Re-Imagining the City: Creating a Community-Driven Vision

How can diverse communities come together to create a shared vision for vibrant public spaces that are welcoming to all? Join Sue Donoghue, President of Prospect Park Alliance, the non-profit organization that sustains Prospect Park, and Casey Wang, Senior Project Manager with Hester Street, a non-profit organization that works to ensure neighborhoods are shaped by the people who live in them, and moderator Allison Meier, Brooklyn-based writer and editor. The group will discuss the Alliance’s yearlong community engagement effort to create a community-driven vision for Prospect Park’s former Rose Garden, a little-known landscape that borders communities on the east side of the Park.

Susan Donoghue, President, Prospect Park Alliance, is responsible for setting the vision and overall strategy for Prospect Park. Prior to her appointment in October 2014, Sue served as a Senior Advisor and Assistant Commissioner at NYC Parks, where she played a leadership role in PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg's blueprint for enhancing the city's sustainability. Through these initiatives, the city has planted more than 1,000,000 trees, renovated and constructed eight regional parks, and added over 260 new community playgrounds in all five boroughs. Sue earned a Masters in Public Administration from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. She is a neighborhood resident, and she and her husband and three children avidly enjoy Prospect Park as part of their daily life.

Casey Wang, Senior Project Manager, Hester Street, brings over five years of planning experience, placemaking expertise and passion for human-centered design. Prior to joining Hester Street, Casey worked at Project for Public Spaces to advance participatory planning and design projects from conception through implementation. Working with community-based organizations, local government agencies and private developers, she designed and facilitated innovative community engagement tools, and studied how public life unfolded in the parks, plazas, squares, streets, university campuses, mixed-use developments and downtowns that she worked on revitalizing and developing. 

Allison C. Meier is a Brooklyn-based writer focused on history and visual culture. Previously, she was a staff writer at Hyperallergic and senior editor at Atlas Obscura. She moonlights as a cemetery tour guide.

View the schedule for the whole week here.