Learning from Bryant Park
302 pages, 6 x 9
25 images
Hardcover
Release Date:17 Apr 2020
ISBN:9781978802438
Learning from Bryant Park
Revitalizing Cities, Towns, and Public Spaces
Rutgers University Press
By the 1970s, 42nd Street in New York was widely perceived to be unsafe, a neighborhood thought to be populated largely by drug dealers, porn shops, and muggers. But in 1979, civic leaders developed a long-term vision for revitalizing one especially blighted block, Bryant Park. The reopening of the park in the 1990s helped inject new vitality into midtown Manhattan and served as a model for many other downtown revitalization projects. So what about urban policy can we learn from Bryant Park?
In this new book, Andrew M. Manshel draws from both urbanist theory and his first-hand experiences as a urban public space developer and manager who worked on Bryant Park and later applied its strategies to an equally successful redevelopment project in a very different New York neighborhood: Jamaica, Queens. He candidly describes what does (and doesn’t) work when coordinating urban redevelopment projects, giving special attention to each of the many details that must be carefully observed and balanced, from encouraging economic development to fostering creative communities to delivering appropriate services to the homeless. Learning from Bryant Park is thus essential reading for anyone who cares about giving new energy to downtowns and public spaces.
In this new book, Andrew M. Manshel draws from both urbanist theory and his first-hand experiences as a urban public space developer and manager who worked on Bryant Park and later applied its strategies to an equally successful redevelopment project in a very different New York neighborhood: Jamaica, Queens. He candidly describes what does (and doesn’t) work when coordinating urban redevelopment projects, giving special attention to each of the many details that must be carefully observed and balanced, from encouraging economic development to fostering creative communities to delivering appropriate services to the homeless. Learning from Bryant Park is thus essential reading for anyone who cares about giving new energy to downtowns and public spaces.
Communities large and small--urban, suburban and rural--can, and should, learn from the remarkable transformation of New York City’s Bryant Park and the area surrounding it. Andy Manshel shows how effective place-making is a key to effective talent attraction, economic development, and urban revitalization strategies.’
Andrew Manshel has a straightforward yet infinitely complex goal: to turn the urban spaces we all have to share into urban spaces we all want to share. To achieve that, he gets a view of the city that is simultaneously panoramic and detailed, theoretical and nitty-gritty. This thorough and eminently practical book is shot through with deep love for metropolitan life, wisdom accumulated through experience, and the humility that comes from understanding that cities are made of people, in all their glorious, maddening unpredictability.'
Manshel writes in a highly accessible style about New York City history and the history of contemporary landscape design. He offers the unique perspective of senior management on Bryant Park’s transformation of the park from drug den to tourist haven.
The important work by Andy Manshel and other leaders in the BID movement contributed greatly to the turnaround of New York City in the early 1990s and beyond. Most importantly, BID’s led the way in rethinking, reclaiming and reinvigorating long neglected public spaces. This book chronicles how that happened and why public space — our shared front yard — is central to creating livable and vibrant cities.'
Learning From Bryant Park is by far one of the best books ever written about how to successfully manage, program, fund, and operate public spaces. It's a must read for anyone who wants to learn the science and art of doing so.
The story of its turnaround is now told by Andrew M. Manshel in Learning from Bryant Park: Revitalizing Cities, Towns, and Public Spaces. As cities in quarantine now face down a new form of disruption, Bryant Park’s lessons of revival are more vital than ever before.
How Bryant Park's Iconic Chairs Revolutionized Public Spaces,' by Elizabeth Kim
https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/how-bryant-parks-iconic-chairs-revolutionized-public-spaces
Public spaces in an age of social distancing: How to rethink parks after coronavirusPublic spaces in an age of social distancing: How to rethink parks after coronavirus' by Andrew M. Manshel
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-public-spaces-social-distancing-20200402-2xjoldzo3jccxol3yil4qbj7dm-story.html
Learning from Bryant Park makes me want to revisit that gem in the heart of Manhattan and look more closely at some of the details that helped make the space so successful.
Groks Science Radio Show podcast interview with Andrew M. Manshel'
http://ia801400.us.archive.org/21/items/groks918/groks041520.mp3
The Frankie Boyer Show' interview with Andrew M. Manshel
Is ED Really a Problem?' by Andrew M. Manshel
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cvc2fip35lnazqx/ADRR%20Manshel%20031120%20.pdf?dl=0
How Fermob Sparked a Revolution in Public Space,' by Wendy Helfenbaum
https://www.metropolismag.com/products/furniture/how-fermob-sparked-a-revolution-in-public-space/
Manshel’s credo is an extremely valuable one, just as useful for repopulating public spaces in the post-pandemic future as it was for filling them beforehand.'
Sophisticated and compulsively readable.
Learning from Bryant Park opened my eyes up to a world of placemaking that goes well beyond design but ties into the ideas of New Urbanism. It ultimately offers a vision for the revitalization of urban places—especially small cities and towns that have been overlooked—all across America....Learning from Bryant Park is a powerful book—and important book—on placemaking and urban revitalization.
The strategies of Bryant Park as outlined in this book should be the first place to look when seeking to transform troubled public spaces. Even one visit to the incredible Bryant Park will convince anyone of that.
