila @camilamorales and @vale.ecolab for more on her work in the Far Rockaways coastal community.
Connor Gravelle / Cat Chen: “Public (In)Decency”
“Public (In)Decency” reimagines public restrooms as climate-responsive civic infrastructure for New York City. By linking sanitation with rainwater harvesting, solar collection, and water reuse, the project treats sustainability as a practical strategy for overcoming monetary, infrastructural, and siting barriers that often prevent new facilities from being built. The project would develop an open-source blueprint to be deployed across neighborhoods, positioning public sanitation expansion as a catalyst for broader urban sustainability. By pairing equitable access with environmental performance, the project advances a new model for dignified, resilient public restrooms as part of everyday urban life. Follow Connor and Cat to learn more about their work @connorgravelle & @_cat_chen.
Deanne Draeger/Urban Swim: “Urban Dip”
“Urban Dip” pilots seasonal, safety managed pop-up swim zones at public waterfront sites during safe slack tide conditions. Each event integrates temporary access infrastructure, experienced lifeguards, community programming, and water quality education. Urban Dip will demonstrate that community driven waterfront swimming is scalable, repeatable, and essential to New York City’s public realm.Explore Urban Swim’s mission to make New York City’s waterfront swimmable.
Dennis RedMoon Darkeem/RedMoon Arts Inc: “Rain to Resistance”
“Rain to Resistance” is a community-based water education and research project that builds water literacy through hands-on learning, small-scale rainwater filtration systems, and accessible curriculum. Focused on education rather than permanent infrastructure, the project proposes temporary demonstration models, workshops, and art-based learning to help communities understand what is in their water, why filtration matters, and how clean water supports health and environmental care. Through research, workshops, an illustrated zine, and a short educational film, the project would produce a replicable learning model and public blueprint that supports long-term water stewardship and informed advocacy in New York City, beginning in the Bronx. Learn more about RedMoon Arts.
Elizabeth Sumpter/Futures Ignite: “The New York Hydro Crew”
“Futures Ignite” proposes to expand on its youth environmental leadership platform by forming the New York Teen Hydro Crew, developing a water activism curriculum that can be replicated at any NYC high school as Futures Ignite grows across the city. Units will focus on the region’s waterways, the role of water in healthy ecosystems, sanitation and clean water in the history of urban development and in NYC today, and more, and will include ample hands-on learning, student-led discussions and projects, connections to current events, and more. Follow Futures Ignite to learn more about their current youth engagement work.
Gita Nandan/ Thread Collective: “On the Water”
As sea levels rise, NYC could gain 20,000 to 60,000 acres of new water surface, with 12ft tidal depths, dramatically reshaping its shoreline. Floating structures are a viable solution; moving with the tides, they allow coastal communities to remain in place. “On the Water “is a movement to facilitate, advocate, innovate, and construct floating structures, as an ecological, social and spatial response to climate change. The urgent project would work closely with communities to imagine, plan, and regulate an equitable model for living within the New Inter-tidal Zone. Follow @thread_design to learn more and check out their Thread Collective website here.
Greg Pucillio: “The Seaweed Zone Project”
“The Seaweed Zone Project” aims to make it easier for New Yorkers to explore, propose, and obtain permits for community-scale seaweed aquaculture. By identifying environmentally sound, physically feasible, and socially equitable seaweed cultivation sites along the New York City waterfront, the project would turn complex environmental data and regulatory processes into an accessible feasibility map and a community pilot starter kit. Seaweed can store carbon, promote biodiversity, enhance water quality, and offer a platform for bio-based innovation, providing an engaging and transformative way to connect with nature and your neighbors in a city of water. Explore Greg’s substack on seaweed to learn more.
