Since Zukin’s piece, published in 2010, the city has continued to hand off projects to private corporations, with increasing responsibility, as the Audit Report on the City’s Oversight of Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) recorded last year in 2017. This transition; however, has not been handled well as the report states that POPS are in a number of violations for not effectively promoting their public spaces. Of the 333 POPS recorded in NYC, 275 POPs have been left unchecked by the Department of Buildings (DOB) in the last 4 years. The 58 POPS that had been inspected found 41 of them faced violations for restricting public access in one or more forms. Not only has the city failed to inspect these POPS within the required intervals, but it has also failed to keep track of the locations of these POPS. The DOB has an inaccurate database currently, meaning that certain private corporations would be able to dismiss certain public space regulations should they not be counted under the header of a POPS.
Despite the oversight of the private corporations, areas like Union Square Park and the World Trade Center maintain this air of “authenticity”—one that Zukin argues is false. The audit elucidates the effort needed to maintain this “authenticity”. The ability to walk freely around in a park and watch other strangers do the same is closely (or rather supposed to be closely) monitored by the city, with the city contributing its part to the public-private relationship. With the number of violations and lack of checks on these POPS, it becomes clear that there is invisible exclusion whether the public realizes it or not. Zukin describes the parks of NYC as diverse spaces for many uses and for many people; however, there is a noticeable lack of the homeless and shadier characters that once inhabited the space before.
The audit offers a number of solutions to this issue as well, suggesting increased training of inspectors and better addressal of violations to public space regulations. Yet, with the number of POPS present, the power of the private corporations, and the budget cuts to the city that insinuated the problem initially, it seems unlikely that sufficient action can actually take place. Of the nine recommendations the audit provides, the city promised to take action on six—leaving out the full inspection of its 333 POPS, and refusing to change its protocol on POPS investigation. If the city is unwilling to check all of its sites in the first place, it seems that they have released the land to the private owners. Should this be the case, can we truly call these places public anymore? While the population surrounding or within these POPS seems to be satisfied, Zukin argues that it is not until something historical or especially meaningful to the community is meddled with does the community take action. In Union Square Park the replacement of the stone piece with a restaurant spurred the community to action with creation of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LDMC), an amalgamation of public constituencies. Though weak, the corporation represents public action against privatization. However, with the number of POPS left unchecked presently, is there anything left to spur the surrounding communities to action?
Works Cited
Landa, Marjorie. “Audit Report on the City’s Oversight over Privately Owned Public Spaces.” Office of the New York City Comptroller Scott M Stringer iCal, 19 Apr. 2017, comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/audit-report-on-the-on-the-citys-oversight-over-privately-owned-public-spaces/.
Zukin, Sharon. Naked city: the death and life of authentic urban places. Oxford University Press, 2011.
