NYCHA OPEN SPACE MASTERPLAN
Location: Queens, BROOKLYN, MANHATTAN, STATEN ISLAND, & BRONX, NY
Client: NEW YORK CITY HOUSING AUTHORITY (NYCHA)

Nancy Owens Studio was one of two landscape architecture firms selected to assess and reimagine 74 of a total of 133 NYCHA developments. The largest housing authority in North America, NYCHA selected landscape architects, for the first time, as professional leads to assist with the planning the agency’s 2,400 acres of open space. Building upon NYCHA’s 1935 mission to provide decent, affordable housing for low- and moderate-income New Yorkers, the planning objective was to improve community amenities as well as environmental services such as stormwater retention and urban heat reduction.

NOS visited all 74 sites and conducted facilities condition assessments of the playgrounds, sports courts, spray showers, and seating areas within the developments. Additional analysis was done to determine the flood and heat index vulnerability of each campus. The NOS team made program and design recommendations that contributed to the official Open Space Guidelines subsequently published by NYCHA.