Meet David Bragdon

David Bragdon, Director of Long Term Planning and Sustainability for the City of New York, talks about the importance of big visions and small actors in his native NYC, and moving beyond regulatory convention to promote the common good.

Then I went away for 39 years. I came back in the fall of 2010. Now I live on the edge of Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn.  As a little kid, Central Park was a big part of my life. We lived between First and Second Avenue, but we would walk to the park just about every day. It was a feature of most afternoons of my life.  It’s hard to find a spot in New York City that’s overlooked by other people. But every individual has a different experience of a common space. You can have multiple experiences of a singular place.  My sentimental favorite spot in the city isn’t really a spot. It’s the ride between Whitehall Street and St. George on the ferry because of the air, the wind, the water, and the view of all the different surrounding shorelines and skylines. It’s a combination of what the natural setting is and what the built environment is. I’ve always just been interested in how things move around. My dad would take me to school on the 2nd avenue bus and we kept a journal listing every bus we rode. Every single day we would write down which bus it was. It was the same route but we would write down the number of the bus. We had pages and pages. I’ve always been interested in how cities work. New York has a history of bold visionary plans. The Dutch had a plan for a global trading network in the 16th and 17th centuries. Or you think about the commissioner’s plan for the grid network in the early 19th century. Then there were Robert Moses’ plans in the mid-twentieth century. And a lot of different smaller project plans: Forest Hills, Lincoln Center, and others.  New York’s success is a combination of these big intentional projects and lots random factors — the organic forms of growth that come from individuals.  I see my job as defining those bigger visions—investing in the larger long term infrastructure needs of the city—and simultaneously fostering an atmosphere where the smaller, organic stuff happens a block at a time. That is, enabling people to do the stuff that really makes the city great So how do we as a government enable that to happen? The levers aren’t in our hands. It’s really up to the ingenuity and initiative of the people who live here. I think that one recipe for change is to unleash a lot of individual as well as collective random genius and innovation. That really can just come out of nowhere. For individuals, the first steps are to figure out what you’re interested in and what needs to get done.

To me, the challenge now in government is about how to look past this. How do you supplement the traditional things that government does — regulation and taxation and funding — and think about how can government also be a convener and a coach? How can the government be an inspiration in terms of its personal behaviors or development practices or lifestyle? How do you work with other people to make good things happen? This is different from a purely regulatory approach that just prevents bad things from happening. Regulation is really important, you have to keep doing that, but if you want to do more than just prevent bad things form happening, you have to do more than regulate…you have to help cause good things to happen.

Livability is about professional opportunities, and being able to support yourself and have a good career. But also, using the fruits of that to have a really vibrant cultural environment and good public services. And the ability to get around. The feeling of safety on the streets. It includes some connection to nature as well.

I like to walk. I mean, I’m a big transit rider too, but I like to be able to walk places. I’m just a city kid I guess. I’m not a nature boy at all, even though I can appreciate that. I’ve probably slept outside maybe two or three times in my life.

Environmentalism is actually an extension of being a good neighbor. Environmental stewardship that springs from somebody caring about their immediate surroundings is a very important motivator. You try to expand the concentric rings form there, like, ‘Oh okay I care about my block,’ well ultimately you have to care about the glaciers melting. But starting by caring about your block is a more meaningful place to start rather than some abstraction.   

There’s this myth that says ‘Oh, New Yorkers don’t care about nature or the environment.’ I just think that they probably define it somewhat differently. But I think that there’s actually a very strong sentiment here. There is a core of people that are really dedicated on those issues. I’ve been inspired — having been back in New York for the last six months — by just how widespread the commitment to natural restoration and environmental stewardship is in the densest city in the country. There are people who are very dedicated to nature and to restoration, and to water quality, things that people would have thought of was sort of beyond hope, twenty or thirty years ago. 

