Comments Archive

Our website is a digital space for collaboration about physical space. We invite you to participate  in the creation of knowledge designed to secure greater public use of New York City’s 525 or so POPS, those zoning-created plazas, arcades, and other outdoor and indoor privately owned public spaces. Here is an archive of comments from visitors like you.

Fabiola G. on 2 Pennsylvania Plaza:
The problems with this space are: 1) Rush hour crowds of absolute barbarians with NO manners WILL knock you down; 2) Sadly, there are homeless people everywhere (thanks Bloomberg); 3) The few seating areas are for ticketed passengers for Amtrack, NJ Transit, and LIRR; and 4) This shouldn't even be listed as a "public space." It is a transportation hub.
APOPS on 590 Madison Avenue:
Thank you for your question. We wish we could give you a clear answer, but for the moment we cannot. The creation and management of POPS are under the control of the zoning ordinance and implementing legal actions. Unfortunately the ordinance and actions do not precisely address the question of what rules owners may impose. The touchstone, however, is reasonableness. Would it be reasonable for an owner to prohibit POPS users from bringing in and eating food from the outside? To be sure, a prohibition on the eating of candy bars would be unreasonable. On the other hand, if you wanted to order and have delivered five pizzas, would it be unreasonable for an owner to prohibit that activity? Matt Chaban of the New York Times ran just that sort of experiment at the Parker Meridien POPS and was told by the building management that he could not do so. Was management correct? We can’t answer that, because we don’t know. We can also advise you that 590 Madison Avenue has taken the position that individuals may not play chess in its POPS. Is that a reasonable rule? APOPS plans to visit the rules question in the future to develop a clearer statement of what rules may be imposed by POPS owners with regard to user conduct.
JoAnn on 590 Madison Avenue:
I was wondering if outside food can be brought in. Can you bring in a pizza to eat?
APOPS on 600 Third Avenue:
Thank you for the information. We will look into this and post a comment when we know more about it.
APOPS on 1991 Broadway | Bel Canto:
Thank you for your comment.
APOPS on 835 Sixth Avenue:
Thank you for the information. We will look into this and post a comment when we know more about it.
Michael P on 835 Sixth Avenue:
The "movable chairs" are not movable, they are bracketed to the floor.
Kay on 1991 Broadway | Bel Canto:
I wish the tables and chairs could be moved for greater functionality, by groups of people wanting to utilize a portion of the space, without being chastized by staff. The space is beautiful, but I believe if it was more welcoming, in terms of usage and staff &public interaction, people would be able to use this space in various, positive and intresting ways. Thanks you for making the space available to the public. Despite all, it is apreciated.
George QD on 600 Third Avenue:
Area currently (or still) closed - boarded up.
Sierra on 108 Fifth Avenue:
A sad excuse for a POP. This barely meets any of the requirements listed on the NYC Planning website. The first thing anyone might notice about the space is that is basically only consists of one large planter. Around the planter their are spikes, keeping anyone from sitting on the edge, this technique also keeps the homeless away. There are no recognizable seats. The apops.mas.org website suggests that there were once benches along the front, short side of the planter, but they were taken away during construction and do not seem to have been put back. According to some of the design principals, the POP should be “easily seen and read as open to the public.” This, however, looks like it is very much a part of the building, very closed off from the public. Even though it is on the same level of the sidewalk, which usually would suggest an invitational aspect. The planter, however, fills up the entire space, which basically makes the entire space a planter. There is only a thin border surrounding it. The planter itself could definitely use some sprucing up. The dead trees are not a very inviting sign. I have walked by this space a lot of times in my life and the trees have never been alive, which means that this is not a seasonal problem - it’s mainly just neglect. It’s almost hard to talk about this space because of everything it lacks. In one of my pictures you can see that there is trash piling along the side walk. This seems like a problem that can easily be fixed with a couple of trash can scattered around. The trash around the POP negatively impacts the experience for any pedestrian trying to relax there. This space seems like it can very easily be fixed. It would be nice to add a sculpture or plant some flowers in the planter.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52