Highlights
In Community Gardens, a New Weed?
The New York Times | Michael Tortorello | February 11, 2015
Mapping All of the NYC Lots Sold for a Dollar
Next City | Rachel Dovey | March 6, 2018
Department of Finance creates a taxing nightmare for nonprofits
Daily News | Edward Garcia, Lindsey Johnson, Felix Kuadugah | May 17, 2018
After a Year of Adoptions, Orphaned Lots Bloom
The New York Times: Green Blog | Emma Bryce | October 17, 2012
Non-profits helping New Yorkers turn abandoned lots into community gardens
NY Daily News | Ginger Adams Otis | July 4, 2015
‘There’s land if you want it’: how a hand-drawn map is transforming vacant lots in Brooklyn
The Guardian: Cities | Mariana Mogilevich, Ben Campkin and Rebecca Ross | December 12, 2014
Digging Together: NYC’s Community Gardens
The Leonard Lopate Show (WNYC) | June 17, 2014
Trickery, Fraud and Deception
There Goes the Neighborhood (WNYC) | April 13, 2016
Rescatan lotes vacíos para comunidad
El Diario | Carolina Ledezma | May 23, 2012
Finding the Value of a Vacant Lot by Tapping into Neighborhood Memory
NextCity | Oscar Perry Abello | December 1, 2015
34 Community Gardens Saved from Demolition After City Makes Them Parks
DNAinfo | Camille Bautista | December 31, 2015
Publications By 596 Acres’ Founder Paula Z. Segal
You Can’t Common What You Can’t See: Towards a Restorative Polycentrism in the Governance of our Cities
Fordham Urban Law Journal | Amy Laura Cahn & Paula Z. Segal | 2017
Re-Imagining Local Public Space, From Parks to Post Offices
The Leap | Paula Segal | February 7, 2017
From Open Data to Open Space: Translating public information into collective action (PDF)
Urban Agriculture Magazine | Paula Z. Segal | September 2016
Tax Delinquent Private Property and City Commons
The City as Commons: a Policy Reader | Paula Z. Segal | 2016
Open Data and City Commons
The City as Commons: a Policy Reader | Paula Z. Segal | 2016
City Giving Away Land With Little Public Discussion
City Limits | Paula Z. Segal | June 14, 2016
Skin the City
The Nature of Cities | Paula Z. Segal and Daniel Eizirik | July 27, 2016
Stop the Tax Lien Sales That Will Destroy Community Gardens
City Limits | Paula Z. Segal | May 10, 2016
From Open Data to Open Space: Translating Public Information Into Collective Action
Cities and the Environment | Paula Z. Segal | Vol. 8: Iss. 2, Article 14 (2015)
596 Acres
Beautiful Solutions | Paula Z. Segal | November 20, 2014
2014 MAS Summit for NYC: Paula Segal of 596 Acres (video)
Municipal Art Society | October 30, 2014
OpenGov Voices: How 596 Acres Is Opening Up Vacant Lots Data
Sunlight Foundation | Paula Z. Segal | July 3, 2014
Flowers Follow
Shelterforce | Paula Z. Segal | February 2013
Reclaiming Unused Urban Space
World Policy Blog: Arts Policy Nexus | Paula Z. Segal | September 28, 2012
Room to Grow Something
Beyond Zuccotti Park: Freedom of Assembly and the Design of Public Space | Paula Z. Segal | New Village Press 2012
Sao Paulo, Brasil
Occupy Writers | Paula Z. Segal | October 19, 2012
A More Inclusive Democracy: Challenging Felon Jury Exclusion in New York
New York City Law Review | Paula Z. Segal | 2010
Archive 2011-2017
2018
This Nonprofit Is Turning New York Greener, One Block At A Time
Drift | May 29, 2018
Department of Finance creates a taxing nightmare for nonprofits
Daily News | Edward Garcia, Lindsey Johnson, Felix Kuadugah | May 17, 2018
Homes Or Gardens? Developers And Urban Farmers Grapple Over Vacant Land
NRP The Salt | Lea Ceasrine | April 28, 2018
Living Lots map helps New Yorkers transform vacant land into community spaces
