MAS to administer awards program on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation announced today that it is opening the public nominating process for the 2010 Jane Jacobs Medal — awarded to two living individuals whose creative vision for the urban environment has significantly contributed to the vibrancy and variety of New York City. Nominations can be submitted by anyone, but must be made by Monday, March 1, 2010. Nominations should be made online here.

The Municipal Art Society is honored to again administer the Jane Jacobs Medal nomination process on behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation, as we have done since 2007 when the Foundation first established the award to honor the activist, author and urbanist who died in April 2006 at the age of 89. MAS will also sponsor a series of walking tours and the annual Jane Jacobs Forum this fall to coincide with the medal presentations. Continue Reading>>

Earlier this week, the Rockefeller Foundation presented the 2009 Jane Jacobs Medals to Richard Kahan, Founder and CEO of the Urban Assembly, and Damaris Reyes, Executive Director of Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES). A ceremony in their honor was held at the new Thom Mayne-designed building at 41 Cooper Square.

The juried awards process is administered by the Municipal Art Society as part of MAS’s continuing collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation to celebrate the legacy of the pioneering writer and activist. The Medal is awarded to two individuals each year whose work creates new ways of seeing and understanding New York City, challenges traditional assumptions and creatively uses the urban environment to make New York City a place of hope and expectation. Previous medalists have included, Omar Freilla of Greenworker Cooperatives, Alexis Torres-Fleming, founder of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Peggy Sheppard of West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT), and Barry Benepe of the Greenmarket program. For more information about the Jane Jacobs Medal, visit www.mas.org/jane-jacobs-medal.

The Rockfeller Foundation announced today that the recipients of the 2009 Jane Jacobs Medal are Richard Kahan and Damaris Reyes. The medal, which is administered by the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS), was created in 2007 to honor the author and activist who died in April 2006. It is awarded annually to two New Yorkers whose work creates new ways of seeing and understanding the city.

Founder and CEO of the Urban Assembly, Richard Kahan is a former President of the New York State Urban Development Corporation and former Chairman of the Battery Park City Authority. Since 1999, the Urban Assembly has created, and now manages, 22 public secondary schools located, by design, in many of the lowest income neighborhoods in New York. Mr. Kahan will receive the 2009 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership. Continue Reading>>

In a city where it is already increasingly difficult for low and moderate income families to afford to live, how will the current economic and financial crises further impact the cost and availability of housing in New York?

In November, an expert panel, introduced by Joan Shigekawa, associate director of The Rockefeller Foundation, and moderated by Vicki Been, director of the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, including: Jerilyn Perine, director, Citizens Housing and Planning Council; Holly Leicht, deputy commissioner for development, New York City Housing, Preservation, and Development; Michelle de la Uz, executive director, Fifth Avenue Committee, Brooklyn; and Mark Ginsberg, FAIA, founding partner, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects LLP, sought to answer these and other related questions.

With the generous support of the Rockefeller Foundation, MAS brought together a panel of experts in the field of housing for the 2008 Jane Jacobs Forum in November, in conjunction with the annual Jane Jacobs Award.

Click on the ‘play’ icon above to listen to a podcast of the program.

Jane Jacobs believed a sense of community was critical in creating and maintaining dynamic and diverse neighborhoods, but today, it is increasingly difficult for people of low and moderate income to live in New York City. How can planners, architects, city officials, and developers work with local residents to provide homes that are affordable and sustainable? What role do the dense, mixed-income neighborhoods that Jacobs favored play in creating a strong sense of community? Continue Reading>>

At the first annual Jane Jacobs Forum last night, an expert panel considered how to house a million more New Yorkers over the next twenty years, and how to do this while retaining neighborhood character and diversity. Panelists also suggested ways of making housing affordable in an increasingly land-poor city, and described the kind of changes in city infrastructure they think are necessary to accommodate all these new New Yorkers.

