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.

Catherine Z. on 246 Spring Street:
View of 246 Spring Street from Dominick Street.
Catherine Z. on 246 Spring Street:
The urban plaza located at 246 Spring Street was constructed in 2010 and is owned by Trump Soho Hotel. Constructed in 2010, it is a through-block space, connecting Dominick Street to Spring Street, and running parallel to Varick Street and 6th Avenue. According to signage posted at Dominick Street, the plaza must include: 17 trees, 13 movable tables, and 52 movable chairs, in addition to 148.75 linear feet of bench-style seating with backs and 108 linear feet without backs. No benches have armrests. The plaza is bookended by retail frontage at the northwest and southwest corners. Between the shop windows, the building façade is made of brick. There are a half-dozen movable tables with chairs along that wall. The center of the plaza is clear of street furniture and used as a pedestrian thoroughfare. The eastern edge of the plaza is lined with thigh-high planters, which form five seating areas of different sizes, each of which include wooden benches with and without backs. The planters are covered in greenery. About half of the trees are located in planters, with the other planted into the ground with no tree-bed. A roughly 15” fence lines the wall, with greenery growing on it. At the time of my visit, at 3:00 pm on September 27, 2017, roughly two-dozen people were seated, both alone and in groups of two to eight. They included office workers, construction workers, and young people. Some were smoking and one was lying down. Another dozen pedestrians walked across the length of the plaza, in addition to a biker. Neither a security guard nor a gate was visible. The plaza appears to be adequately maintained. At the time of my visit, third of the benches were being repainted. The six garbage cans appear to have been recently emptied and little litter was observed. Oddly, sound seemed to be drown out by an overhead ventilation system. There was little sunlight (save for that reflected off the eastern wall) and limited airflow.
Miles Martin on 26 Astor Place:
Photo of 26 Astor Place around midday in September
Miles Martin on 26 Astor Place:
The public space at 26 Astor Place is maintained, often occupied, and accessible, but certain design choices severely constrain the atmosphere and the utility of the space for the public. The location of the space creates a pleasant sanctuary from the bustle and noise of Astor Place, although the plan of the space itself on the lot does not run all the way through from Cooper Square to Lafayette Street. Most of the void between the Carl Fischer Building at 62 Cooper and the tall, glassy "Sculpture for Living" at 445 Lafayette is taken up by a garden for residents. This garden is totally enclosed by a knee-high concrete embankment and entering it impossible for residents and the public alike. A through-way may have been a good opportunity to make the place feel more open, especially since the block stretching form Astor Place to E 4th Street is so long—though arguments could be made that foot traffic would disrupt the peace and quiet. No physical barrier separates the usable space from the sidewalk. In addition to the enclosed shape of the usable space, the austere design of the furnishings reinforces the close smallness of the space. All of the tables and seating are large immobile masses of stone and concrete, with small steel details. Tall concrete wings bookend the six curved benches, and tall metal armrests further break up the seating; so, if the center seat of the bench is occupied, visitors may choose to perch on the backs rather than be engulfed by the structure. The four tables are more inviting, and people can often be seen eating, though the fixed nature of the seating limits the way people use the tables. There is also a functioning water fountain, in ultramodern steel. Both of the trash cans are wedged into the same alcove. The Northeast corner of the usable space is starkly bare, perhaps owing to the ventilation grate and service entrance to 445 Lafayette. The shrubs and narrow trees lining and covering this space are pleasant, varied, and well cared for, and welcome in an area that doesn't have other substantial greenery besides the new planters along the reconstructed Cooper Square. The trees create a canopy in the summer. In the winter, the space is chilly and uninviting, being wedged into a wind tunnel in the shade of its neighboring towers. The height of the planted area, set behind the blockade of hefty benches, really curtails the usable public space to a small, densely landscaped pocket on the edge of the sidewalk. As a concession to the public, this 26 Astor is decent but modest—seemingly by design.
Luis Hernandez on 60 East 8th Street:
Picture of 60 East 8th St.
Luis Hernandez on 60 East 8th Street:
Photo of 60 East 8th Street.
Luis Hernandez on 60 East 8th Street:
If you are looking for one of the most uninviting and bare public spaces in NYC please take a look at 60 East 8th Street. The site is under construction at the momement but the see through netting allows for one to see just how poorly designed this space is. In my observation I saw the following glaring flaws and direct violations of the new 2007 design standards. 1) there are no seats. In plaza of over 10,000 square feet there is not one place where the developers saw as a good place to sit. 2) The elevation is much greater than 2 FT at the entry points. 3) There are no trash bins however in the entire plaza. The plaza is enclosed (aside from the entry points) with a 4ft wall and an extensive garden that acts as a bit of a fortress from those outside of the space. If you do make it into the plaza (to do what I don't know - stand and look at the garden I supposed) the multiple signs make it very clear you are being watched from the video surveillance of the park. There are no signs that indicate this space is open to the public. Some of these design flaws are not so surprising as the new standards came about in 2007. However, from photographic evidence (picture on the profile from 2000) there clearly has been recent renovations to the space. It begs the question did they intentionally re-design with no thought of what the new standards of a POPS is? If the answer is yes, then another question arises: When and who from the the City will enforce on this clear violation of privately owned public space?
M. Moreno Castro on 26 Astor Place:
Photo of this 26 Astor Place open space on a sunny afternoon. (As you can see, it is well used).
M. Moreno Castro on 26 Astor Place:
Located around the northeast corner of 26 Astor Place and adjacent to 62 Cooper Square, this is a small residential plaza. The open space has an irregular shape, but it is comfortably proportioned. Surrounded by trees and greenery on most of its sides and mid-backed stone-marble benches that delineate the back of the area. In addition, it also has five fixed stone tables that are accompanied by fixed stone-marble chairs. The open space also has stand-alone green marble benches (without backs) placed throughout. Lastly, it has bike parking available.
Rich on 26 Astor Place:
26 Astor Place appears inviting for the public in the sense that it has ample seating and is open. As shown in the picture, the center of the space houses four circular concrete tables with chess boards engrained on the surface and surrounded by four concrete, immovable chairs. It was curious to see a plethora of chess tables as it seems a waste of space to have that many and be largely unused. Preferable there could be a short stool in its place. Behind a snake-like bench, which is used to separate the public alcove and "private property," is a residence garden, which is not accessible to the public. The space closes at 10 PM but there is no fence to support this by the property owners yet any complaints could be directed at the Department of City Planning.
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