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.

Sam on 900 Park Avenue:
View of semicircular driveway facing east towards Park Avenue.
Sam on 900 Park Avenue:
View of semicircular driveway. Facing west-northwest
Sam on 900 Park Avenue:
Located on the northwest corner of 79th and Park, the POPS outside of 900 Park Avenue is perhaps the least inviting and most restrictive in the city. The aforementioned profile does a thorough job explaining the physical appearance of the space, but to recap, the POPS is primarily used by a semicircular driveway. There is a sculpture of a Cat in the center of the driveway, and the remaining space is a sunken corridor located between Park Avenue and the eastern facade of the tower. There are no benches, or any indication that the space is a suppose to be available to the public. Moreover, the doormen take pleasure in asking "trespassers" to leave. In fact, when confronted with evidence that their plaza was to be enjoyed by the public, the doorman threatened to call the police department. Either the City has given up trying to enforce the public aspect of this POPS, or they never tried at all. The City should enforce the POPS rules, or stop providing developers with such an incentive.
Noelle Meyers-Powell on 330 East 39th Street:
Problem 1: Construction workers store their excess supplies, in the space, creating an appearance that it is a construction site and not open to the public ( see photo). Problem 2: The sidewalk adjacent to the space is non existent and the one across the street is very narrow for pedestrians to accommodate for automobile traffic ( see photo).
Noelle Meyers-Powell on 330 East 39th Street:
The POPs (330 East 39th Street) area located at the tunnel entrance of the building can benefit from a redesign in its only entrance/exit as well as its main spatial area. The entrance is difficult to find and additionally, the fountain structure in the front of the staircase creates a barrier between the space and the street life. Most people passing by do not realize that they can access the space nor can they visually see it. Perhaps, if the fountain and shrubbery were removed, the entrance widened a bit, and the two staircases became one large set of low steps, the space could become visible from the sidewalk and the new set of steps could also serve as a place to sit. Furthermore, a retractable gate could be added to uphold the hours of operation, indicated by the space’s rules and regulations, but also allow for the space to appear inviting and open to the public. In regards to the main spatial area, there are not many seating options, the space is bare (open space and blank walls) and is only inhabited with materials from the neighboring construction workers as well as an unused rectangular water pool/ plant holder. The space could be a setting for an addition of moveable chairs and tables that could be stored along the back wall of the building. To add more seating, the rectangular water pool could be converted into a large planter with a wraparound table (wooden) that could provide additional space for the public to sit, eat, or spend time in the space. The moveable chairs can be used again to provide seating at this wraparound table. The space also possesses a tall blank wall space adjacent to the water pool. On the bottom portion of the space, a long bench (wooden) could be furnished to run along the wall. Above the bench, planters could be placed to echo the larger rectangular planting holder and the remaining portion of the wall could host a mural to add color to the overall grey space. To open up the space further, the lamp posts located in the front of the stairs and the other near the back wall can be removed. Lastly, the addition of trash and recycling receptacles could be added to manage any waste (see attached sketches).
Kaja on 230 Ashland Place:
see image
Isabel McRae on 8 Spruce St | Beekman Plaza:
West Plaza
Isabel McRae on 8 Spruce St | Beekman Plaza:
William Street Plaza
Catherine Z. on 246 Spring Street:
View of the urban plaza at 246 Spring Street from Dominick Street.
Kevin Morris on 1 Liberty Plaza | Zuccotti Park:
Zuccotti Park, located in Lower Manhattan between Broadway and Trinity Place, is a privately owned public space (POPS) owned by Brookfield Properties. Throughout the course of an average weekday, it serves many functions; residents, commuters, nearby workers, and tourists all use this space in different ways. Zuccotti Park is a beloved space precisely because it is not expressly designed to cater to a particular function, but rather is a space than can accommodate these many demands. As a privately owned park, however, certain tensions arise between ease of maintenance and public use. The space prioritizes visitors who are easy to accommodate and who impose few maintenance costs on the space at the expense of other users.
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