Reposted by Ya-Ting LiuEthan Kent @ethankent.bsky.social · 25/11/2025Tour of New York City Hall today after meeting with Chief Public Realm Officer @yatingliu.bsky.social and Helsinki Placemaking officer @arvindrchn.bsky.social. And then bumped into #placemaking advocate @jacksonchabot.bsky.social of @openplans.org! 043
Reposted by Ya-Ting LiuClarence Eckerson Jr./Streetfilms @streetfilms.bsky.social · 17/11/2025Today 34th Ave Open Street is also known officially as Paseo Park! with @yatingliu.bsky.social @kathyparkprice.bsky.social @votejgr.bsky.social & so many awesome others. NYC's most famous open street (yeah forget about Times Square and all those others...) 1162
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 31/07/2025“Plenty of individuals in plenty of neighborhoods would like this stuff to happen to their streets. Here, critically, most of the groups with power are lined up together, approximately in unison or at least in harmony, and that makes a big difference.” www.curbed.com/article/14th...curbed.comEveryone Wants to Fix 14th StreetGoing beyond the busway, the city and BIDs are aiming to overhaul almost everything. 030
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 22/07/2025“New York’s Fifth Ave. could be the grandest most-futuristic boulevard of world cities by returning it to the pedestrian.” www.nydailynews.com/2025/07/22/f...nydailynews.comFifth Ave.: From boulevard to driveway and backOn the very first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, Mayor John Lindsay took the bold step of closing New York’s grand boulevard — Fifth Ave. An estimated one million people flocked to the street and The N… 010
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 05/04/2025“All we can say is hallelujah.” www.crainsnewyork.com/editorials/e...crainsnewyork.comEditorial: Sidewalk sheds are green and ugly and decreasing next yearThese ubiquitous hunter-green sheds are an object lesson in good intentions gone wrong, writes the Crain's editorial board. 010
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 26/03/2025Big city council vote today on a package of bills that will transform the streetscape by tackling the ubiquitous sidewalk shed. #GetShedsDown www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/n...nytimes.comEveryone Hates Sidewalk Sheds. Now There May Be Fewer of Them.Several bills to be passed in the City Council today are expected to change the height, the color and the ubiquity of the construction sheds. 4172
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 08/03/2025“Let every Council member speak out about the need to get rid of the scaffolding and then ask for a roll call. We’d be surprised if there are any votes in the negative.” www.nydailynews.com/2025/03/06/s...nydailynews.comSeeing the light on scaffolding: Council Speaker Adrienne Adams finally allows a vote to clear city sidewalksNew York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is running for mayor along with a whole bunch of other candidates, but run or not she is still leader of the local legislature and we applaud her for fi… 030
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 07/02/2025Congrats Gotham Park x Welcome To Chinatown on a great Lunar New Year Festival at the Arches. What a great way to showcase and support local small businesses and vendors! 010
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 25/01/2025Looking forward to this @benmax.bsky.social and NY Law School! 041
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 05/01/2025My first job in nyc policy, advocacy, and organizing was on a campaign to get council home rule and Albany approval for congestion pricing. The year was 2007 and Mayor Bloomberg announced the idea as part of PlaNYC2030. 17yrs later it’s finally in effect! Congrats to all who made today possible! 0180
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 10/12/2024Travel to any other city and you’ll notice the scourge of scaffolding (the type that goes up and stays up forever without any facade repair activity) is a uniquely NYC problem. A package of bills in @council.nyc.gov could bring big changes. Time to #GetShedsDown! 031
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 10/12/2024“The Council has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change Gotham’s landscape and improve the quality of life for public housing residents. By passing this legislation, they are heading in the right direction.” #GetShedsDown www.nydailynews.com/2024/12/10/n...nydailynews.comNYCHA has its own scaffold problemsNew Yorkers hate sidewalk scaffolding, the omnipresent structures that seemingly spring up overnight and obstruct pedestrian traffic for years at a time. New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) res… 020
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 08/12/2024Happy 200th birthday gift to Fifth Avenue! 🎂 This investment will enable design completion and the first phase of construction to transform 20 blocks into a 🌳 lined pedestrian boulevard. Let’s go! www.amny.com/new-york/man...amny.comWalk this way: Fifth Avenue to become a pedestrian paradise in $150 million+ redesign plan | amNewYorkMayor Eric Adams announced in Midtown on Sunday that NYC will be investing at least $150 million to help change the look of Fifth Avenue and make it a 060
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 08/12/2024Weather forecast looks great for today’s Fifth Avenue holiday streets! 12-6PM between 48 to 55th streets. See you there! 😎 040
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 06/12/2024“it is the biggest, broadest pro-housing step forward in memory. Kudos to Mayor Eric Adams and City Planning Chair Dan Garodnick for identifying a crucial priority, developing a solid plan and following through with a powerful persuasion campaign.” www.nydailynews.com/2024/12/05/c...nydailynews.comCity of Yes zoning is a big win: NYC needs housing and Council vote helps get us thereThursday, the City Council exercised wisdom and vision as it overhauled an arcane, restrictive zoning code to allow more housing in neighborhoods all throughout New York. A few shrill voices are cr… 092