Panelist Jerilyn Perrine, director, Citizens Housing and Planning Council, said (jokingly) that she would like to see Staten Island swapped for portions of New Jersey that are well-connected to regional mass transit, and (seriously) the extension of the 7 train in both Manhattan and, more importantly, in eastern Queens where affordable housing could be built to serve growing immigrant communities.

But, what would you do to make housing affordable? What improvements to the city’s infrastructure do you think the city and federal governments should focus on? Tell us. Continue Reading>>

The First Annual Jane Jacobs Forum: Housing New Yorkers in the 21st-Century
Wednesday, November 5, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
In announcing his PlaNYC 2030, Mayor Bloomberg said the city must prepare for its population to grow by more than one million residents by the year 2030. Ensuring that New Yorkers have affordable and sustainable places to live is one of the most important goals for the city today.

Urban visionary and activist Jane Jacobs wrote that a strong sense of community is critical in creating dynamic and diverse neighborhoods. But today, it is increasingly difficult for New Yorkers of low and moderate income to  live here. In the midst of these precarios economic times, how can planners, architects, city officials, and developers work with local residents to create affordable homes? How will today’s credit crisis further impact the cost and availability of housing in New York City? What can we do to retain the unique, densely populated, mixed-income neighborhoods that Jacobs favored? Continue Reading>>

Alexie Torres-Fleming, winner of the Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism, led a South Bronx walking tour last Saturday (October 18) — titled From Burning to Blooming: Community-Driven Projects in the South Bronx — that none of the 30 participants will soon forget. Over the last 15 years, the organization she founded, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, has operated on the premise that the community residents can rebuild their neighborhood (the poorest Congressional District in the nation) and that youth can lead that movement. Alexie and staff members Dawn Henning and Stephen Olivera illustrated some of YMPJ’s work on environmental justice, watershed, and greening issues.

Place your mouse on the main image above and click the “i” icon to read about each of the stops on the tour. Many thanks to Jeff Byles for the pictures.

Below are comments from participants that evoke their experiences:

“… a fantastic tour!”

“Very interesting tour… it’s only by walking there that one can grasp the (hard!) realities of the neighborhood.”

Continue Reading>>

On Saturday, October 18, join the winner of this year’s Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism, Alexie Torres-Fleming, on a walking tour highlighting several community-driven projects undertaken by her organization that have improved the health of the Bronx River watershed. HighOn Saturday, October 18, join the winner of this year’s Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism, Alexie Torres-Fleming, on a walking tour highlighting several community-driven projects undertaken by her organization that have improved the health of the Bronx River watershed.lights include the restoration of Concrete Plant Park — a once-contaminated property that was converted to parkland designed by local residents, and several storm water best management practices, including rain gardens, green roofs, and rain barrels.

From Burning to Blooming: Community Driven Projects in the Bronx
Saturday, October 18, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Space is limited. $15, $12 MAS members/students. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075. Leader: Alexie Torres-Fleming, founding director of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice. Meet outside the office of Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, 1384 Stratford Avenue, Bronx, NY 10472, MAP.

For details of upcoming MAS programs, visit www.mas.org/tours and for a downloadable version of our fall program calendar in PDF form, click here.

Last Saturday – September 27, a group of New Yorkers joined Peggy Shepard, winner of the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and Cecil Corbin-Mark, deputy director of West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT), on a bus tour exploring issues of environmental justice in Harlem. The tour examined how noxious hazards, such as garbage and bus depots, co-exist with some of the city’s cultural treasures, such as the  museums and art institutions of “El Barrio,” Marcus Garvey Park, and the new Harlem Waterfront Park.

In addition to learning about the practice of situating environmentally harmful facilities in low-income communities of color and receiving a first-hand glimpse of how traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, and toxic odors contribute to high asthma rates among local residents, participants gained greater insight into ongoing struggles and siginficant victories. These include the bold act of civil disobedience that brought citywide attention to health risks posed by the the North River Sewage Treatment Plant. Tour takers also marveled at the remarkable architecture of the Mount Morris and Hamilton Heights historic districts. Continue Reading>>