6 sq ft | Michelle Cohen | April 18, 2018
‘This land is your land’: Reclaiming public land for communities in Brooklyn
Shareable | 596 Acres | March 22, 2018
New map shows every city-owned lot sold for $1 since De Blasio became mayor
Curbed New York | Hannah Frishberg | March 13, 2018
This map shows you the vacant lots in NYC that were sold by the city for $1
6 sq ft | Michelle Cohen | March 12, 2018
Mapping All of the NYC Lots Sold for a Dollar
Next City | Rachel Dovey | March 6, 2018
2017
Key to Affordable Housing Development, Vacant Lots Remain Source of Controversy
Gotham Gazette | Ben Weiss | October 17, 2017
Community Gardens Fight Against Developers and the City for Survival
Commercial Observer | Rebecca Baird-Remba | July 19, 2017
New Bill Would Protect Hundreds of NYC Community-Owned Properties
NextCity | Oscar Perry Abello | June 26, 2017
Hundreds Of Nonprofits At Risk Of Having Their Tax Debt Sold—Even Though Many Should Likely Be Tax Exempt
Gothamist | Nathan Tempey | May 9, 2017
Tax Lien Sale Threatens Hundreds of NYC Nonprofits
Next City | Oscar Abello | March 24, 2017
Exploring urban resilience in practice: a century of vacant sites mapping in Dublin, Edinburgh and Philadelphia (GroundedInPhilly.org)
Journal of Urban Design | Philip R. Crowe & Karen Foley | March 6, 2017
Re-Imagining Local Public Space, From Parks to Post Offices
The Leap | Paula Z. Segal | February 7, 2017
DATA AND THE CITY: How Can Public Data Infrastructures Change Lives in Urban Regions? (PDF)
Open Knowledge International | Jonathan Gray & Danny Lammerhirt | January 2017
Opinion: City Must Remove Nonprofits from Tax Lien Sale
Gotham Gazette | Richard Semegram | January 6, 2017
2016
Mapping Tool Aims to Keep Public Spaces Public (NYCommons.org)
Next City | Oscar Abello | December 21, 2016
City’s Plans for Public Land in Housing Push Come Under Scrutiny
City Limits | Abigail Savitch-Lew | November 10, 2016
For Sale: Nonprofits
Urban Omnibus | D.W. Gibson | November 9, 2016
Building Power in Local Parks
The Villager | Michael Ossorguine | August 4, 2016
The Green Team: Making Space in New York City
Metropolis | Grace Lo | March 24, 2016
America, The Unaffordable
The Nation | DW Gibson | March 17, 2016 (April 11-18, 2016 issue)
‘Ranch on Rails’ Floated as New Plan to Reuse Old Tracks in LIC
DNAinfo | Jeanmarie Evelly | February 17, 2016
Community Power Growing in a Garden
CUNY School of Law Public Square | February 1, 2016
Community Gardens Imperiled by New York’s Affordable Housing Plans
The New York Times | Sarah Maslin Nir | January 22, 2016
Reclaiming Vacant Public Land Through Design
Hyperallergic | Allison Meier | January 8, 2016
Gowanus Community Garden Saved From Development
DNAinfo | Leslie Albrecht | January 5, 2016
Brooklyn Community Gardeners React to DeBlasio Admin. Deal
City Limits | Cole Rosengren | January 4, 2016
2015
34 Community Gardens Saved from Demolition After City Makes Them Parks
DNAinfo | Camille Bautista | December 31, 2015
Finding the Value of a Vacant Lot by Tapping into Neighborhood Memory
NextCity | Oscar Perry Abello | December 1, 2015
3 Beloved Brooklyn Community Gardens Win Important Victories
Gothamist | Nathan Tempey | November 18, 2015
How a Gentrification Scam Threatens New York’s Community Gardens
The Nation | DW Gibson | October 20, 2015
Non-Profits Helping New Yorkers Turn Abandoned Lots into Community Gardens
NY Daily News | Ginger Adams Otis | July 4, 2015
6 tech groups building a better Brooklyn
Technical.ly Brooklyn | Ross Maghielse | February 24, 2015
In Community Gardens, a New Weed?