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 02/12/2024“Built environment has the capacity to inspire natives and visitors alike — or, when wrapped up uglier than Christo’s Reichstag, to drag us all down together.” @council.nyc.gov has the opportunity to enact scaffolding reforms now. www.nydailynews.com/2024/12/01/k...nydailynews.comKnow when to (scaf)fold ’em: Pass Council bills to remove NYC’s scaffoldingYou’ve seen it with your own eyes in three dimensions all over the city’s too-often-cast-into-shadow sidewalks, but it pays to hop online and look at the city’s official map ( showing active sidewa… 030
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 27/11/2024Broadway Vision has become a real model of how a transform a commercial corridor into a vibrant pedestrian oasis. Just visit this stretch of Broadway and see what it has done for storefronts in the area! 0114
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 26/11/2024Must read op-ed from @manhattanda.bsky.social @keithpowersnyc.bsky.social @marklevinenyc.bsky.social on the need and opportunity for City Council to tackle scaffolding once and for all! www.nydailynews.com/2024/11/26/r...nydailynews.comRemoving street scaffolding helps fight crimeAcross New York City, miles of sidewalk sheds and scaffolding have been up for so long that they are making their surrounding communities unsafe. 063
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 26/11/2024Govt’s ability to deliver critical projects (parks, libraries, streetscapes, water/sewer upgrades) rests on web of complex and wonky processes. Yesterday marked a big milestone to give city agencies tools needed to build faster and better. www.nyc.gov/office-of-th...nyc.govMayor Adams Announces Significant Progress On Building Faster, Better, More EfficientlyNew York City Mayor Eric Adams today released a new report showing significant progress in reforming how public infrastructure is constructed 023
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 25/11/2024New public space immediately enjoyed by New Yorkers. What a delight! pix11.com/news/local-n...pix11.comNew park opens in Manhattan by Brooklyn BridgeMANHATTAN (PIX11) — Get ready to meet down under the Brooklyn Bridge. Some new arches are getting attention in the city as a new park opened this week at the base of the bridge on the Manhat… 060
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 22/11/2024Spot on op-ed from Dan Biederman, president of the 34th Street Partnership. City Council has a once in a generation opportunity to dramatically improve the pedestrian experience by reshaping the way sidewalk sheds are used and managed in the city. #GetShedsDown www.crainsnewyork.com/op-ed/sidewa...crainsnewyork.comOp-ed: It’s time to remove sidewalk sheds in New York CitySidewalk sheds, the ubiquitous green or gray metal and wood structures may serve a safety purpose, but they have come to symbolize neglect and long-term disrepair covering our streets, neighborhoods a... 1121
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 20/11/2024“An issue like lack of housing will eventually come to affect everyone, and that means everyone has to do their part. More suburban areas don’t get a pass and they don’t get to offload their own responsibilities out onto already denser parts of the city.” www.nydailynews.com/2024/11/20/n...nydailynews.comNearing the finish line: Council should let City of Yes succeedAfter months of maneuvering, the City of Yes housing plan is at the stage of last-mile negotiations between City Hall and the City Council. What emerges from this process should look substantively … 061
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 20/11/2024Mandating parking = less housing. “Developers say parking requirements add unnecessary costs to their projects and result in more expensive apartments — or fewer apartments outright. They say they’d add parking based on market needs, just as like any other amenity.” www.thecity.nyc/2024/11/19/p...thecity.nycHow Parking Will Drive the Coming Adams-Council Housing Development DealEliminating mandates to create spots for cars is key to creating more apartments in the mayor’s sweeping City of Yes proposal heading to a crucial vote Thursday — but a compromise that could halve new... 0213
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 20/11/2024NYC holiday season is not official till a visit to @nybg.bsky.social holiday train show. 🚂🌿🚂 040
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 18/11/2024Public space under the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge (aka The Ardhes) will soon become its own iconic destination. gothamist.com/news/public-...gothamist.com 141
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 15/11/2024New storefront vacancy analysis from @nycplanning.bsky.social shows: ✅ storefront vacancy rate citywide is trending down 🍽️ surge of restaurants is filling empty storefronts across NYC 🚶🏻♀️➡️open streets and efforts to improve pedestrian experience help storefront biz www.nyc.gov/assets/plann...nyc.gov 050
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 14/11/2024“Councilmembers face a critical choice: either pass a strong version of City of Yes that would add as many as 109,000 new homes over the next decade across New York City, or approve a diluted plan that would do little to address our housing crisis.” www.vitalcitynyc.org/articles/why...vitalcitynyc.orgVital City | Why New Yorkers in Poverty Need City of YesThe benefits of the Adams administration’s zoning reform plan are especially big for those on the bottom rungs of the income ladder. 081
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 14/11/2024Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi reminds us all that New York can do hard and right things. There is a real cost of traffic to the city’s economy, environment, and quality of life. Pricing this to fund and improve mass transit for all is the kind of leadership we need. 020
Ya-Ting Liu @yatingliu.bsky.social · 14/11/2024Can’t think of a better inaugural post here than the return of congestion pricing in NYC. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/13/n...nytimes.comNew York to Revive Congestion Pricing With $9 TollGov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce the revised program on Thursday with the aim of putting it in place before Donald Trump takes office. 2315
