‘It Doesn’t Just Magically Happen’: Major Effort to Make a Public Plaza Work

 

By Mark Chiusano

What the visitor to Bogardus Plaza sees is the welcoming kiosk selling pasteis de nata, the tables and egg-shaped seats, and the raised platform that hosts a dog show, one of 8-10 events in the plaza each year. The passerby may notice the elegant paving stones, the antique 17-foot cast-iron clock, and the way that this plaza carves some public recreational space out of what used to be part of Hudson <Read More>


Democratic Mayoral Candidates Talk Parks Priorities

By Mark Chiusano

New York City’s parks are touchstones for all residents – including candidates for mayor. 

Among those 30,000 acres are “where my kids learned to walk,” said Comptroller Brad Lander, and where State Senator Zellnor Myrie biked and got a “reprieve” from his asthma. Former comptroller Scott Stringer’s children practically “live in the parks,” he said, summing up the prevailing view: “The way our parks will go will define how our city goes.”<Read More>




Outdoor Dining, Open Streets, & Trash Containerization: Where Democratic Mayoral Candidates Stand on Public Space Issues

By Mark Chiusano

With the 2025 New York City mayoral race in full swing, CityLand sent a brief, initial list of questions to major contenders for the Democratic nomination to get an idea of where the candidates stand on several key public space issues that have been the source of policy shifts and public debate over the last several years: outdoor dining, Open Streets, and trash containerization. The next mayor’s stance on these — and <Read More>


New York May Finally Have an Ethics Commission That’s Here for Good and To Do Good

By Elizabeth Fine & Pei Pei Cheng de Castro

New York State needs a strong ethics system to guide state government officials and hold them accountable. Yet, for the past 100 years, this goal has proven elusive. The State has tried more than 12 different ethics board formulations. None survived the test of time.

It seemed that the State had found a winning formula with the 2022 Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (COELIG), <Read More>