The New York Times | Michael Tortorello | February 11, 2015
2014
‘There’s land if you want it’: how a hand-drawn map is transforming vacant lots in Brooklyn
The Guardian: Cities | Mariana Mogilevich, Ben Campkin and Rebecca Ross | December 12, 2014
Losing the Plot
BKLYNR | Maggie Astor | December 11, 2014
8 Inspiring Documentaries Exploring the Sharing Movement
Shareable | Lares Feliciano | November 10, 2014
Mapping New York’s Vacant Lots to Use Them to Create a More Vibrant City
Fast Company | Zoe Mendelson | November 10, 2014
How You Can Turn New York City’s Vacant Lots Into Community Gardens
DNAinfo | Jeanmarie Evelly | September 24, 2014
Housing Plan Targets Vacant Lots, Some Neighbors Leery
CityLimits | Adam Wisnieski | September 24, 2014
Mapping Matters Benefit for 596 Acres
NYC Foodscape | September 19, 2014
Every Master Plan in New York City History, Collected in One Place
CityLab (from The Atlantic) | Sarah Goodyear | June 25, 2014
Digging Together: NYC’s Community Gardens
The Leonard Lopate Show (WNYC) | June 17, 2014
Vacant Lots into Gardens: A Profile of 596 Acres
City Atlas | Devon Kennedy | June 6, 2014
This Land Is Your Land, Under an Oligarchy
Brian Lehrer TV (CUNY Television) | April 21, 2014
2013
Empowering Communities for Land Access: Paula Segal, Executive Director and Legal Director of 596 Acres
City Land | Jennifer Baek | November 26, 2013
Pretty vacants: Urban communities fill empty lots with gardens, skate parks, and creative possibility
Grist | Christopher Weber | October 15, 2013
K(no)w Vacancy: From NY to PA, Urban Land Maps Support Reclaiming Abandoned Lots
Civil Eats | Adrien Schless-Meier | July 26, 2013
Vacant public space up for grabs in NYC?
Starring NYC | Jessica Mullin | May 20, 2013
How One Nonprofit Scales the Fences of Hundreds of Acres of Publicly Owned Land
GOOD | Deena Shanker | April 15, 2013
How We Connect: Bridging the Gap Between Neighborhoods Through Public Land
Rooflines | Jodi Weinberger | April 2, 2013
Место по требованию: Как в Нью-Йорке легально оккупируют пустые пространства
UrbanUrban | Ekaterina Levitskaya | January 10, 2013
Vacant-land organizing in Philly going social with NYC’s 596 Acres
City Paper | Samantha Melamed | January 7, 2013
Reclaiming the commons for urban transformation (PDF)
Journal of Cleaner Production | Natalia Radywyl and Che Biggs | January 5, 2013
2012
After a Year of Adoptions, Orphaned Lots Bloom
The New York Times: Green Blog | Emma Bryce | October 17, 2012
CB3 Supports Gardening in Vacant Stanton and Attorney Street Lots
Bowery Boogie | October 15th, 2012
596 Acres Finds And Labels Lots
The Wave | Nicholas Briano | September 7, 2012
596 Acres Uses Thought-Provoking Signage to Notify New Yorkers to Take Back Their Public Land
Inhabitat | Ayasha Guerin | September 6, 2012
596 Acres — Organizing the Organizers to claim public land
Bubble Up Change | Ilyse Kazar | September 6, 2012
596 Acres
Spontaneous Interventions | August 2012
Spontaneous Interventions: Information
Neighborland | August 30, 2012
CUNY Law Alum Paula Segal and Brooklyn’s 596 Acres
CUNY Center for Urban Environmental Reform Blog | Rebecca Bratspies | August 20, 2012
Spontaneous Interventions #1 to #16
Architect | August 9, 2012
How to turn a scuzzy vacant lot into a green oasis
Brokelyn | Sarah Barrett | August 1, 2012
Open Spaces
Makeshift | Bruce Wallace | Summer 2012
596 Acres: community urban empowerment
TYTHEblog | Ellie Wendell | July 27, 2012
Five Borough Farm: Seeding the Future of Urban Agriculture in New York City
Five Borough Farm | July 2012
Brownfields or Vacant Lots In Your Life?
City Atlas | Jeff Kasper | July 12, 2012
Claim this land!
EV Grieve | July 9, 2012
Green My Favela and 596 Acres
Social Media Workgroup | July 7, 2012
Mapeando recursos ociosos en la ciudad
Ciudades a escala humana | Manu Fernandez | July 5, 2012
Jardins urbanos no Rio, em Paris e Nova York
Globo | Karine Tavares & Paulo Thiago de Mell | June 17, 2012
Lots of Opportunity
Edible Brooklyn | Rachel Nuwer | June 14, 2012
Project to reclaim city-owned spaces expands to Manhattan and Queens
The New York World | Yolanne Almanzar | June 14, 2012
Let Us Now Praise Vacant Lots
On the Commons | Jay Walljasper | June 9, 2012
Rescatan lotes vacíos para comunidad
El Diario | Carolina Ledezma | May 23, 2012
596 Acres: Brooklyn Review
Brooklyn Independent Television (BRIC TV) | May 21, 2012
Growing on Vacant Brooklyn Lots, Reclaiming Public Space
Metrofocus | John Farley | May 16, 2012
Green Acres
Design Mind | Ernest Beck | May 13, 2012
Making Use of Vacant Lots in Brooklyn
CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities Blog | Oksana Mironova | May 13, 2012
The Hot Seat: Eric Brelsford
Brownstoner | May 11, 2012
Ocupe terrenos baldios!
