Crain’s NY Recognizes Celeste Frye as a Notable Woman Business Owner
In recognition of Celeste Frye’s leadership throughout the pandemic and over the past 10 years, as well as her commitment to supporting her local communities, Crain’s New York has honored Celeste as one of its 2021 Notable Women Business Owners. Over the past year and half, Celeste guided Public Works through 30+ projects and pursued strategies to bring our work to more people and more communities across the Northeast. Celeste’s commitment to Public Works and compassion helped us all navigate the stresses of the past few years. Please join us in thanking Celeste for her superb leadership and congratulating her!
What We’re Doing
Help New Rochelle Public Library plan for its future
The New Rochelle Public Library has just kicked off the planning process for a strategic plan, which will be implemented from 2021-2026. Public Works is supporting the library, facilitating planning sessions and designing outreach strategies that enable all community members to get involved. The strategic plan will draw on community feedback to design ways to upgrade library facilities, improve programming options, and more. If you live in New Rochelle, please complete a survey in English or in Spanish to share your opinions on the future of the library. The survey will be open through September. You can also attend a board meeting on August 12th or September 9th to share your thoughts. To learn more about this process and find ways to get involved, you can visit the strategic planning FAQ page.
The High Line wants to hear from you
Goodbye, MetroCards?
OMNY (One Metro New York) is the MTA’s new contactless payment system that will fully replace MetroCards by 2023. OMNY relies on near-field communication (NFC) to allow users to easily move through turnstiles by tapping their smart phones, contactless debit or credit cards, or, eventually, pre-loaded payment cards. In theory, this will decrease congestion and confusion at turnstiles, allowing for more efficient train and bus boarding. However, only 1 in 6 fares are paid using OMNY, the MTA announced recently. That is well below the number of New Yorkers who own a smartphone (80% according to a 2015 study from the NYC Department of consumer affairs). Our latest blog post explores some of the factors that may stand in the way of wider adoption, and some things you may want to consider as you prepare to say goodbye to your MetroCard. Read the full story {here}.
We’re hiring! We’re looking to fill positions at the analyst, manager, and senior manager levels. Click here to head to our careers page to learn more. And please spread the word!
One More Thing:
Check out Michael Kimmelman’s latest for the New York Times, a look into NYCHA’s PACT program: “A Rebirth in the Bronx: Is This How to Save Public Housing?”
Public Works Partners, in partnership with LISC NYC, Public Policy Lab, and the Pratt Institute, is the lead program administrator for the PACT Resident Planning Fund, an innovative program that will directly connect NYCHA residents at developments participating in PACT to quality organizations and service providers.
Public Works Partners is a WBE/DBE-certified urban planning and consulting firm. Our expertise lies in creating innovative, equitable, and sustainable solutions to complex problems.