By: Hellen Zaboulani

New York City Mayor Eric Adams created and filled a new position, namely the city’s first Chief Public Realm Officer.

As reported by Crain’s NY, an executive order was signed in order to establish the new position with the aim of creating more public spaces in the city. On Thursday, Ya-Ting Liu was appointed to coordinate with city agencies and City Hall and act as a centralized coordinator for all things related to public space.

“Our city’s public spaces are too important to fall through the cracks of bureaucracy, and now they won’t “said Mayor Adams.

“New Yorkers need to know there is one person at City Hallwhose number one goal is to improve their quality of life by creating incredible, new public spaces and ensuring the ones we haveare clean, equitable, and safe. As someone who knows how to think big and ‘Get Stuff Done’ for New Yorkers, Ya-Ting Liu is the right person to serve as the city’s first-ever chief public realm officer.”

Liu is currently chief strategy officer to Meera Joshi, the city’s deputy mayor of operations. She will take on the new position and have a staff of four. The position will be a part of the deputy mayor of operations’ team, as per the City Hall announcement. The order is part of Adams’ New New York plan, launched in partnership with NYS Gov. Kathy Hochul, in a bid to revitalize the city’s economy following the pandemic.

The position will authorize Liu to act as “public realm czar,” and collaborate with the Department of Transportation, the parks department, and other city agencies, to develop policies and projects to improve and expand public spaces throughout NYC. Liu will be central in the mayor’s initiative to invest $375 million “to create and expand high-quality public spaces” and invest in new parks, plazas, car-free streets, wider sidewalks, expanded bike lanes and safer intersections. “The pandemic lockdown really changed New Yorkers’ perspective and experience with the city’s public spaces,” Liu said. “It’s become just really important to make sure that we don’t let government bureaucracies and silos dictate the experience and outcome of what people both see and feel when they come outside.”

Two of the top priorities on Liu’s list are: overseeing a permanent implementation of the city’s outdoor dining program; and recreating a more pedestrian-friendly boulevard on Fifth Avenue between Central Park and Bryant Park. Liu’s office will become the main contact point for the private sector and community organizations looking to partner with the city to establish public spaces.

As per Crain’s, Liu will also continue at her post as chief strategy officer to the deputy mayor ofoperations. She has worked in that position for roughly a year. Prior to joining the city government, she had been employed to work on various projects and topics relating to transportation, technology and sustainability. Her previous employers include: Via, the rideshare company; the New York League of Conservation Voters; and the nonprofit Transportation Alternatives.

In January, in Mayor’s Adams State of the City speech, he had announced that he planned to name a director of public realms. The new City Hall position had been a recommendation from the New New York plan, which was a panel of close to 60 civic and industry leaders tasked with reimagining NYC’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.