2024 Fall Studio

PRATT GCPE

Preparations for the People’s Plan

People-First Approach

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Engagement One Can Count On

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A Focus on Quality

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People-First Approach · Engagement One Can Count On · A Focus on Quality ·

ABOUT

The responsibility of supporting a People’s Plan for such a dynamic community was not something that members of the 2024 Studio took lightly.  They knew that community outreach and engagement needed to be at the center of our work in order for the narrative we presented to be a true reflection of residents’ wants and needs.

Over the course of 9 weeks students engaged in several forms of outreach which included:

  • Facilitating a focus group

  • Neighborhood Tour

  • Interviewing business owners 

  • Surveying local businesses 

  • Flyer posting and neighborhood canvassing

  • Attending community meetings and events

Their engagement process resulted in:

  • 52 survey responses

  • 12 informal interviews

  • Four in-depth interviews

  • One focus group

2024 Studio Outcomes

2024 Studio members dedicated much of their outreach to walking around the neighborhood to inform residents of the work being done with CINRC, collecting neighborhood submissions for the Coney Island People’s Plan survey, and building out the foundational 2024 Studio Recommendations and Implementation Toolkits.

View 2024 Fall Studio Toolkit

  • “Most of us here have grown up here. I was born here in 1966. My grandparents on my mother’s side came here in 1934. Everyone was neighbor to neighbor. Everybody shared food, and talks, and fireworks. We spent time at the boardwalk together. Spumoni and all that. Today, we no longer have anywhere near that type of healthy community. As far as food-wise, or even connection-wise. There’s talk of division. And on the issue of food, we have the Coney Island Food Bank– most of us call it “the Bank”. There are people on the pier there fishing, and they’re doing it for their food.”

    — Fall 2024 Focus Group Participant

  • “You see all this new development and you see that it [represents a] different story. So the question is what are the economical purposes [of this new development]? Is it for the people?....The question that remains now is what’s next?”

    — Focus Group Participant

  • “The landmarks, institutions, schools, etc. are interconnected, there is a sense of shared community as “Coney Island”... What people love about Coney Island is that it’s not a stand alone; it’s part of an urban fabric.”

    — Focus Group Participant