There’s currently a lot of vocal backlash about biking. I think there are real challenges to biking in New York, particularly because of the way the streets are designed to the 20th century standard. But I actually think underlying all of that there is a lot of potential for biking here. I don’t know if it will ever be the 35% road share of Copenhagen, but, you know, we’re a relatively dense city, a lot of the city has a grid system, and it’s fairly flat. We have a fairly vigorous population that does a lot of walking. New York is far more conducive to biking than most people realize. If it were safer and more accessible to the average person, I think we would be surprised at how much rider-ship there would be. But I think we have to give it a chance, and we have to really, really work at it. 

Another part of my vision is about the restoration of some of the natural function of the Gowanus creek. The restoration of and connection to rivers, and inlets and creeks, is a very compelling vision to me. 

I wake up before my alarm goes off. It’s just the energy of New York, I think. Looking at the skyline or looking at the river. I just find it a very motivating. There’s something about having been born here and having been a kid here, and just feeling like it’s a really important place. It’s really one of a kind. It’s hard to talk about without resorting to clichés. But it’s true if you can do something here…if you can change things here, there’s a national or international implication for whatever lessons could be learned. That’s probably some variation of that Frank Sinatra song — trying to state it without plagiarism, or without rhyming. 

Meet Jessie Singer.

Jessie Singer, founding member of the New York City Ghost Bike project, gives us her Ratso-style lesson in urban planning, breaks down Robert Moses, redefines livability and engenders a need for activism. 

Photo by Andrew Hinderaker.

Meet Karen Washington.

Food justice and farming advocate Karen Washington shares some history of urban agriculture, favorite moments from her garden, what it means to be part of a community and what it means to be a New Yorker.

I grow food, I feed people, body and mind.

I’m from New York City, born and raised. I grew up on the Lower East Side, then I moved to Harlem, and now I live in the Bronx. “The other B,” I tell people.

In my quiet time I go to my garden and spend time with my chickens, and that’s incredible for me.

There are two things that a community can do: They can stay and let the garbage accumulate, or they can do something and take back that piece of land. And that’s what we did. We took back that piece of land, we threw out all of the garbage, and started growing vegetables and fruit and people and community.

That’s why it’s called the Garden of Happiness. Because when you’re there, you feel happy.

I try to tell people that we’ve been here from the beginning, so urban agriculture is not this new thing.

Yes, 22 years ago. I remember a little green truck, stopping in front of this empty lot and saying, “We’re the Botanical Gardens, and we’re here to help.”

Food is the equalizer. Food has no interpretation when it comes to color, race, religion. We all need it; we all must have it. However, the powers that be tend to use food to discriminate, so you have the haves and the have-nots.

In this country, in this great nation of ours, how can we really look at ourselves in the mirror, knowing that there are people who are hungry? That makes me really sad and it makes me really upset, because we have the means. Food should not be an item that has a price tag on it. There should be a way for everyone to get healthy, accessible, culturally-appropriate food.

I chose to ask the question, “Where are the Black farmers?”

Even though it was black people that came to this country not by choice but by chains and fed this country and yet it is the black farmer now that is losing land and is losing the ability to farm. As a person of color I felt it was my duty, as a human being, as an American, as a person in this country, to find out what is the cause, why is it. And I went to people and I asked that question and it was told to me because black people don’t want to go into farming.

And so the black farmers conference is something I personally have taken to heart to see doors open, to shut down and expose the racism that exists in the food system and across agriculture, and for people to start having dialogues and allow all people of all ethnic backgrounds into this food movement.

There was an inscription on the black liberation bookstore in Harlem and that read, “If you don’t know, learn. If you do know, teach.” And I’ve always kept that, that if you have the knowledge and you’ve been a leader in this movement, you must teach, you must teach others.

I think New Yorkers, in my experience, are the type of people that are so blessed, each of us feel because the city has been so good to us, that it’s part of being a New Yorker to give back and to share resources and ideas and food and housing and money and whatever we can do.

