Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu. Image Credit: Mayor Eric Adams/Twitter.
On February 16, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced the appointment of Ya-Ting Liu as the City’s first Chief Public Realm Officer. The role of the Chief Public Realm Officer will be to coordinate between government, community organization and the private sector to develop public spaces citywide. The Chief Public Realm Officer will help execute a plan to invest $375 million to develop public spaces citywide, as well as help develop the city’s permanent outdoor dining plan in partnership with the City Council. For more information about the permanent outdoor dining plan, click here.
Ya-Ting Liu earned a Bachelor of Science in conservation studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has over 15 years experience in community organizing, coalition building, and government affairs and policy. Prior to working for city government, Liu served as the director of government affairs and policy for Via, a rideshare company; a sustainability program director for the New York League of Conservation Voters; the director of transit advocacy for Transportation Alternatives; and for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. For the last year, she was the chief strategy officer to Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi, who she will report to in her new role.
Mayor Adams stated, “Our city’s public spaces are too important to fall through the cracks of bureaucracy, and now they won’t. New Yorkers need to know there is one person at City Hall whose number one goal is to improve their quality of life by creating incredible, new public spaces and ensuring the ones we have are clean, equitable, and safe. As someone who knows how to think big and ‘Get Stuff Done’ for New Yorkers, Ya-Ting Liu is the right person to serve as the city’s first-ever chief public realm officer.”
Chief Public Realm Officer Liu stated, “In New York City, the public realm is everyone’s living room. It’s where we eat, play, and gather. Having beautiful public spaces accessible to all people is one of our greatest assets — it is what makes New York City so special. I am thrilled and honored to be the first-ever chief public realm officer for the City of New York, and I look forward to working with our businesses, community partners, and city agencies to build vibrant, attractive, and inclusive public spaces in all five boroughs.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)