Van Alen is proud to partner with seven peer organizations to launch Shaping a Better NYC: An Election Primer–which provides information to help New Yorkers make informed decisions in the upcoming Mayoral election. The website, created by a coalition of civic, planning and design organizations, features interviews highlighting the vision of several top candidates on how the city can recover from the pandemic and build a more just and equitable future. The interviews also focus on candidate proposals that center equitable design, planning, and development priorities across the five boroughs.
Issues covered in the interviews, available online at shapingabetter.nyc, include homelessness, housing affordability, access to parks and open space, climate change and its impacts on communities of color, underinvestment in transportation and infrastructure, and recovering from COVID-19. The website also features high-level perspectives from each organization on issues central to their constituencies.
Shaping a Better NYC is the product of eight organizations advocating for thriving neighborhoods, beautiful parks, lively commercial corridors, and welcoming public buildings. Partnering organizations in the coalition reach a collective audience of more than 200,000 New Yorkers. Additional organizations include: AIA New York, The Architectural League of New York, Design Trust for Public Space, the Municipal Art Society of New York, Open House New York, Regional Plan Association, and Urban Design Forum.