Hunter Armstrong/Brooklyn Greenway Initiative: “Waterways: Creating Resilient Spaces for People & Water in NYC Greenways”
Using the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway as a pilot site, this project aims to move NYC toward a new approach to living with water that plans for and celebrates water’s presence in public spaces. Bringing together key city agencies and a community-based organization, the project would collaboratively develop a roadmap for leveraging recurring investments into public spaces to address common goals. The project’s goal is to create a launchpoint for a scalable approach to creating and managing resilient and multipurpose public spaces, aligning sectors to build towards more integrated resilient public space planning citywide. Learn more about the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.
Kaitlin Krause/ Rising Tide Effect: “Water Wise NYC: Designing a Citywide System for Equitable Water Safety”
“Water Wise NYC” is a civic design initiative to embed water literacy into the fabric of NYC, reshaping how New Yorkers understand and live with water across public space, infrastructure, and everyday life. As climate change intensifies flooding and coastal risk, communities most exposed to environmental vulnerability and drowning disparities lack access to life-saving water knowledge. Rising Tide Effect would develop a strategic design framework and place-based interventions, such as waterfront wayfinding, environmental storytelling markers, and climate-responsive installations, that make water risk and resilience legible across rain, rivers, oceans, recreation, and flooding. The result is a blueprint for an equitable, climate-resilient water future. Explore Rising Tide Effect and their current efforts to change the way NYC thinks about water.
Lizzie MacWillie/ J Max Bond Center for Urban Futures at the City College of New York: “Beneath the Pavement, Water”
This project reimagines New York City’s sidewalks and street tree pits as visible,performative public infrastructure, transforming everyday pavement into sites where climate adaptation, ecological function, and public awareness intersect. Through the development of context-specific design standards and public-facing prototypes, the project would transform tree pits and sidewalks into subsurface stormwater reservoirs, mitigating flooding and reducing urban heat island. This catalog of designs–tailored to varying climate risks and site conditions–will guide both city agencies and private property owners to create infrastructure where stormwater is a sustaining force that’s part of the fabric of urban life. Follow the work at @JMaxBondCenter.
Lucinda Royte/ New York Botanical Garden Urban Conservation: “The Blue Zones Toolkit: Convening climate-smart communities within shared watersheds”
The Urban Conservation Program at the New York Botanical Garden proposes a project that reimagines New York City’s communities as part of a living, breathing ecosystem. “The Blue Zones Toolkit” would produce a web‐based mapping tool and community engagement framework that connects residents within shared watersheds, revealing buried streams, wetlands, and shorelines alongside histories of disinvestment and resilience. By grounding environmental justice organizing in ecological history, the project elevates local knowledge and fosters collective action toward equitable, climate‐resilient futures. Check out the Urban Conservation Program at New York Botanical Garden.
Lucy Everitt/Katie Meehan/Niamh Costello (Plumbing Poverty Project)/ Kings College of London: “Just Water Futures in NYC: End Water Shut Offs”
The New York State Constitution enshrines the human right to water. Yet since 2024, NYC households risk water shutoff if they owe more than $500: a policy that threatens public health, reinforces cycles of poverty, and runs counter to a just water future. This project aims to end water shutoffs by developing justice-centered, rights-based alternatives to city-wide water affordability issues. To achieve this, the project would first establish a coordinated campaign geared toward policy reform, and equip and empower project partners and community advocates with the evidence and tools they need to take forward the campaign’s key messages and insights. Explore more of Lucy’s work, The Plumbing Poverty Project and Kings College of London.
Luke Eddins/ Seaweed City: “Community Seaweed Gardens: Expanding the Community Garden Model to New York City’s Waterways”
“Seaweed City” is building a scalable model for urban seaweed restoration gardens that improve water quality, improve habitat, and deepen public consciousness of the living world beyond the water’s edge. The team envisions a city where seaweed gardens are as common as community gardens—spaces where neighbors gather to reconnect with nature and contribute to climate solutions together. Seaweed City’s pilot gardens have shown strong public interest, but also revealed challenges of cultivating community ownership. With the proposal, they aim to map the concrete steps needed to bridge that gap—laying the foundation for seaweed gardens that are not just community-based, but truly community-owned. Follow Seaweed City on instagram and head to their website for more information on their current projects.
