They take many forms: “friends of” groups maintaining a local park, business improvement districts (BIDs) overseeing neighborhood main streets, community garden groups, Open Streets volunteers, cultural organizations, block associations, recreational clubs, waterfront groups, and more. For too long, they have operated largely in isolation, without a shared picture of who they are, what they need, or what they could accomplish together.

The Public Space Partners Survey aims to count and survey every organization that manages and programs public spaces in New York City and the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary. Our goals are to help public space partners connect with one another, help funders and intermediary organizations support the field, and help local government capture insights to develop smarter policy, so that every neighborhood can enjoy safe, accessible, and vibrant public space.

Our survey builds on STEW-MAP, the Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project developed by the US Forest Service, which first mapped New York City's environmental stewards in 2007 and 2017. We look forward to understanding how this network has grown and adapted in the last ten years.