Archive

  1. Yazan Mansi

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    Born and raised in Queens, Yazan’s passion for public spaces and placemaking was cultivated by the community he grew up in. This led to him studying Public Affairs at The Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College. He was inspired to pursue a career in the public sector, with hopes of working to better the lives of his fellow New Yorkers.

    Throughout his career Yazan has acted as a communicator and placemaker, working as a liaison for the New York City Council before joining the Grand Street BID as a Community Engagement Manager. Yazan has brought his experience in community building and his passion to improve New York City to the BID, where his work focuses on cultivating the BID’s connections with both the businesses and the community of Grand Street.

  2. Francesca Fernandez Bruce

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    A native New Yorker, Francesca is passionate about empowering communities. After several years teaching abroad, she returned to pursue a Master’s in Urban Planning at CUNY Hunter College, to further the cause of social and environmental justice. While studying, she worked with small businesses, the Port Authority of NY NJ, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, and the NYC Department of City Planning. Missing hands-on community work, in 2024 she leapt at the chance to serve the Grand Street BID alongside a rich tapestry of neighbors, small businesses, and planners of all stripes, to build a safer, more beautiful and inclusive community.

  3. Abigail Ellman

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    Abigail Ellman is an urban planner and action researcher with experience in affordable housing, equitable economic development, sustainable infrastructure, health equity, and community organizing. At Cooper Square Committee, she supports the organization’s overall affordable housing development and preservation work, as well as leads small business and commercial tenant organizing and advocacy. Her work on commercial vacancy and displacement has been featured in the City of the Future podcast and Curbed. Prior to her current role, Abigail worked on economic development research at the Pratt Center, co-led two phases of participatory action research focused on social determinants of health with MIT CoLab, and developed the capacity of immigrants to self-advocate and organize as an adult educator with Make the Road NY in Queens.

  4. Megan Brosterman

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    A New Yorker since 2001 and a Lower Manhattan resident since 2008, Megan has a background in finance, corporate law, sustainable fashion, regenerative gardening and soil health. Megan believes nature-based solutions and grassroots community engagement should be prioritized in New York City’s efforts to address climate change — and public space is where these connect!

  5. Rosa Chang

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    Rosa Chang is a community advocate who is deeply engaged in issues of climate change, education, community support, the deep importance of place and how our built environment builds the people who occupy it. These passions are reflected in her membership in Manhattan’s Community Board 1 in: Youth and Education (Co-Chair), Waterfront, Parks, Cultural & Land Use, Zoning and Economic Development Committees. She is a member of the Climate Coalition of Lower Manhattan. With Gotham Park’s founding, opening and continued growth, Rosa is working to turn an infrastructural burden into a community hub that connects our diverse neighborhoods and people.

  6. Mohamed Attia

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    Mohamed Attia is the Managing Director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center. Attia migrated to the US from Alexandria, Egypt, in 2008 working as a street vendor for nearly ten years selling hot dogs, halal chicken over rice, and smoothies in Times Square. He joined as a member of the Street Vendor Project (SVP) in 2012 and was an elected member leader of the organization until 2018, when he joined SVP’s staff as Managing Director. He has been profiled for his advocacy work on behalf of the street vendor community by The New York Times and was recognized on City & State Community Engagement Power 50 List.

  7. Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez

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    Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez is the Deputy Director at the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, where she has worked to pass city legislation to reform the street vendor industry, pass state legislation to create a $2.1 billion relief fund for excluded workers, and initiated a food relief program during the pandemic that employed vendors to make healthy, culturally sensitive meals for​ distribution citywide. She has previously held positions at NYC Small Business Services, Community Service Society, and Fundación Corona. Carina holds a Masters in International Affairs and Urban Social Policy from Columbia University, and was recognized in City & State’s Labor 40 under 40.

  8. Street Vendor Project

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    The Street Vendor Project (SVP) is a membership-based organization of over 2,900 members who champion the rights of street vendors as small businesses to earn a living and contribute to the culture and life of New York City. We strive to expand vending as a viable, lawful employment option for immigrants and other entrepreneurs. We celebrate the long tradition of street vending in NYC and the diversity of cultures and backgrounds from which vendors come, noting that an estimated 95% of street vendors are immigrants who operate at the margins of the formal economy.

    ​Through direct legal representation, small business training, organizing support, leadership development, and strategic legislative advocacy, SVP builds power and community among vendors. Language access is ingrained in every aspect of our work, and we hold capacity in the five most common languages spoken within the vending community: Arabic, Bengali, Mandarin, Spanish, Wolof, French and English.

    Street Vendor Project envisions a New York City where street vendors thrive as essential entrepreneurs and anchors of community and culture in the five boroughs. At the core, our work centers on creating a diverse community of street vendor leaders, uniting people across race, class, gender, language and cultural backgrounds. Today, we are the principal voice of vendors advocating for just working conditions, defending against arbitrary harassment by law enforcement, and advocating for the formalization of the vending industry.

    — streetvendor.org

  9. Red Hook Farms

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    Red Hook Farms is a youth-centered urban agriculture and food justice program operating one of Brooklyn’s largest farms. Red Hook Farms cultivates affordable, fresh produce and provides STEM and nutrition education, leadership development and employment opportunities for youth and residents.

    — rhicenter.org

  10. James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center

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    Our mission is to strive for inquiry and project-based solutions at the juncture of food, environmental and social justice.

    Our goal is to build a healthier and greener resilient community by engaging, integrating, educating and serving student and community members, especially low income and marginalized people, in collaboration with numerous partner organizations with common interests.

    We envision a model community school that inspires resiliency, holistic sustainability, and personal responsibility.

    — jamesbaldwinoutdoorlearningcenter.org