Matt Malina/ NYC H2O: “Ridgewood Reservoir Stewardship”
NYC H2O wants to expand its stewardship and efforts to increase access to the Ridgewood Reservoir. The decommissioned reservoir comprises three basins, covering 50 acres. Two forested outer basins sandwich a 12-acre freshwater pond in the middle basin. NYC H2O plans to open the pond in the middle basin for public kayaking and nature-based recreation. The project would focus on ecological restoration to improve aquatic habitat, and developing safe access for community use. This initiative aims to deepen public engagement with the site while enhancing its ecological function and ensuring long-term environmental and community benefits. Follow NYC H2O and explore more of their work.
Matthew Storrie/Samuel Robinson/Carolien Mossel: “The Dissolving City”
Water resists jurisdiction. When the city floods, it overruns property lines and neighborhoods, answering only to gravity. In its movement across the city’s contours, it pulls our sense of responsibility with it, eroding divisions between self and city. The “Dissolving City” examines how intensifying rainfall and evolving stormwater policies are reshaping New York’s streets, stoops, yards, and sidewalks. The multidisciplinary team would produce a public-facing NYC Field Guide to Flooding that translates emerging codes and property-level interventions into clear, practical strategies, making neighborhood-scale resilience visible, equitable, and actionable, while serving as a springboard for future programs, research, and civic imagination. Follow the team on @FIELDFORM.NYC@STORRIE.ARCH@Carolien Mossel.
Rebecca Pryor/ Guardians of Flushing Bay: “Revealing the Water: Culturally Daylighting Flushing Waterways”
To ensure that impacted park users are engaged and guiding the next phase of the Flushing Meadows Corona Park resilience planning process, GoFB proposes a community engagement and communications campaign to build the public support needed to daylight Flushing Creek. The campaign would take a two-pronged approach: First, reveal the path of the creek through monthly artist and designer-led walking tours from April through June, and second lead a parallel digital communications strategy with multilingual and multimedia graphics that illustrate the route of Flushing Waterways and the impact of daylighting. Follow Guardians of Flushing Bay’s work and follow@guardiansofflushingbay.
Sabina Sethi Unni: “Please Don't Flush”
“Please Don’t Flush” is an idea for a comedic, touring play about a community board scheduled to vote on a controversial waterfront development that neighbors, local seagulls, and #TheCoalition are worried will increase inland flooding, but instead are spending their meeting tracking their upcoming extravagant gala ticket sales, celebrating their second-vice-chair’s birthday party, and picking fights with the plumber’s union. Sabina’s work meets people where they’re at with music, laughs, and resources about flooding, heavy rainfall, and poo-age – sorry, sewage. This site-specific play would tour select public spaces across the city and share both entertainment and public education. Explore more of Sabina’s community theatre.
Shanna Blanchard/ Water Safety Coalition: “Building an Inclusive Aquatics Culture in NYC”
How can NYC become a leading water safety city, one that fosters an inclusive aquatic culture and ensures equitable access to water-based recreation and lifesaving knowledge? By aligning policy recommendations with NYC agencies, nonprofit partners, and public stakeholders, this project would outline actionable steps toward a unified “Water Safety Action Plan.” Their goal is to institutionalize cross-sector coordination, expand equitable access to aquatics and water safety education, and reduce preventable drownings. Through the development of a white paper and multiple op-eds during the incubator term, this project would seek to compel the Mamdani Administration to advance a coordinated, citywide framework for NYC. More on the Water Safety Coalition and their recent projects.
Sheetal Shah and Lily Saporta-Tagiuri: “Water Classrooms”
Two self-described “water nerds” propose creating a series of outdoor “Water Classrooms” across New York City in areas most impacted by coastal climate risks. These distributed learning environments could bring adaptation and resilience planning directly into public space by using creativity and play to engage residents with infrastructure, design, and policy solutions. Explore more of Sheetal and Lily’s projects.
