Brooklyn Bridge Park, Williamsbridge Oval, Lyons Square Playground, Estella Diggs Park: all were constructed or renovated in major capital projects recently. The ribbon-cutting of a park opening is one of the most joyous sights in New York City, but the process to get to that celebratory moment is sometimes lengthy, expensive, and confusing. When NY4P released a report in 2014 on capital projects management, anecdotal concerns about parks capital projects coalesced into a citywide conversation. Since then, NYC Parks has improved their operations. Alongside, political pressure and the growth of resident-involvement programs, like Participatory Budgeting, have ratcheted up New Yorkers’ expectations of the speed, public involvement, quality, and cost-efficiency of parks capital projects. The time is ripe to consider the successes, as well as the room for improvement, in New York City’s parks capital process. RSVP

• What has NYC Parks done to improve the process? What is outside their scope?
• What are public expectations of funding, designing, assigning, and building park projects?
• What can be learned by looking at public-private partnerships?
• How can the capital process be more equitable?

 

Presenters

Sue Donoghue, President & Park Administrator, Prospect Park Alliance

Diane Jackier, Chief of Capital Strategic Initiatives, NYC Parks

Charles McKinney, Practical Visionary

Respondents

Celeste Frye, Founder & CEO, Public Works Partners

Jennifer Godenzo, Senior Director, Participatory Budgeting Project

Moderator

Eli Dvorkin, Editorial & Policy Director, Center for an Urban Future

 

Open Space Dialogues: Reconstructing the Capital Process 

Thursday, September 12th, 6pm - 8pm 
Doors open at 6:00 pm. Program starts at 6:30 pm.

New York Law School
185 West Broadway
New York, NY 10013

This event will be livestreamed by CityLand from the New York Law School's Center for New York City Law. The livestream will play from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, and will then be uploaded as a video.
Generously hosted by The Center for New York City Law and The Impact Center for Public Interest Law

RSVP

 

About the Open Space Dialogues: 

The Open Space Dialogues panel series addresses significant topics related to open spaces in New York City, produced by New Yorkers for Parks and New York Law School. Leaders of New York City’s public realm present and respond to ideas about the spaces we hold in common, and answer questions posed by an engaged and energetic audience of park advocates, lawyers, civil servants, and civic-minded individuals. New Yorkers for Parks is the city’s independent advocates for parks and open spaces; New York Law School is an incubator for ideas, actions, and leadership in its role as “New York’s law school.” The Open Space Dialogues series elevates public conversations about New York City’s vital infrastructure of parks and green spaces.