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.

9.27.17

Jordan R. on 300 Mercer Street:

300 Mercer Picture

9.27.17

Jordan R. on 300 Mercer Street:

300 Mercer

9.27.17

Jordan R. on 300 Mercer Street:

300 Mercer wraps around a residential building that borders both Mercer Street and Waverly Place, with the inner most portion of the plaza covered by the building itself. The space is inviting with built-in benches forming semi-circles at the plaza’s edge that allow for people to converse with one another while also facing towards the water fountain. There are three circular benches with seats facing outwards, and planters in the middle of the actual structure. No matter where you choose to sit, you will have a great vantage point of the plaza attractions and the people using the space. The sounds from the fountain’s cascading water allows for tranquility by mitigating the noise that from the cars and people passing by. The background noise allows for an easy time reading or decompressing in the middle of one’s workday. The space is accessible by three points; Waverly Place, Mercer Street and the entrance to the building it surrounds. The coffee shops and pizza parlors that surround the plaza make for easy access to food and drink to bring and enjoy. Planters situated on the edge of the plaza compliment the ones in the middle of the circular benches, together providing nice aesthetic among new York’s high rises. The portion of 300 Mercer that borders Mercer Street is a little more isolated than the part that faces the fountain in that it does not have a center piece in which all the benches are facing. That being said, it is still a nice place to have perhaps a more private conversation or lunch. Overall the space is well maintained and provides a nice ambiance for residents of 300 Mercer, and the general public who use it as a gathering point.

9.27.17

Rich on 26 Astor Place:

Picture of a woman sitting down at 26 Astor Place in the mid-afternoon.

9.27.17

Rohan Rao on 2 Gold Street:

The Private owned public space is found at the intersection of Gold Street on the west and Platt Street on the North. This urban plaza extends largely from in-front the northeast corner of Four Points Hotel by Sheraton and Harry’s Pizza Bar on the South. It then flanks into a narrow sidewalk strip alongside the TF Cornerstone office and The Montessori School of Manhattan. The space in itself is airy, easily accessible for 24 hours and is Physically Disabled friendly. There is also a big artwork installation in its corner which gives it a distinctive look from its surroundings. Completed in 2003 and managed by Golden Hill, TF Cornerstone Inc. it has a seating arrangement of 195 linear feet. Majority of them are fixed steel and wooden benches with back support. A few movable chairs were found in the space but were being used by the patrons of the open private restaurant, which undermines the virtue of it being a public amenity. There is around 275 square feet of plantation in this plaza to provide the necessary green cover to the area. Additional amenities included trees of Rhododendrons and Manhattan Euonymus, which transformed it into a lively place and a potential social hub.

9.27.17

Nicole Murdoch on 1 Court Square | Citigroup:

Citigroup's privately owned public space at 1 Court Square is indeed the only of its kind in the entire borough of Queens. It's nestled between other triangular public spaces (Raferty Triangle and Mckenna Triangle) and situated in a space where foot traffic is frequent between the Long Island City Court House and CUNY Law School, as well as to and from the G subway stop within court square and the many MTA bus lines that connect at the square as well. Much like as in Kayden’s profile, I too wonder whether the design of this pops took its cue from the host tower and surrounding neighborhood. Though, while it does seemingly borrow from its neighboring elements, I will say that the trees of the space do an adequate job of creating a spatially secluded and shady area for civilians who are en route. The neighboring spaces that have planters and seating present do not offer such a respite from the sun. All in all, I would argue that there are much less effective pops out there (here’s looking at you, Midtown) and this example of the landscaped public open space and pedestrian circulation space at 1 Court Square is ultimately more functional than most.

9.27.17