Forum | Learning from Streetscapes for Wellness

How can new approaches to streetscapes improve quality of place and quality of life?

Streets make up over a quarter of New York City's land area, serving as public corridors that define how we navigate and experience the city. Given their significance in our city's landscape, it's no wonder that the design of streetscapes has a tangible and measurable impact on the well-being of New Yorkers. The designers, planners, and caretakers of the public realm, in partnership with community-based organizations, have developed a wide range of interventions to improve our city's physical, mental, community, and environmental health. These projects, ranging from temporarily pedestrianizing streets to redesigning corridors for multimodal transport, can be seen in residential, commercial, and industrial areas, as well as in parkland, throughout the five boroughs.

Speakers:

Sreoshy Banerjea is the Executive Director of NYC's Public Design Commission, which reviews new structures, art installations, and landscape architecture projects on City-owned property. She previously served as the Vice President of Urban Design for the NYC Economic Development Corporation, where she shaped the master plans for renovation and development of EDC assets. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she founded Design Corps, which arranged partnerships between volunteer architects and restaurants to design outdoor structures.

Sue Donoghue, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation since February 2022, was previously the city's Prospect Park Administrator, as well as the President of the Prospect Park Alliance. In these roles, Commissioner Donoghue directed the day-to-day operations of Prospect Park and led fundraising initiatives for capital improvements and restoration efforts.

Ydanis Rodriguez, appointed Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation in January 2022, aims to make New York the most walkable and bikeable city in the nation. To this end, he is leading initiatives to increase investment in NYC's Streets Master Plan and to fulfill DOT's pledge to redesign 1,000 intersections across the city. Commissioner Rodriguez previously represented NYC City Council's 10th District (Washington Heights, Inwood, and Marble Hill), chairing its transportation committee from 2014-2021.