Learning from Bryant Park: Revitalizing Cities, Towns, and Public Spaces

by Andrew M. Manshel

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.

Genres: Urban Planning

302 pages, Hardcover

Published April 17, 2020

Reviews

[Sena · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started as an enjoyable read, but my opinion shifted when the author defended poisoning pigeons—arguing that only a few were killed, yet it effectively deterred others. As if profit and loss could be analyzed in a case like this??

Also, I went into the book with no prior knowledge of the author. But by the time I finished and looked up his name, I wasn’t surprised to learn he was a white man. His terminology and arguments on homelessness were really triggering for me.

I also hadn’t known about his involvement in Business Investment Districts (BIDs), but while reading, I had a strong sense that he couldn’t approach the topic objectively. That said, I was unfamiliar with BIDs before this, and I found that chapter to be a useful introduction. It has inspired me to learn more about the subject.

Bryant Park is a great case study, but it felt like he left some juice in the fruit.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggests, most of this book is about the success of Bryant Park, a park in midtown Manhattan that was once overrun with drug dealers and now has become a popular public space. Manshel worked for the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation (BPRC), a private entity that managed the park.

What went right? Manshel worked for the describes Bryant Park's success as an example of "placemaking" - a variety of small steps that, through a process of trial and error, make the park more attractive. For example, BPRC installed movable chairs. Why movable chairs? Because 1) movable chairs allow visitors to control their space and 2) the fact that they are not attached to the ground conveys a message of safety and order. BPRC also bought trash cans with lids for the park, instead of the wire receptables typically used on New York streets. Why? Because the former type of can never overflows on the street. Bryant Park restrooms are constantly attended, creating a perception of safety.

Manshel generally believes that only a private entity could have improved the park; because a downtown park is more intensively used than one in a residential area, the downtown park needs more resources- but a city government will often find it politically infeasible to be perceived as favoring downtown, and thus is less likely than a private nonprofit to adequately support the downtown park. Moreover, government-employed planners tend to deify community engagement- but a long community engagement process reduces administrators' flexibility to make small changes.

Manshel also discusses unsuccessful attempts at placemaking; for example, Cleveland's Public Square lacks shade and movable chairs, and as a result underperforms. Additionally, the square has far less retail than Bryant Park, reducing the public's motivation to visit.

Manshel's discussion of some issues less directly related to Bryant Park is mostly adequate, but occasionally is a bit vague. His chapter on Jamaica (a neighborhood in Queens) suggests that downtown Jamaica is successful, but he doesn't supply much data to prove it. He claims that a local nonprofit ended street homelessness there by "providing the with high-quality outreach services"; it isn't clear to me what sort of services he means.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly an interesting book, and especially engaging when it comes to the specifics of the revitalization of Bryant Park. But the comparison to Jamaica in Queens felt a little thin to me and I think the author can be fairly dismissive of the critique of placemaking for economic development as fueling gentrification.

[T.]

“A visitor to New York City’s Bryant Park, a 9.6-acre gem at Forty-second Street and Sixth Avenue behind the New York Public Library, might find it difficult to believe its dismal state forty years ago. Now it is a showplace: teeming with people, immaculately maintained, and packed with activities ranging from book talks to ice skating to juggling (or at least it was until the coronavirus hit). But in the 1970s, it was infested with drug dealers and avoided by most everyone else, one of the spaces notorious enough to earn the sobriquet “Needle Park.” The story of how that changed—and how other urban spaces can be similarly transformed—is the subject of Andrew M. Manshel’s Learning from Bryant Park.”

from the review in 'The New Criterion': https://newcriterion.com/issues/2020/...

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author was a principal in an early Business Improvement District (BID), which he puts forward as the key to the making Bryant Park attractive instead of frightening.

I guess it's okay as a guide to someone who wants to establish/run a BID - and he's got some good cautions re too-small BIDs, which may not be able to do more than pay their own exec-staff salaries - but he's dismissive of concerns/accusations that have been put forward against NYC BIDs and much of what he's crediting as the result of the Bryant Square BID could just have been the result of Manhattan's economic recovery.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book because it's about the neighborhood near where I live. I've been looking at trash cans and flower planters with a whole new appreciation now. It's definitely geared towards serious students of urban planning though, and I think most casual readers will probably find it too dry.

[sashrika]

made it about halfway through - i get the sense that manshel loves french downtowns but would not fuck with new delhi. there were some interesting points about placemaking, making people feel comfortable and safe and invited, but reading the parts about jamaica made me start thinking about how the creation of such spaces involves some level of (en?)forced curation