The pop-up installation was built atop two parking spaces, and aims to show how that space could be used more effectively.
Photo courtesy of Open Plans
A local nonprofit group unveiled a model pop-up housing unit within, of all places, a below-ground parking lot — aiming to highlight the amount of space dedicated to car storage that could otherwise be used for residential dwellings.
Open Plans, a grassroots group dedicated to advocating for pedestrian infrastructure, unveiled the pop-up “People Over Parking: An Installation” project in Williamsburg on Saturday, showing how the space could be used to house a relatively-comfortable place for someone to live.
Featuring a bed, a pair of couches, a small table, and a kitchenette within several spaces in a cavernous, concrete garage, the installation takes aim at the idea of parking minimums — a Robert Moses-era rule that requires most developers to include off-street parking spaces whenever they construct additional housing density.
According to the activists, the laws promote car ownership, and simultaneously force developers to use space that could be used for housing, and instead build car parking.
“There is no excuse for New York City’s zoning code to encourage driving and car ownership,” said Sara Lind, Open Plans co-executive director in a statement. “Parking mandates were misguided in 1960, but they’re disastrous in 2023. Walking through this installation, you feel the absurdity of forcing this space to be used for cars when we so desperately need housing.”
Mayor Eric Adams last month proposed a groundbreaking “City of Yes” plan that includes eliminating parking minimums — a proposal that is currently being debated, and appears to have an uphill climb before potentially becoming a reality.
Lind and her partners at Open Plans created the installation to gin-up support for the measure, aiming to show alternative uses for parking spaces.
“Mayor Adams’ administration…
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