I’ve been interviewed and people have asked me, “Is urban agriculture a phase?” A phase for who? This is who we are. This is not new and trendy.

The bottom line is that these community gardens and urban farms exist because people needed ways to feed themselves, to grow food that was culturally appropriate, to grow food that had a connection to history and people’s culture, and to grow food that didn’t have chemicals and was fresh.

This urban agriculture movement is being made an elitist movement because if you talk about rooftop farming, then who has the access to it? Rooftop farming is very expensive. And if you think rooftops on 59th Street and Lexington Avenue are going to have a bunch of Latino and Black people from Brooklyn and the Bronx come and start growing food on their rooftops, it’s not happening. So let’s be real when we talk about rooftop gardens.

Vertical gardens are good, but we can do vertical gardens by planting fruiting trees. The original rooftop garden.

I stayed in the Bronx because there’s this community building and these people who may not have a lot of money, but they have rich stories and the history and they can cook a good meal without it being fancy and there’s an air of being comfortable, being comfortable within their own skin.

What I like about my community is what you see is what you get. You know, if you’re driving a raggedy car, you’re driving a raggedy car.

So you have different economics, but in essence, that community garden puts us on the same loving, level playing field. That community garden has brought us all together so that on a Saturday when it’s hot, and we’re in there barbecuing, anyone can walk in and break bread and get something to eat. And I think that’s so important, and that’s what community is all about, and food is the key ingredient.

Community gardens are now a part of the landscape of New York City.

I always tell people that if it’s a community garden, it belongs to the community. It’s a gift that we have for a very short time and then we give that gift to somebody else.

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First of all, I remember when there was a glimpse of a hope that Obama would be president. As an African American, I never honestly thought there would be a Black president when I was alive. When you’re around your family, and you talk about my parents, grandparents, my grandparents, we talked about there never being a black president. We once thought it would be Martin Luther King, if it would be anyone, but when he got assassinated, it was an afterthought. All of a sudden this person, Barack Obama, with this funny name, and no one knew who he was. And then I started listening, and I said, “Wait a second, he’s a community organizer, he knows what community is all about. He might have achance.” I remember when the votes were coming in, and I said, “Look, we’re going to 125th Street, the heart of Harlem, and we’re going to wait there for the votes to come in.” And I called my son and said, “Come on, Brian.” So many people of color gravitated towards 125th Street, and they had big screens. We were there listening to the votes, counting them, and all of a sudden, and when the electoral votes were counted in, and he had the majority votes... oh my God. The elation that I felt, the tears, the hugs, the kisses, the screams, I wondered if it was real, if we really had a Black president. It was the most unbelievable feeling as a Black person, to feel, “Finally, we have arrived.” When Martin Luther King said, “I might not be there with you, but we as a people will get to the promised land.” I always had those words in my head... and we arrived at the promised land.

And so, to get this phone call from the Botanical Gardens, and have them tell me that they’ve been nominated for an award from the Institute of Museums and Libraries, and that they have to pick a community member who has made a difference, and that they had chosen me, I was speechless, crazy speechless. And when we found out that we were going to the White House, and that Michelle Obama was going to give the award, it made me shake. I was shaking and shaking. Going to meet her, I literally felt all of my ancestors, all of my family, in that room—my parents who are deceased, my brother who is deceased, all of my family—just applauding. I could just feel their spirit, just applauding that I was there, and that they were there to see it. I can’t explain it, but it was the most amazing thing, something that I will take with me for the rest of my life. I just felt my whole family in that room, just clapping and clapping. The spirits and the ancestors were definitely there that day. I really feel honored and I will take that with me. That made me feel that I had finally arrived.

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The Bronx got its name because it was farmland at one time. Yeah, Jonas Bronx was the family. See, there’s a little tidbit, a little history.