Paisagem Fabricada | Thiago Carrapatoso | May 3, 2012
Turning Unused Acres Green
The New York Times | John Leland | April 27, 2012
596 Acres – Awesome NYC’s April Grant
The Awesome Foundation | April 27, 2012
Reverdeciendo los pocos espacios vacíos en Los Sures
El Diario | Carolina Ledezma
Floresta: Green Light District Update
The Greenpoint Gazette | Peter Lang-Stanton | April 27, 2012
462 Halsey Community Garden Celebrates Grand Opening
Bed-Stuy Patch | C. Zawadi Morris | April 26, 2012
Last night, Mayor Bloomberg announced the winners of NYC BigApps 3.0
NYC GOV tumblr | April 18, 2012
New York Projects Aim to Make the City More Sustainable
National Geographic News Watch | Nicole Glass | April 17, 2012
Changing Brooklyn One Acre at a Time
The Epoch Times | Kristen Meriwether | March 27, 2012
No vacancy: Unleashing the potential of empty urban land
Grist | Sarah Goodyear | March 27, 2012
596 Acres Helps NYC Communities Reclaim Vacant Lots and Transform Them Into Gardens
Inhabitat | Lori Zimmer | February 16, 2012
The King Street Lots in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York
Garden Design | Laura Harmon | January 16, 2012
Paula Segal envisioned New York as the city for grown-ups
All That We’ve Met | Pauline Pechin | January 2, 2012
2011
Policies for a Shareable City #9: Recreational Spaces
Shareable | Sustainable Economies Law Center | November 10, 2011
Underwater homes: A visual guide to NYC’s future floods
Grist | Greg Hanscom | October 21, 2011
The resourceful city, part 2: Reprogramming space
Boston Society of Architects | Scott Burnham | October 13, 2011
More Cool Highlights From Maker Faire New York 2011
Treehugger | Bonnie Hulkower | September 25, 2011
Concrete Jungle
ioby Blog | August 11, 2011
596 Acres Wants The City To Do Something Useful With Our Unused Land
Fast Company | Morgan Clendaniel | July 25, 2011
Plants Conquer Vacant Lots
SHFT | July 19, 2011
Awards and Recognition
2016
Ashoka Fellowship
Founder and Director Paula Segal was named an Ashoka Fellow. The Ashoka Fellowship identifies and elects leading social entrepreneurs and provides support, community, collaboration opportunities and recognition. Read more at Ashoka United States.
2015
Reviewing Renewal exhibition at Queens Museum
596 Acres was invited to exhibit its research on urban renewal at the Queens Museum in early 2015. Reviewing Renewal reached more than a thousand attendees over five weeks of programs.
Buckminster Fuller Challenge Semi-Finalist
The Living Lots® framework was a semi-finalist in the 2015 Fuller Challenge.
2014
Urban Reviewer accolades
Urban Reviewer was selected as a Planetizen Top 10 Website of 2014 and a CartoDB Map of the Week.
Municipal Art Society Summit for New York City
In October 2014, Paula Z. Segal was invited to speak at the Municipal Art Society of New York’s Summit for New York City.
Buckminster Fuller Institute Catalyst Program
Living Lots took part in the Buckminster Fuller Institute Catalyst Program in 2014.
2013
Montreal EcoHack
596 Acres delivered the keynote address at the Montreal EcoHack, an event that was directly inspired by 596 Acres’ combination of using data-driven technological tools for community mobilization and on-the-ground neighborhood organizing.
2012
Venice Architecture Biennale
The 596 Acres NYC Community Land Access Project was selected by the Institute for Urban Design (now the Urban Design Forum) to join the US pavilion at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale. The US presentation was on Spontaneous Interventions and the theme of the biennale was Common Ground.
2011
NYC BigApps competition
596acres.org was named Best Green App in the 2011 NYC BigApps competition.
