POPS NYC

Using a privately owned public space

A privately owned public space is public space. The owner received extra floor area, meaning more rentable building than zoning would otherwise allow, in exchange for admitting the public. That exchange is a legal obligation. It does not expire.

What a POPS is

Since 1961, New York's zoning has permitted developers to build larger buildings in exchange for providing outdoor or indoor space for public use. The city dataset behind this map lists 392 of them: plazas, arcades, atriums, through-block connections, sidewalk widenings.

Each carries specific legal requirements covering size, hours of access, and required amenities. Those requirements are written into the building's approvals and are public record. Every space on this map links to its site plan and its full recitation of obligations.

What a POPS must provide

  • Access during the required hours. Most spaces are required to remain open 24 hours. Others carry restricted hours, which must be posted.
  • A plaque or sign. A POPS must be identified as public space, with its hours and required amenities stated. A missing sign is itself a violation, and it is the most common reason these spaces sit unused.
  • The amenities on its list. Seating, tables, lighting, planting, litter receptacles, drinking fountains, bicycle parking, restrooms, whichever that particular space was required to provide. Removed seating is a violation, not a redesign.
  • Entry without justification. No purchase, tenancy, appointment or stated reason is required.

If access is denied

  1. Do not escalate. Security staff are generally acting on instructions, not on the zoning resolution.
  2. Open the site plan from the space's page. It is the official diagram of which ground is designated public and of what type. It leaves little room for argument.
  3. Photograph what is visible. The plaque, or the place the plaque should be. Posted hours, locked gates, roped-off seating. Record the exact time.
  4. Leave if compelled to. Safety comes first. Filing afterward is what changes the space.

Filing a complaint

POPS complaints are handled by the Department of Buildings through NYC311. DOB acts on a narrow list of conditions:

  • The space is poorly maintained
  • It is not open to the public during its posted hours
  • Required amenities are missing or damaged

DOB does not accept complaints about other conditions at a POPS. Staff denying access, on its own, is not one of the categories they act on. Log it on this map as well, where it enters the public record even when the city will not take it.

Include where possible

  • The times posted at the space
  • Whether it was locked during those posted times
  • Whether a fence or gate surrounds it
  • Which features are missing or damaged
  • The address and POPS number, both listed on every space's page

File with 311

Each space's page carries a Copy complaint details button that places the address, POPS number, required hours and required amenities on the clipboard, ready to paste into the 311 form.

Documenting well

  • Timestamp everything. A photograph of a locked gate demonstrates a violation only if it can be shown to fall within required hours. Leave the camera's date enabled.
  • Frame the plaque and the obstruction together where possible. It ties the posted hours to the condition.
  • Return. One locked afternoon is an anecdote. The same gate locked on three occasions is a pattern, and a pattern is what prompts an inspection.
  • Record what was said, as close to verbatim as possible, with the time.

How contested spaces are marked

A space is marked contested once it carries 3 or more confirmed reports within the last 24 months. Every report is reviewed before publishing, and the full incident log appears on the space's page, so the marking is never opaque.

On the map, contested spaces carry a second ring around the pin.

Sources

The official record covering locations, required hours, required amenities, size and accessibility comes from the New York City Department of City Planning's POPS dataset, published as open data. It describes what owners are obligated to provide. It does not describe current condition.

Everything listed as reported by visitors comes from people standing in the space, and is reviewed before publishing. Wi-Fi, power outlets, restroom access and real opening hours appear nowhere in the city's data. That gap is the reason this tool exists.

Site plans and archive photographs are published by APOPS|MAS, a collaboration between the Municipal Art Society of New York and Jerold S. Kayden. Each photograph carries its original credit and year.

NYC Open Data, POPS dataset Department of City Planning, POPS APOPS|MAS, profiles and site plans