Hopefully, this city won’t be based only on concrete and steel, but based on greenery and the environment. That’s my vision for New York City, that it’s a metropolis for greenery, that it will have gone back to the beginning, and that is the Earth, with our hands in the dirt, where everything begins, where New York finds its roots.

La Familia Verde is our community garden coalition, and I have this elder group there. I love them so much. And they’ve been doing this for seven years. Twenty-two weeks, from July to November, rain, hail, sleet, or snow, those women are at that market each and every week.

We were told farmers didn’t want to come to our markets  because we were in the Bronx and farmers were fearful of the Bronx or they said it was too far. I remember telling them, “You have to pass through the Bronx and Harlem to get to 14th Street!” Instead of just throwing our hands up in the air and saying, “Well, they don’t want to come;” we said, “We grow the food, let’s start our own farmers’ market.”

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The chickens. Chickens! The chickens get me up early, I love those chickens. I have 15 gallenas. Let me tell you, those chickens are so great. Chickens, that’s what gets us up in the morning!

If you start early in the spring and you manage, get all the hard work done, then come June and July you can sit back and just weed and water, weed and water.

Something about the bees is spiritual. Something about them -- I don’t know what it is -- the sound they make, the fact that they work cohesively together. I didn’t keep them for the honey; I cared about providing a place for the bees, a place where they could feel safe. I looked at them as part of the ecosystem, as pollinating my fruits and vegetables, to provide a safe haven for them. When they left I cried like a baby, but then I figured that was their nature, and it was best for them to do that if they had to do that.

Sometimes I think, when I was maybe an egg or a spirit, God said, “Okay, it’s time for you to go to Earth,” and I said, “Okay.” He said, “You have a chance now, Karen, choose your parents, and choose where you want to live. Choose your neighborhood.” I must have said to God, “I want these parents, I want this sibling, I want to live here, I want to do these things.” I’ve lived a great life. I wouldn’t trade places with anyone in the world.

That’s my life, to give back, to give to the new leadership that’s coming up.

Meet Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

Arguably the brawniest man in New York City’s environmental movement, Eckerson, Director of Film Production at Streetfilms, shares biketales, bus stats and his personal wisdom on walking. Streetfilms is a vlog of 50-80 films a year on cycling, pedestrians life, transit, and green space, and has a project on ioby to raise money to produce a film on NYC’s Pop-Up Cafés.

It all boils down to this: We give cars too much space and we don’t give alternatives enough space.

I always have some kind of recording device with me. I’m always looking for the newest interesting thing in transportation that one city has that another doesn’t that I can bring to our viewers.

I have family members that think I’m nuts for living in the city. I try to convince them all the time that it’s just a wonderful place, that the expense of living in the city brings you so much more reward than you can get sitting at home watching television in the suburbs.

I lived in Brooklyn for 20 years and just recently moved to Jackson Heights. I have an 11-mile bike commute on my 52-pound Dutch bike to work. I love my commute. It’s safe, it’s wonderful, I see so many people, I see the NYC skyline, I ride over the Manhattan Bridge.

In Copenhagen, 38% of people ride bikes. It’s incredible. You see every kind of person on a bike. You see a four-year-old kid. You see an older woman. You see a guy with his business suit on. You’re there videoing and taking pictures, and people look at you like, “What are you doing?” It’s like taking pictures of cars going by in New York City.

I’ve been riding since 1993. I can remember riding over the Brooklyn Bridge alone.

Buses carry a lot of people. They really deserve their own lanes. I ride over all of the bridges, and especially when I ride over the Queensboro, I look down and see how unfair it is for a bus to be stuck in traffic. There’s 40 or 50 people stuck behind one single person taking up almost as much space.

When you’re riding around there’s so much to see. It’s so thrilling to see a street one day and then the next day notice that they planted four trees! The city is changing so fast, and I think people in cars don’t see it.

In New York, pedestrians are the kings.

