Design Trust for Public Space Finalists Selected……and the Winners Are!

Out of 105 initial responses to the 2017 Call for Project Ideas presented by Design Trust for Public Space, two winners emerged.  The New East Harlem Merchant Association (NHEMA) and South Bronx Unite. On Saturday, December 2nd, South Bronx Unite and Design Trust for Public Space will kick-off Power in Place: Building Community Wealth and Well Being in Mott Haven-Port Morris – a community asset mapping and planning project, with an open house and celebration. The Event will take place from 3:00-5:00pm at Metropolitan College of New York, 463 East 149th Street in the Bronx.  Community members will learn important information on how they can participate in this project.

See you there!

Five finalists out of 105 initial responses emerged from the 2017 Call For Project Ideas presented by Design Trust for Public Space. This years focus, Public For All: Rethinking Shared Space in NYC.  From the five finalists, two organizations were chosen, and it was South Bronx Unite and Neighborhood Plaza Program of the Horticultural Society of New York in collaboration with East Harlem’s Uptown Grand Central (NHEMA) who emerged as this year’s winners.

Meet the Jury

Pictured above from L-R, Design Trust executive director, Susan Chin, Justin Garrett Moore, Executive Director of the New York City Public Design Commission. Patti Lubin, Office of U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Kitty Hawks, Kitty Hawks Interiors and Design Trust Founder’s Circle, Kerry A. McLean, Vice President of Community Development at WHEDco, José Serrano-McClain, NYC Mayor’s Office of Tech and Innovation, Zack McKown, founding partner of Tsao & McKown Architects, Andrea Woodner, Design Trust Founder and President Emeritus, Walter Hood, Hood Design Studio in Oakland, California, and a seat for Claire Weisz, WXY Architecture + Urban Design, Design Trust Founder’s Circle, who was at another event.

Pictured above, from R-L, the four representatives of the two winning organizations, Mychel Johnson and Monxo Lopez from South Bronx Unite and Carey King, Director, Uptown Grand Central (NHEMA) and Laura Hansen, Neighborhood Plaza Partnership (NPP) on the panel along with the jury that selected them.

Out of the 105 initial responses, Design Trust invited 30 proposers to submit. There was a packed house at Design Trust for the announcement of this year’s winners.

Pictured above, Carey King, Director of Uptown Grand Central (NHEMA) and Laura Hansen, Neighborhood Plaza Partnership, sharing a moment with Andy Wiley-Schwartz, who initiated the Department of Transportation Plaza  Program when he worked at the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) as the first Assistant Commissioner for Public Space. Now with Bloomberg, he is currently a Design Trust Board Member.

The evening brought together the two winning organizations and the jury, seated on a panel discussing their individual projects, and how/why they were chosen.  Andrea Woodner, Design Trust Founder, spoke eloquently about the passion, knowledge and imagination the winning organizations brought with them to the project, and their commitment to public spaces including all.  Woodner projected that working alongside the experts from Design Trust, these projects would proceed to a positive outcome.

Here is the list of all five finalists. If you missed the event, you can watch on Facebook, where it was live streamed by Untapped Cities Founder, Michelle Young-Pasquet.