Eric Adams Wants You... to Get Outside!
Mayor Adams announced the appointment of a new position called Chief Public Realm Officer and a rollout of major improvements on the city’s public spaces, including more restrooms, trees, and outdoor dining.
| 17 Jun 2024 | 04:33
Pictured is Ya-Ting Liu, NYC’s first Chief Public Realm Officer appointed under the Adams administration. (
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Initiatives spearheaded by the new Chief of Public Realm plan to better utilize curb space throughout the city, among other things. (
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Post-pandemic, the Adams administration is rethinking how the city interacts with the public realm, from streets, to parks, to curbsides. (
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City public spaces are getting a huge overhaul through new initiatives from the Adams administration, including the appointment of NYC’s first-ever Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu. The administration announced these changes in a report released on June 13.
It’s no secret that summer in the city can reach unbearable conditions, with too many people and too high of temperatures to withstand being outside for more than twenty minutes. The Adams administration hopes to change that, making the city’s outdoor spaces more appealing and accessible for all.
“Investing in our public spaces is one of the most crucial duties of this administration, and thanks to the leadership of our mayor and our chief public realm officer, Ya-Ting Liu, they are thriving,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi.
“Forty new football fields worth of public space, the nation’s largest permanent outdoor dining program, fewer and better sidewalk sheds, and parks and plazas with more music and art — it’s a realm of possibilities out there.”
Through the following initiatives, the city hopes to greatly improve outdoor spaces and thus bolster New York’s economy, improve the health and happiness of communities, and use already-existing resources in more efficient ways.
Better outdoor dining
Dining Out NYC plans to improve upon the outdoor dining infrastructure created during the pandemic, making it safer, cleaner, and more cohesive. Pre-approved kits will be distributed to restaurants throughout each borough with roadway setups that include pest-resistant, moveable structures to ensure streamlined appearance and equity between restaurants.
More public bathrooms
The new (and aptly named) “‘Ur In’ Luck” initiative from NYC Parks will build 46 new public restrooms and renovate 36 existing ones. Currently, the city has just under 1,000 public bathrooms, and demands for more have been voiced for years. There will also be a new Google Maps feature that shows New Yorkers the locations of every public restroom, as well as changing tables added to many restrooms in the city’s parks.
Thousands of new trees
Some of the biggest contributions to outdoor spaces in the city are trees, which are typically cost- and time-intensive to plant. Through this new public realm initiative, more trees will be planted at lower costs to improve the health of communities and the attractiveness of neighborhoods. NYC Parks has already planted 15,000 trees this fiscal year and hopes to plant 3,000 more by the end of June.
No more sidewalk sheds
The “Get Sheds Down” initiative will revamp sidewalk sheds and scaffolding, preserving the safety that they provide while making them less invasive to the aesthetic appeal of the street. Chief Public Realm Officer Liu will work with the Department of Buildings to keep pedestrians safe while making outdoor sidewalk spaces more appealing for residents. Hopefully, that scaffolding that’s been blocking your view for months will finally get taken down...
Better use of curbs
The City’s Curb Management Plan will prioritize curb space with public benefit in mind, making the layout and usage of curb space in the city more efficient. Given the increase in e-bike usage, food delivery apps, outdoor dining, transportation modes, and more, the curb is a highly trafficked space that could be used more effectively and hopefully will be.
These public space improvements and the appointment of the first Chief Public Realm Officer could mean massive positive changes in how people interact with outdoor infrastructure in a city defined by its large population and small capacities.
