The Municipal Art Society of New York

Mas works on The ground in all five boroughs mobilizing New yorkers on issues that affect our city. Our annual jane's walk weekend brought more than 73,000 New yorkers and visitors together for an annual festival celebrating urban life. Our renowned walking tours program which was entirely online in fiscal year 2022 served an audience of over 5,000 exploring The Art, architecture and cultural history of New York's five boroughs. We also curated four Art exhibitions, viewed by 7,500 gallery visitors, as part of The relaunched doris c. and alan j. freedman gallery on mas.org. These included people & places: portraits of a city by chris weller, The first hand drawn work to be featured, following five photography exhibitions presented since The gallery's inaugural exhibit in 2020. Also in fy 2022, mas presented 22 virtual public programs from panel discussions to artist spotlights and even a third book talk.

Mas promotes diverse neighborhoods, efficient and reliable infrastucture, affordable housing, and inviting open space through comprehensive, community-based urban planning. In fy 2022, mas published a blueprint for public realm leadership, The last in a series of publications that were part of its fight for light initiative launched in 2018. The document mas builds upon its initial call for a director of The public realm. The publication is a roadmap for The creation of a deputy mayor for placemaking and The public realm, a position within New York city government dedicated to improving intergovernmental coordination and oversight of public spaces. In fy 2022 mas worked to defeat a proposal for 960 franklin avenue in brooklyn that would have allowed a private developer to sidestep The height restictions that protect brooklyn botanic gardens (bbg) from shadows in order to build a luxery condo tower. Ultimately, after years of research, modeling and advocacy by mas and bbg, The city planning commission voted unanimously to reject The application. We also helped push legislation through The ciy council in fy 2022: we celebrated The passing of intro 1572-b, The racial impact study bill which was a critical advocacy priority for mas. This legislation will create a citywide racial disparity and displacement risk index and require racial impact statements for all major rezonings. For far too long neighborhood rezonings in New York city have disproportionately targeted low-income communities of color. We also welcomed our largest network of livable neighborhoods program partners ever. Launched using our New cohort model, our fy 2022 lnp community included 20 organizations across all five boroughs, working together to train local stakeholders to serve as land use advocates for their neighborhoods.

Mas protects historical and cultural landmarks, neighborhood character, legacy business, and public Art through values-based preservation. In fy 2022, mas testified or made recommendations on a number of important historic preservation issues including advocating for The landmarking and protection of The 19th century former colored school 4 in The chelsea neighborhood of manhattan, The only school of its kind remaining in The borough. Mas, in testimony to The landmarks preservation commission, urged The lpc to deny The request to demolish The landmarked west park presbyterian church on The upper west side of manhattan. The church's governing body is seeking to demolish The church on The grounds of financial hardship. Mas testified that this action by The lpc would set a terrible precedent for The nyc landmarks law and other houses of worship. Mas's adopt-a-monument and adopt-a-mural program continued its work conserving Art in all five boroughs including The heine fountain in The bronx and The marquis de lafayette and abraham lincoln monuments in brooklyn's prospect park, both of which had been recently vandalized.