Tiasia O'Brien/ The Community Wisdom Lab: “Linguistic Waterways”
New York City's emergency communication systems were built in English.. “Linguistic Waterways” is a community-informed research and design initiative rooted in Bushwick, a neighborhood built on filled Lenape wetlands where Black and Latino communities have borne the compounding weight of environmental neglect and linguistic exclusion. Over nine months, the project would co-produce the NYC Community-Informed Language Access Protocol: a model emergency communication framework built with residents and tested against real NYCEM materials. Grounded in oral history, GIS mapping of erased waterways, and culturally tailored design, this protocol is designed for citywide adoption and national replication. Explore the work Tiasia has done in her community around language access.
Tiffany Baker/The Dear Neighborhood Project: “NYC Flood Memory Toolkit”
“The NYC Flood Memory Kit” is a public-space communication system helping New Yorkers understand citywide flood risks occurring outside mapped flood zones through experience and storytelling, offering direct steps to prepare communities for future flooding. Building on The Dear Neighbor Project, where Gowanus residents' interviews and murals made climate impacts visible, the modular toolkit would enable libraries, community centers, and organizations to host water-focused workshop sessions. Using mapping templates, interview prompts, a symbol library, and visual tools, neighbors could document how water shows up on their block. A companion manual would support agencies in applying this community-led knowledge. Dive into The Dear Neighborhood Project’s work.
Valerie Farber/Spacial Medium: “ Bridge the Break: Creating Safe NYC Water Communities”
What if navigating and interacting with coastline recreational spaces was considered integral to our drowning prevention and waterfront development campaigns? While a continued push for regulatory learn-to-swim pool-based programming is critical, our open water environments carry equally important and unique safety challenges for every New Yorker. Aiming to bridge the needs and resources of Open Water Swim organizations, Community/Disability advocacy groups, and city regulatory agencies, “Bridge the Break” would start to envision, plan, and implement a city-wide coastal community strategy that includes lifesaving knowledge, strong community bonds, and equitable public access. Explore Spatial Medium’s work on accessible swim programming.
Wendy Andringa/Assemblage Landscape Architecture: “Gowanus Canal Floating Wetlands Habitat”
Over time, the Gowanus Canal has evolved from a tidal creek marshland system into a heavily polluted canal lined with hardened bulkheads. However, decades of community-led advocacy have sparked efforts to clean, restore, and reimagine its future. This project proposes an innovative restoration strategy that reintroduces marshland species through accessible floating wetland habitats, reconnecting people to the Canal through nature-based features. Designed to comply with shoreline and remediation regulations, the floating wetlands will provide a new model for recreational, educational, and ecological renewal in the heart of Brooklyn. Learn more about their work @AssemblageLandscape.
Zoe Voss Lee/FloodLine (CloudBurst Collective): “Flood Line: Turning Business Corridors into Resilience Learning Sites”
“FloodLine” is a digital tool that helps small businesses document flood impacts and access localized recovery resources. This project complements FloodLine's first two pilots—with the Fifth Avenue Committee in Park Slope and Sunnyside Shines in Queens—by capturing how small businesses on these two commercial streets are navigating increased flooding. This project aims to gather new knowledge in two ways: through a door-to-door survey and video interviews with 12 business owners that go deeper into their experiences. FloodLine would produce a short documentary film and data visualizations designed to bring business owner expertise to BID leaders, city agencies, and decision-makers across NYC. Check out FloodLine.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to share your vision with us, and congrats to our semi-finalists! While we wish we could make all of these projects come to life, follow the Design Trust For Public Space newsletter to get notified of the five final winning projects announcement! In the meantime, leading up to the finale of our Water RFP process, we’ve launched an ongoing series on our public space blog, City Currents, to examine stories of water and New York City, featuring guest writers from around the five boroughs.