The following interview is the first in a series focusing on how the MAS Planning Center’s Livable Neighborhoods Program (LNP) has helped New Yorkers tackle planning-related challenges in their neighborhoods head-on. Since 2007, the LNP has provided resources and training to nearly 400 New Yorkers. Learn more about it and upcoming training sessions here.

Donnelly Marks (pictured) is a professional photographer who decided to become more involved in her community (Astoria, Queens), in 2002. As part of the Norwood Neighborhood Association (NNA), Donnelly quickly learned that “…pictures were a very useful tool; helpful when making a presentation to the community board, the press, City Council, etc.” Donnelly uses pictures to document areas of concern and to highlight achievements on her neighborhood association’s website. In October of last year, she attended the Livable Neighborhoods Program (LNP) training at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, taking workshops in Historic Preservation and Using Maps and Data.

What made you want to devote a Saturday afternoon to learning more about neighborhood planning?
Juan Camilo Osorio from MAS attended our community board meeting (Astoria CB1) last fall. Our son made comments in the meeting and afterwards Juan told us about the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) workshop and Livable Neighborhood workshops. The program name alone “Livable Neighborhood” says it all. When Juan Camilo explained the LNP workshop offered a chance to learn from planning, preservation and GIS experts in a professional and friendly setting, how could anyone resist?

What did you gain from the training? Were there any “a-ha” moments?  
As a member of a community association in Astoria, our group had been working hard to improve our neighborhood and address some important quality of life issues, so the workshop sounded perfect. Continue Reading>>

Last Saturday, MAS, the Pratt Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment (GCPE), and the Pratt Institute Planning Student Association sponsored the Livable Neighborhoods Program at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Students of Pratt and other city universities, joined members of the local community for a half-day of training sessions focused on the public’s role in New York’s planning decisions.

Launched in 2007, the Livable Neighborhoods Program (LNP) provides New Yorkers with the tools and resources necessary to effectively plan their neighborhoods. GCPE has recognized the value of the program to train incoming students on planning processes in New York City.

For more information on the LNP, visit MAS.org/lnp.

In mid-May, MAS hosted the third annual Livable Neighborhoods Program (LNP) at Hunter College. This year, the program, which offers free training to grassroots community-based planners and community board members, reached new heights having its highest turnout ever. Nearly 150 residents from all five boroughs joined us for a full day of training in topics ranging from community organizing to using data and maps to zoning.

Launched in 2007, with generous support from the Altman Foundation and the Mizhuo USA Foundation of the Mizuho Corporate Bank, the LNP continues to help New Yorkers access the tools and resources needed to effectively plan for their neighborhoods. To learn more about the Livable Neighborhoods Program, contact Sideya Sherman at ssherman@mas.org.

While the recession cuts deep into New Yorker’s pocketbooks and neighborhoods, we can take strength from the fact that the city has weathered hard times before. Many of our neighborhoods — Melrose, Park Slope, Tribeca, Bushwick — have come to symbolize the enormous regenerative power of the city — power that comes about when when communities are actively involved in planning.

Developers know that times of recession are times to plan for the comeback — communities know this, too. New York City is changing and the Livable Neighborhoods Program is designed to help communities plan for equitable and sustainable change — now and into the future. Our next full day of training will be Saturday, May 16 at Hunter College. Continue Reading>>

Pressure is mounting to halt the national tide of foreclosures. New York’s housing advocates are working at the frontlines to keep people in their homes and to ensure that solutions currently being generated at the city and state level respond to New York’s unique housing and neighborhood needs.

A MAS Planning Center panel discussion moderated by Eva Hanhardt of the Pratt Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment late last year, tapped the insights of Audrey Waysee, Center for New York City Neighborhoods; Josh Zinner, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project; Mark Winston-Griffith, Drum Major Institute; Patricia Kerr, Neighborhood Housing Services, Jamaica;and Ingrid Gould Ellen, Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, to confront the question: how do we stabilize neighborhoods experiencing high rates of foreclosure? Continue Reading>>

Last Saturday, community advocates and students from the Pratt Institute, Cornell University and Manhattan Borough President’s Scott Stringer Urban Fellows program came together for the MAS Planning Center’s Livable Neighborhoods Program (LNP) training.

The session focused on training community members on the use of the tools they need to effectively plan their neighborhoods, and introducing Pratt and Cornell planning and historic preservation students to members of the surrounding community. The training also complemented the students’ studies with LNP tools and techniques. Continue Reading>>

Attend upcoming MAS events: MAS is hosting a miniature Livable Neighborhoods program at Pratt this weekend – a training course that provides communities with the knowledge, tools, and training needed to transform local vision into effective plans.  Get the details on Neighborhood Watch.

MAS President Kent Barwick is giving a presentation at the New School Friday on “The Oversuccessful City: The Struggle for the Character of New York.”  Get the details in Time Out New York.

In other news, the State Department of Health may come out in support of St. Vincent Hospital’s expansion plan lending weight to their current hardship case with the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Continue Reading>>

The September 22 program Inside View: MAS Work in Progress gave a roomful of New Yorkers a behind-the-scenes look at MAS projects and programs, as well as an opportunity to ask questions and make comments. Jasper Goldman, senior policy analyst, discussed developments in Coney Island and Atlantic Yards and offered an update on the East Side Waterfront Park (the latter accompanied by a film on the park’s design charrette which vividly illustrated the planning process).

Eve Baron, Juan Camilo Osorio, Sideya Sherman, and Lacey Tauber of the MAS Planning Center, described several programs and projects, including The Livable Neighborhoods Program, CITI Youth Initiative and the Atlas of Community-Based Plans.

Judging by the program evaluations, the audience found the evening informative and worthwhile: “Great suggestions were offered to get involved in planning and to become a more informed urbanist” and “Excellent overview of MAS projects and function with good visual support. Have them more often!”

The next Inside View will be held next spring. Stay tuned.

On Monday, September 22, MAS policy staff will host an informal discussion about current projects and programs taking place throughout New York City. Jasper Goldman, senior policy analyst, will provide an update on the East Side Waterfront Park, and MAS Planning Center staff members Eve Baron, Juan Camilo Osorio, and Sideya Sherman will review tools for grassroots planning, including the Livable Neighborhoods program, technology aimed at increasing public participation, and CITI Youth training and resources.

Inside View: MAS Work in Progress, Monday, September 22, 6:00 – 7:15 p.m., at the Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue at East 51st Street. FREE, but reservations are strongly recommended.  Call 212 935 2075 to RSVP.

For details of other upcoming MAS programs, visit www.mas.org/programs, and to download the full schedule of MAS fall programs in PDF form, click here.

On May 10th 2008, nearly 100 New Yorkers attended second annual Livable Neighborhoods Program (LNP) training at Hunter College. The LNP trains community members to pro-actively plan for their neighborhood — tackling issues ranging from affordable housing, to 197-a planning, to the city’s land use review process.

Navigating planning in New York City is a difficult task that requires community members to engage with multiple levels of government and consider a diverse number of interests. The LNP was designed to empower New Yorkers by helping them “crack part of the code” to planning in New York City as described by on of our Bronx participants and make planning work for communities. Continue Reading>>