Below 59th Street only six percent of people do their shopping by car, and only another six percent do their shopping by taxi or other hired car. The rest are doing their shopping by transit, foot and by bicycle. You look at the street, and the street is 75% or more devoted to cars. That’s got to change.

We got to document the Ciclovia, which is probably StreetFilm’s biggest success story. We did a film that we posted in December of 2007. Every Sunday from 6 am to 2 pm, they have 80-90 miles of streets that are just closed off for people to do whatever they want, not just bike, but walk, run, have a picnic, play tic-tac-toe… you see everything. We did this film because it was not really a known commodity outside of South America. We put the film up, and it was like wildfire. I don’t want to say we caused summer streets in New York, or Sunday streets in San Francisco, or Chicago, or Boston… but none of them had them before we did that video.

People used to say that streets are closed to cars, but now you hear more people saying that they are open to people. It’s a big change. It’s not often in New York City that we get to be in a space where we don’t have to worry about what a car could do to us.

There’s so many people now who are like mini Jane Jacobses.

Moveable seating is so important in a public space. A lot of times I’m sitting there filming, and I see these people just pull up a chair, even if it’s only a few inches—it’s so important that they’re able to do that. “If I turn it this way I can avoid the sun, if I angle it this way I can be more comfortable, if I turn it this way I can see a lot of sexy or interesting people walking by!”

I think it all starts with the sidewalk. It starts with a beautiful walking environment. Wide enough sidewalks where people can stop and talk to each other.

I just ride with a camera in my hand, riding my bike. I don’t have the time or the money for someone to do a perfect dolly shot. That’s one of the main reasons I started lifting weights back in the mid-90s: so I could ride and hold a camera steady.

You need to take care of cyclists, because they’re a growing population. It only requires extremely cheap infrastructure. Even a painted bike lane says a lot to a cyclist.

In the late ‘90s, the New York Times did a long story article on how incredibly dangerous traffic at the Lincoln Center was for pedestrians. It was a great story, but it only had one photo. It was just a photo of two people about to cross the street. It didn’t look dangerous. It didn’t capture the danger. There was no impetus to change anything, and nothing did happen after that story. 

My favorite place to go on a bike in the summer is the Rockaways. Coney Island is crowded and a little dirty. Long Island is a little too uppity; you have to pay to get on the beach. You can ride your bike to the Rockaways and not run into anybody, even in the middle of the summer. With a bike, you can go anywhere.

I would install bus rapid transit everywhere. In a traditional city, I would say the subway is the way to go. But we’ve already maxed out our capacity for the subway, so we have to support the buses. They’re pitiful. Some of them average three or four miles an hour.

I am inspired by the DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. She is accomplishing change that no city in America has every seen. I’ve been trying to change the city on my own, in my own little way, for so long, since I started riding a bike in the mid-90s. We had so little change happen until about 2005. We’d get a bike lane here, or a pocket park there, but the scale of what Sadik-Khan is doing is not only inspiring change in people in New York, but people all over the country.

Thank goodness I’ve only had three accidents since I moved to New York, and none of them had to do with filming.

There was a woman on 57th Street that I’ll never forget—this was about a year ago. I was on foot that day. It was 90 degrees. There was a woman in full professional clothes, probably in her 70s. She pulled up to the light, all smiles, and then just rolled away and I thought, “I’m in love with that lady right now. I wasn’t brave enough to ride a bike today, and here she is, doing her business, almost twice my age, sweating, and there she is smiling through the haze of the day.”

I fall in love every day when I’m riding a bicycle.

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In New York City, there are more than 8 million visions for a neighborhoods with more sunlight, open space, fresh food, and greenery. We've asked a handful of architects, artists, city planners, composters, chefs, enthusiasts, community organizers, hikers, activists, cyclists, gardeners, farmers, teachers, treehuggers, students, parents and children to share theirs with us. We'll post a new one every Friday on the ioby blog starting Friday, August 5.

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