America Trends podcast - EP 371 Downtowns and Public Spaces: What Works in Revitalizing Them?'
https://www.rifkinradio.com/podcast/ep-371-downtowns-and-public-spaces-what-works-in-revitalizing-them/
Times Square, Grand Central and The Laws That Built the City,' by Michael Kimmelman
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/24/arts/design/times-square-grand-central-tour.html?action=clickmodule=Editors%20Pickspgtype=Homepage
Winter Is Coming—Capitalize on It' by Andrew M. Manshel
https://www.planetizen.com/features/111149-winter-coming-capitalize-it
[Manshel's] retelling of these efforts will broaden the enjoyment of everyone who loves urban life and is curious about the City’s special places.
Worth reading as a guide to post-pandemic urban-space management.'
[Manshel's] retelling of [lessons were equally revealing on placemaking] will broaden the enjoyment of everyone who loves urban life and is curious about the City’s special places.
Book Look: A Moveable Seat' by Jeff Hagan '86
An engaging study and has a propulsive energy that encourages readers to embrace its author’s strongly asserted point of view.
For ten years Andrew M. Manshel was associate director and counsel at the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation (conceptualizing and successfully implementing many of its most noted programs including its performances, the film series and the construction and leasing of the Bryant Park Grill) and general counsel and director of Public Amenities to the Grand Central and 34th Street Partnerships (where he created the horticulture, street vendor and newsrack programs). Later, he became executive vice president of Greater Jamaica Development, in Jamaica, Queens. Mr. Manshel blogs about downtown and public space revitalization at theplacemaster.com. He is a long-time director and the treasurer of Project for Public Spaces, Inc. He holds Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from New York University and a BA in Government from Oberlin College.
In the 1990s, the tide changed in how Americans perceive their country’s cities. I use the metaphor of the tide, rather than saying that a “revolution occurred,” because this change in perception took place over an extended period of time. It came about because a series of small, calculated changes over a number of years shifted the perception of safety by residents of urban centers.
It is widely acknowledged that many of America’s cities, particularly the older ones of the Northeast and Midwest, began to decline in the early 1960s. They were perceived at that time to be places that one moved out of if one could. In the American public imagination, cities were thought to be unsafe and physically decaying. For New York City, the low points were the 1975 municipal fiscal crisis and the 1990 New York Post headline, “Dave, Do Something,” that begged then-mayor David N. Dinkins to take action after a series of particularly violent events.
But then, the tide began to turn. In the mid-1990s, perceptions of city centers began to change and by the end of the decade, cities, and New York City in particular, were thought of as safe, clean and vibrant. People began moving back downtown, and real estate prices, which hit bottom in New York City after the market crash of 1987, began a steady increase, climbing to today’s dizzying prices of as much as $6,000 per square foot of residential space in new buildings in Manhattan.
This book makes the case that the ideas that played a critical role in this sea-change were first incubated in the 1950s; crept into the vocabulary of thinking about managing urban public spaces in the 1960s; were refined in the 1970s; and, by the early 1990s, started being implemented in visible projects. By the end of that decade, principally as a result of the practice of these ideas, the urban tide came back in.
It is widely acknowledged that many of America’s cities, particularly the older ones of the Northeast and Midwest, began to decline in the early 1960s. They were perceived at that time to be places that one moved out of if one could. In the American public imagination, cities were thought to be unsafe and physically decaying. For New York City, the low points were the 1975 municipal fiscal crisis and the 1990 New York Post headline, “Dave, Do Something,” that begged then-mayor David N. Dinkins to take action after a series of particularly violent events.
But then, the tide began to turn. In the mid-1990s, perceptions of city centers began to change and by the end of the decade, cities, and New York City in particular, were thought of as safe, clean and vibrant. People began moving back downtown, and real estate prices, which hit bottom in New York City after the market crash of 1987, began a steady increase, climbing to today’s dizzying prices of as much as $6,000 per square foot of residential space in new buildings in Manhattan.
This book makes the case that the ideas that played a critical role in this sea-change were first incubated in the 1950s; crept into the vocabulary of thinking about managing urban public spaces in the 1960s; were refined in the 1970s; and, by the early 1990s, started being implemented in visible projects. By the end of that decade, principally as a result of the practice of these ideas, the urban tide came back in.
Contents
Acknowledgements
1 Jacobs, Whyte, Bryant Park, Jamaica, Queens, and the Return to the Center
2 The Basic Strategies of Placemaking
3 Why Bryant Park is Important
4 The Role of Business Improvement Districts in Urban Revitalization
5 Operating Public Spaces
6 Programming Public Spaces
7 Learning From Your Mistakes
8 Improving Downtown Streets and Sidewalks
9 Suburban Main Streets
10 Homelessness and Equity in Public Spaces
11 Artists, Downtowns and Creative Placemaking
12 Real Economic Development
13 Downtown Jamaica
14 Revitalizing Smaller Towns and Spaces
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
1 Jacobs, Whyte, Bryant Park, Jamaica, Queens, and the Return to the Center
2 The Basic Strategies of Placemaking
3 Why Bryant Park is Important
4 The Role of Business Improvement Districts in Urban Revitalization
5 Operating Public Spaces
6 Programming Public Spaces
7 Learning From Your Mistakes
8 Improving Downtown Streets and Sidewalks
9 Suburban Main Streets
10 Homelessness and Equity in Public Spaces
11 Artists, Downtowns and Creative Placemaking
12 Real Economic Development
13 Downtown Jamaica
14 Revitalizing Smaller Towns and Spaces
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Related Titles
Baltimore Revisited
Stories of Inequality and Resistance in a U.S. City
Edited by P. Nicole King, Kate Drabinski, and Joshua Clark Davis
