New York City is home to over five hundred places that are privately owned but legally required to be open to the public. These places, often called privately owned public spaces (or POPS), take many forms. They are outdoor plazas, building arcades, indoor lobbies, subway entrances and more. Unfortunately, many New Yorkers do not know these spaces exist or, if they do, do not know that they have a legal right to use them.

The term POPS was made popular by urban planning specialist Jerold Kayden. His 2000 book, Privately Owned Public Spaces: The New York City Experience, traced the origin of NYC’s prevalent POPS to new zoning laws introduced in the year 1961. These new laws provided a mechanism, known by officials as a “zoning incentive”, to encourage private developers to create public spaces. If a private developer wanted to break the zoning code – often by building higher than the zoning code allowed – they would make a special agreement with the city. Developers would provide a privately-owned public space for use by “the public,” however slippery that term may be, in exchange for permission to alter the restrictions to their site.

The inclusion of POPS in exchange for permission to build larger new buildings became standard issue in the city, but the success of such arrangements in creating viable or functionally social public spaces is up for grabs. First, there is the matter of locating these spaces. Until recently, little work had been done to systematically document the locations of POPS and make them publicly available. If they are so difficult to locate, can POPS truly be described as available to the public? Second, there’s the problem of what makes for good “public” space. Overall, the design standards and access rules for POPS have been inconsistent. Following the 1961 code, many developers created spaces that lacked features such as benches, cafes, or artwork, things that actually encourage people to use them. Recognizing the opportunity to improve these spaces with such amenities, the City Council adopted a resolution that set new requirements for access and design of POPS in 2007.

The goal of ICE-POPS NYC is to continue the discussion about privately owned public spaces in the city. By documenting their location, we want to encourage people to see these spaces as their own. And by exploring their design, we hope to spark a dialogue about what makes these spaces truly “public” and what we can do to make these spaces better.

For more information on POPS in NYC, Kayden and the city jointly created a website that provides a detailed list and maps of NYC POPS.

For more information, see: 2007 City Council Ordinance (adopted by the City Council) (PDF)