In a cramped meeting room in Washington Heights, a high school student scurries to set up a laptop and projector. Searching for a free surface in an already packed room, she makes her best effort to connect cords and load her presentation quickly before the committee chairperson calls to order the community board meeting, the student’s very first. The student, Nicole Lugo, is one of over thirty students who have been selected to work at their community board as part of the MAS Planning Center’s CITI Youth program. Across the city, students like Nicole are attending their local community board meetings—projecting maps and creating presentations that correspond to the items being discussed. Continue Reading>>

MAS recently sat down with four young people from the Bronx and Brooklyn who are confronting neighborhood planning challenges head-on. Armed with information, enthusiasm and a supportive network of adults, these young people are taking the lead in addressing critical neighborhood issues.

In Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Caesar Alcaite and Celeste Del Brey (pictured at left) have been working with UPROSE, a community-based environmental justice organization. When they came to UPROSE, neither had much knowledge of environmental justice issues. However, after spending more time at the organization and working with youth organizers, these teens quickly learned that there is a connection between their local environment and their quality of life. Since coming to UPROSE these teens have developed strong leadership skills — reaching out to neighbors to inform them of local environmental concerns; helping middle school students map neighborhood assets and burdens; and leading neighborhood environmental justice tours for city officials, other youth groups, and most recently, a group of 50 Columbia University graduate planning students. Continue Reading>>

There was a time in New York when the appointment of a young person to a community board made the headlines (or close to it). That was back in 1977, when the word “planning” was still a part of the term to describe the 50-member, unsalaried community boards that represent the city’s 59 districts (there were 62 boards in 1977). Current Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer is a case in point. His commitment to public service spans three decades. Appointed to Manhattan Community Board 12 (Washington Heights/Inwood) at the age of 16, Stringer learned the value of public participation and community involvement at an early age.

In a 1977 interview with the New York Times, a then-teenaged Stringer already had ideas for his community: “My board could be supportive of after-school programs and at least get a committee going — go into schools and organize activities like escort service for old people, cleaning up the parks and all sorts of things (sic).” Continue Reading>>

New York is a young city. With a population of over eight million people, 27 percent are below the age of 19, with 10 percent between the ages of 12 and 19. Young people are an integral part of the fabric of New York, representing more than a quarter of the population in neighborhoods such as the South Bronx, East New York, and Corona. Teens, particularly, make intensive use of the public spaces, businesses, and parks and playgrounds in their own neighborhoods and in neighborhoods where they attend school. Issues critical to the quality of life for young people, such as public safety, public health, and a clean environment are part and parcel of debates over urban planning and development, but youth participation in neighborhood decision-making is rare. The obstacles to their participation are considerable, but not insurmountable. Across the city young people and their adult allies are working together to ensure that young voices are heard. Continue Reading>>

Last month, three CITI Youth interns were honored by their community boards. These students, who have worked as map technicians for the past year, are part of the CITI Youth program, a project of the MAS Planning Center. The CITI Youth program helps young people connect with their community through the use of technology. Using the website www.myciti.org, CITI interns create and display maps at community board meetings to help facilitate the community decision-making process. Over 30 CITI interns are currently working as map technicians in community boards throughout the city.

CITI interns Merlin Valdez and Brandon Rutishauser are map technicians at Bronx CB 7 (Fordham). According to Merlin, their maps have earned them a reputation as the “wizards of technology”, with Bronx CB 7 routinely expressing their appreciation of the maps and the student’s service. Brandon and Merlin were both awarded with the 2009 Bronx Community Board 7 Unsung Hero Award at their June board meeting. The students, who are new to the program, have been enthusiastically invited to continue working at the board this coming fall. Continue Reading>>

On Friday April 4th, MAS accompanied 20 high school students on a visit to architecture and planning firms Perkins Eastman and BFJ Planning. The students, who are part of the MAS CITI Youth program, had a first-hand look at the work of professional architects and planners — receiving an office tour and presentations by key staff from both firms.

For the past seven months, these interns have been working as map technicians at their local community board. The students attend public community board meetings where they create and project maps to help facilitate the decision-making process. As a component of their internship, MAS provides monthly professional development workshops that are aimed at helping them increase their capacity as map technicians and expand their knowledge base. Continue Reading>>

As always, the MYCITI website allows you to easily create and view maps about your community’s land use and zoning, property ownership, subway routes, schools, elected officials, and more. For a short while, as we finalize improvements, you can visit us at www.myciti.mas.org.

The Municipal Art Society is pleased to welcome Manhattan Community Board 1 (MN CB1) and high school students Alina Lee and Karen Wang to the CITI Youth program. MN CB1, which covers Lower Manhattan and Tribeca is an ideal place for students to engage with real-life planning issues. And this new team of interns has been working very hard to understand the nature of New York City’s local government, develop new mapping skills, and exchange information with other students in the program as they learn about community planning. Continue Reading>>

This month, the MAS Planning Center kicked off its fifth year of the CITI Youth Program with a new class of map technicians from all corners of the city. Forty New York City high school students are now embarking on year-long paid internships with their local community boards, presenting live, internet-based land use maps during community board meetings. Recently, with the help of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office, the Planning Center was able to substantially expand the program in Manhattan — serving seven of Manhattan’s 12 community boards. Continue Reading>>

Having easy access to data and maps is critical to public participation in planning. Thanks in no small part to the efforts of community advocates and community boards around the city, more data than ever before is available on-line to assist in neighborhood-level decision-making. Property-level information on zoning and ownership, Department of Buildings data on permits and violations, district-level data on 311 complaints and health statistics, and Census Bureau demographic information are but a few of the resources available. You can access all of this information and more at  www.myciti.org.

Empowering communities with planning tools and technology is a core part of the work of the MAS Planning Center. The MyCITI initiative began as a demonstration of the utility of publicly-accessible GIS (Geographic Information Systems) data as a tool for community participation in local planning. Made possible through a partnership between the City of New York and the Municipal Art Society, www.myciti.org now provides direct access to PLUTO’s detailed property information including zoning, ownership, land use and lot dimensions. Continue Reading>>