Metro Center Plaza

Late Breaking (Updated):

The binghamton bridge received (through a friend, not directly)  a missive from the City Clerk late Thursday, cautioning organizers not to put anything on city property, like a table for instance. The text of the message is here:

From: Pelletier, Jeremy

Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2015 4:14 PM
To: 'binghamtonbridge@gmail.com'
Subject: Pop-Up event on June 5th at Metro Center Courtyard

To Whom it May Concern:
I noticed on the Press and Sun Bulletin website today that there is a “pop-up event” scheduled for tomorrow June 5th in the Metro Center Courtyard. I wanted you to be aware that you will not be able to place any tables, chairs, equipment etc. on City property without first obtaining a City of Binghamton event permit. I have provided you a link to the permit application on the City website and included the section of the City Code regarding event permit regulations. You may gather in this area tomorrow, but you will not be able to place anything on City property as this would require an event permit application. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Organizers of the event will hold the event anyway and few of the plans will be interrupted by the City's edict. "If the City were to enforce the law against putting something on city property they would have to shut down the whole Art Walk." said Peg Johnston, a DPA member "We will stick to our plan to arrange some boxes in a temporary way to show what flowers and benches and a stage might look like in the large plaza." Buskers–musicians, dancers, and others are still welcome to entertain as they would any time in this space. As planned, the group will collect postcard suggestions, collect signatures on petitions, and take photos of people with their "idea balloons." Supporters are encouraged to tweet what they would like to see in the MetroCenter Plaza under the hashtag #ImagineBinghamton.

Goal is to Showcase the Value of Preserving this Public Space for People

Groups Call on City to Discard $500,000 Ten-Space Parking Plan and Launch an Open, Inclusive Design Contest for this Public Space

BINGHAMTON – Members from the Department of Public Art (DPA) and Binghamton Advocates for Quality Public Spaces are working with other local groups and residents to organize a “pop-up event” in the Metrocenter public courtyard from 7:00 – 8:00pm Friday june 5th, coinciding with June's First Friday event.

The hour-long, free-form event will feature local musicians, street performers, and interactive activities, and invites any and all residents to join the fun with props, games, and smiles. Organizers will solicit design ideas for the MetroCenter courtyard in various ways and suggestions will be forwarded to the City.

The event is being planned to fill this underutilized and neglected space with creativity, fun, and people to highlight the need to improve and beautify this space for people instead of spending $500,000 to pave it over for ten parking spots. A groundswell of public opposition to the Mayor's $500,000 parking lot plan has brought the plan to a screeching halt, and the pop-up event organizers believe it's time to shift to advocating for a more cost-effective alternative that better reflects community input and wishes.

“We all agree this public space needs to be improved, especially since this administration spent its first year quietly funding the removal of benches, garbage cans, trees, flowerbeds, and lighting,” said Tarik Abdelazim, a member of Binghamton Advocates for Quality Public Spaces and the city's former Director of Planning, Housing and Community Development. “However, instead of secretly trying to push forward with a wasteful and poorly designed parking lot to please one or two downtown business owners, we encourage the administration and City Council to engage the public in shaping a common vision and cost-effective design that prioritizes people over cars.”

“The Dept of Public Art encourages creativity and public participation in the design of public spaces in Binghamton,” said Mark Bowers, one of the founding members of DPA, “and this interactive, open event is a first step for this space.”

Those organizing the event promise this is the beginning of a positive grassroots effort to re-imagine this space consistent with the community-based vision for downtown captured in Blueprint Binghamton, the city's recently completed comprehensive plan that was legally adopted by City Council last year. Members from both groups want to work constructively with the City on an alternative that taps the creative energies of this community.

Members from these groups cite the top five reasons stated by local taxpayers over the last few months as to why the administration's parking lot project should be rejected:

The parking lot will be funded by a bond, and therefore cost approximately $500,000 (principal and interest payments for 15 years). With only ten parking spaces, that's $50,000 a spot—a complete waste of limited tax dollars when there are so many other urgent infrastructure needs that would benefit all residents!

The City owns three underutilized parking ramps and the large lot behind CVS—all a stone's throw from this proposed parking lot. The parking ramps need millions of dollars in repairs, so why would any Council member approve spending half a million dollars to add ten spaces in one of the only centrally located public spaces in downtown?

The parking lot is poorly designed, and involves ripping out new investments made as part of the Court Street Gateway Project; relocating light poles, traffic signals, and curb cuts; and introducing new safety risks to pedestrians and bikers on one of our most heavily trafficked sidewalks in downtown. Worse, city officials have stated at Traffic Board meetings that they plan to eliminate reverse diagonal parking on Court Street to improve line of sight for cars coming in and out of this ten-space parking lot—a move that will actually reduce the number of parking spaces on Court Street!

Successful downtowns today feature vibrant and active public spaces. We fully agree that the Metrocenter Courtyard is underutilized and an eyesore. However, we believe it needs to be redesigned and improved for people—not paved over for cars! For a fraction of the cost of the parking lot, this commons area could become a downtown hub, supporting expansive outdoor seating at Galaxy Brewing and Sip of Seattle, live music, and other seasonal programming.

The administration is just about to start a $100,000 downtown parking study, a priority recommendation listed in Blueprint Binghamton, the City's Comprehensive Plan formally adopted by City Council last year. Blueprint Binghamton. The section on downtown in the City's newly adopted plan remarks on the excessive acreage of land committed to paved parking area, and recommends a parking study to consider ways to reduce the land committed to parking, and articulates a resident-driven vision of a walkable, livable downtown with more public spaces, recreational assets,and housing and transportation choices. It makes no sense to add a new parking lot before the parking study is done and in complete contradiction to the plan legally adopted by City Council last summer!