This Tuesday's election saw more than 2 million New Yorkers making their voices heard in the public realm, the most in a mayoral race since 1969. Our Executive Director's statement on a new chapter for the five boroughs:

"After an historic election, one that in which nearly 2.5 million people cast their vote for New York City’s future, the Design Trust for Public Space is committed to working with the Mamdani Administration to reimagine the public realm across every neighborhood and borough," said Matthew Clarke, Executive Director of the Design Trust for Public Space. "Our mission—to unlock the potential of NYC’s public spaces—is a broad mandate to improve the livability of our city, sustain a commitment to equity, create opportunities for employment, and to make public life more affordable, and is resonant with the interests and mandate of the electorate." 

"Our projects are cutting red tape for public space events and programs, building new public spaces for NYCHA residents, improving accessibility of the public realm for neurodivergent New Yorkers, designing ways to remember and memorialize burial grounds of marginalized people, reimagining how the city can live with the powerful impacts of water (including a vision for a sustained Cloudburst program), creating a pipeline for underrepresented New Yorkers into the planning, policy, and design fields. These ideas, developed in partnership with community partners, advocates, city agencies, and more, represent a bold vision for the public realm." 

"Focusing on the public realm has the incredible power of addressing systemic challenges, of making New York City more livable, and to unlock the stories and creative energy of this diverse community."