Why New York Is Filled With Empty Plazas - Cheddar Explains

In most other American cities instead of "public" plazas you get surface parking lots.

I've never been to NYC and can't speak from direct experience there, but personally I'm much more likely to sit in and enjoy an outdoor public space if it DOES have restaurants, coffee shops, bars, ice cream/snacks, book stores, etc adjacent to it -- shops/storefronts in general, but not like hard core shopping/retail ones. Ones that encourage snacking/eating/socializing or the kind of slow, leisurely, aimless browsing of a book or music store.

"Privately owned public spaces" that sounds like an oxymoron

Once you've seen a shopping plaza, you've seen the mall

Toobin Plaza at the original World Trade Center fulfilled a pretty good public use role. Granted, it was operated by the Port Authority until it was subject to a 99 year lease from July 2001. And then got destroyed.

Well, you know, they can’t have all that riffraff hanging around. You need to bring your WALLET to enjoy those “public” spaces. 😂

places where you’ll get a weird look if you sit there or they’re blocked off/security

Seagram is my favorite building in all of NYC, a masterpiece in my eyes. I visit every time I am there. The plaza area is beautiful and the original intent was to have people gather, get sun, eat lunch, etc. Other developers thought they were nuts to design it like that.

If the property is privately owned and maintained, it is private property. Government programs or policies (building regulations etc) have consequences.

Did anybody notice that at 2:38 we're looking at the construction of the World Trade Center? But even though public plazas haven't lived up to expectations, I think the real reason people don't use them is too much sunshine and no shade. And the memorial plaza of the new World Trade Center with all its trees may correct that issue with its design. However the big question in my mind (as a former New Yorker) has always been, "What if all that beautiful acreage of Central Park had been spread around Manhattan a little more?" Sort of the way Savannah dotted it's original street grid with squares every few blocks. Might that have eased the skyscraper canyon problem a little?

The plaza in front of the Seagrams building is regularly used for noon concerts by a variety of ensembles. Also, many people sit around the edges enjoying their lunch in warm weather. So this space most definitely is used by the public regularly.

…instead of asking people to leave a comment - you should ask them to make individual complaints against all non compliant spaces !

I hate all the "public spaces" that you can only visit 9-5 on weekdays. Man, I have a job on the weekdays, I can't enjoy these spaces.

I was just visiting NYC and after watching this video I realized Cafe 53 is likely once of these plazas as it was situated at the base of a building in Midtown. I enjoyed the atmosphere and it was a good place to sit back and relax while enjoying a coffee.

How can the first floor of the building count as a plaza? Some of those 1st floors are buildings with foundations that takes up the entire lot.

In a sense, cities like Raleigh are getting stuff like this. Right now, a lot of it is parking lots and smaller buildings, but many of the new developments feature 5+ story parking decks with a 30-story building on top. The roof of the parking pedestal then becomes a greenery & open space.

As a NYC resident this seems a little sensational to me. Yes, these plazas are all over the place but no one is going to stop you from using them in the typical case and in fact many people do use them. I use them all the time to take a break from a walk, eat a quick lunch or chat outside with friends while enjoying the landscaping. One near me even has a farmer's market on Thursdays. Sure, there are some exceptions where developers seem to have made it intentionally feel exclusive but they aren't the norm from what I've seen. Just to make sure I'm not crazy I did a quick Google Street View around midtown Manhattan looking for some of them and they are typically full of people relaxing on benches. Should we make these plazas more available for activities beyond just sitting or passively socializing? I think not. If they are too inviting they'll just end up a mess like other rule-free places in NYC such as the subway stations.

55 Water St is one of my favorite places in the city. The elevated acre is relatively quiet, secluded, and a great view of the east river

Sociologist William Whyte produced a nice documentary about improving plazas a few years ago, "Public Spaces People Places". I don't remember it all, but his first recommendation was to give people places to sit !

That shot at 2:33 - love the juxtaposition of how modern those buildings really looked at the time - those 1950s cars next to this clean, straight and sleek glass and steel building