This studio expands upon the Fall 2024 Advanced Planning Studio’s establishment of The Coney Island People’s Plan process, which was in turn built on the work of CINRC and decades of community organizing in Coney Island. At the heart of the plan sits the People’s Survey, developed to gather input from residents on the challenges facing the neighborhood as well as ideas to help it excel. We have sought to increase the responses to this survey to include as many local voices as possible. Additionally, our group has conducted numerous interviews with business owners, community leaders, tenants association presidents, political organizers, and lifelong residents to include a diversity of perspectives. 

2025 Fall Studio was cultivated to inform and strengthen local planning efforts by centering community voices, documenting neighborhood assets and disparities, and highlighting opportunities for equitable public investment. By grounding their work in the lived realities of residents and organizations, students aimed to provide actionable knowledge that empowers Coney Island to shape its own future, ensuring that development and infrastructure decisions reflect community priorities, protect against displacement, and foster sustainable equity and long-term resilience.

On October 16th, 2025, students facilitated the first of a series of ‘visioning sessions’ for residents, graciously hosted by the Coney Island Museum. The goal was to create an open space for community members to share both their concerns and hopes for the future of the neighborhood. Several methods were utilized to foster creative and open-ended conversations, such as mapping exercises, group illustrations, and photo documentation. The intention is for these sessions to continue every several months to keep residents engaged in a neighborhood that is rapidly changing.

Their engagements resulted in:

• 3 neighborhood tours

• 145 business surveyed 

• 13 direct interviews

• Community visioning event

• Attending community meetings and events