Introducing a Public Realm Policy Agenda guide mayoral candidates in this critical election year!

Design Trust for Public Space and the Alliance for Public Space Leadership (APSL) steering committee canvased over 50 alliance members to inform an updated public realm policy platform. We heard from community-based organizations, small businesses and street vendor associations, business improvement districts (BIDS), disability advocates, design professionals, open street volunteers, park conservancies, and others who have collectively been working on ways to improve New York City’s public spaces across all five boroughs.

What is the Alliance for Public Space Leadership?

The Alliance for Public Space Leadership (APSL) advocates for achieving equitable solutions and effective management of New York City’s public space. APSL was co-founded by the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS), the American Institute of Architects New York (AIANY), Open Plans, and New Yorkers for Parks. Design Trust for Public Space joined the steering committee as a key partner in 2023. Today, the Alliance includes over 60 organizations made up of community-based organizations, small businesses and street vendors, business improvement districts (BIDs), disability advocates, design professionals, open street volunteers, park conservancies, and others who have collectively been working through ways to improve New York’s public realm.

What is the public realm?

The public realm in the broadest sense encompasses all publicly accessible exterior spaces. Composed of streets, sidewalks, parks, plazas, waterfronts, natural areas, and more, this system of public spaces represents roughly 40 percent of the city’s land mass. The public realm is our civic commons and iscritical to our health and well-being. As a collective, we must begin to think about the public realm as infrastructure in the same way that we think about other urban systems like housing and transit. It is complex and requires big-picture thinking with diversified and multifaceted solutions and support.

The 2025 APSL policy platform centers around five key recommendations:

Recommendation #1: Invest in the Public Realm 

Recommendation #2: Reform the City’s permitting process to enable activation 

Recommendation #3: Revise our procurement practices to enable greater innovation 

Recommendation #4: Create a Citywide Public Realm Plan 

Recommendation #5: Ensure strong leadership and oversight over the public realm

Click here to learn more about each of the recommendations above and visit publicspace.nyc to learn more about APSL.