I.S. 528 Bea Fuller Rodgers School

Most Inspiring School Street

On school days in front of Washington Heights’ Bea Fuller Rodgers School (IS 528), Wadsworth Avenue becomes a place for play & learning. Students from the school’s 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes get the all-too-rare opportunity to enjoy their car-free street. Thanks to the dedication of school staff, local community advocacy, and deep collaboration with the Open Plans team throughout 2023 and 2024, this is only the beginning – a recent block party and the growing potential for a school plaza have caught the attention of local leaders like DOT Commissioner Rodriguez. Programming brings outdoor ecological education, dance, and play to the neighborhood, enriching the educational and social lives of IS 528’s students. Together, they’ve created a wonderful example of how students thrive when given the public space to do so.

Photo by Open Plans

Rosa Chang

Community Advocate Award

Rosa Chang embodies what it takes to be a community advocate – she’s clear-eyed but always optimistic, tenacious but unfailingly warm. It’s these qualities that have catalyzed real and lasting change in downtown Manhattan. At the newly opened Gotham Park, Rosa has envisioned a cultural beacon and neighborhood resource that revitalizes a long-dormant space. Crucially, she sees the park as first and foremost a driving force for positive change in the neighboring communities of Chinatown and downtown. Her bold imagination and determination is an inspiring example of where the city is headed, and her work will impact generations to come who flock to this space to skate, socialize, exercise, and connect with nature and their neighbors.

Photo by Julienne Schaer

Photo courtesy of Gotham Park

Photo by Julienne Schaer

Photo by Lanna Apisukh

Christine Berthet

City Visionary Award

Hell’s Kitchen would not be the place it is today if not for Christine Berthet. A champion of pedestrians and people-centered streets, we have all benefited from Christine’s fierce dedication and determination. She not only founded the pedestrian advocacy group CHEKPEDS but is also involved in Open Plans, Streetsblog, Manhattan’s Community Board 4, Columbia University, Hudson Yards Hell's Kitchen Alliance and many City-led task forces and advisory boards. A long-time champion of livable streets issues, Christine was instrumental in creating the city’s first-ever protected bike lane under Mayor Bloomberg. Her superpower is identifying an opportunity and making it happen – from the crashmapper.org tool to leveraging a planned construction on 9th Avenue to secure a larger street redesign. Her ambitions for her neighborhood and the city at large know no bounds.

Photo by Liz Reisch Picarazzi

Video still by Streetfilms

Photo by Open Plans

Video still by Streetfilms

Photo by Liz Reisch Picarazzi

Avenue C Plaza

Kensington Creativity and Care Award

Kensington Community Iftar

Photo by Rathkopf Photography

Brooklyn Porch Music at The Family Concert

Photo by Jaznina Santiago

Boishakh Bengali New Year

Photo by Emily Ahn Levy

Día de los Muertos

Photo by Casa Cultural

ArtBuilt Mobile Studio with Ballet Folklórico Mariposas

Photo by ArtBuilt

Nominees for the People’s Choice Award
for Best Public Space Activator

Cast your vote, and then grab your party ticket to find out if your favorite took the prize! This People's Choice Award winner will be announced at Open Plans' annual Public Space Awards on May Day, 2025: Thursday, May 1st.

cast your VOTE

Photo courtesy of Downtown Jamaica Partnership

Downtown Jamaica Partnership

People's Choice Nominee
Best Public Space Activator

The Downtown Jamaica Partnership in Southeast Queens exemplifies strength in diversity. This organization, newly merged in 2023 from three separate neighborhood BIDs, fosters community and economic vitality in a neighborhood home to a multitude of identities, businesses, and organizations. Performing arts centers, dozens of historic and architecturally significant landmarked buildings, a beloved park, two colleges, major transportation hubs, civic buildings, and hundreds of buildings with locally owned shops and dozens of nationally and internationally owned retailers – these all combine to give Downtown Jamaica a richly unique sense of place. The Partnership supports its local businesses while also prioritizing people-centered streets; they currently manage the 165th Street Open Street, a pedestrian plaza in front of the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, and a public plaza on Parsons Boulevard. They’ve also hosted several temporary public art installations, they are planning youth community clean up days, and are working to bring farmer’s and holiday markets to the area. This holistic vision for the community makes Downtown Jamaica a better place to live, work and grow every day.

Photo by Bobby Feltault

31st Avenue Open Street Collective

People's Choice Nominee
Best Public Space Activator

This burgeoning community organization has emerged as one of the most powerful forces for people-centered streets in New York City. The 31st Avenue Open Street Collective in Astoria first incorporated as a nonprofit in 2022 and obtained their 501(c)(3) status just last March, but they’ve been managing the neighborhood’s popular Open Street for five years. Their new official status is just the latest step in building a sustainable, community-centered effort to improve Astoria’s streets and public spaces. With well over two dozen long-term volunteers and a community of nearly 100 neighbors who volunteer their time, the Astoria-based collective organizes street cleanups, murals, public seating, and block parties. They have played an important role in DOT’s redesign of 31st Avenue as a bike boulevard. Their success is an example and inspiration to every community who wants to make lasting improvements to the place they call home.

Photo courtesy of Sunset Park BID

Sunset Park Business Improvement District

People's Choice Nominee
Best Public Space Activator

The Sunset Park Business Improvement District builds community and boosts business in one of Brooklyn’s most bustling neighborhoods. Created by local merchants in 1995, today the BID supports over 600 businesses along an iconic corridor that also includes the 24.5-acre Sunset Park and four historic districts. This immigrant enclave is bursting with small eateries, local shops, beloved retailers and community centers, and BID executive director David Estrada helps each business survive and thrive. Whether helping a business owner navigate City bureaucracy, coordinating sanitation or graffiti removal, tending to 5th Avenue’s street trees, or planning fun holiday festivals, this powerhouse organization is central to Sunset Park’s vibrancy, dynamism, and community strength.

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Vote for Best Activator

To purchase tickets of quantities not listed above, or to pay by check or bank transfer, pledge your support here.

The Public Space Awards is a fundraiser in support of Open Plans, a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Food and beverages will be served in a cocktail party format; please advise of any dietary restrictions when making your purchase.

Dress code is festive, but not formal!

For any additional information on this extraordinary event, please reach out to Eric Parker, Development & Events Associate (eric@openplans.org).