Where Are You, Google?

It's been nearly a month since the Smith-9 Sts subway station reopened, restoring a vital link to southern Carroll Gardens and Red Hook. Unfortunately, you wouldn't know that if you checked the world's most popular mapping program, Google Maps. This surprises me; Google is very good with its transit applications, offering real-time data in countless cities (including the IRT lines in NYC) and a comprehensive data layer showing transit lines and bus stops. It's not as robust in New York as in, say, San Francisco or Portland (there, even the bus lines are shown on the map), but it's generally accurate and up-to-date.

That is what makes their failure a problem. By becoming the market leader and taking upon itself the mantle of transit expert, Google is also making a promise to the public: we will not let you down. When we go to Google for directions, there is an expectation that it will accurately reflect every line and every stop available. It's especially distressing to be let down in an economically distressed area such as Red Hook. For the past month, businesses that were battered by Hurricane Sandy and cut off from the world by the two year closure of Smith-9 Sts have been accessible again - and anyone using Google has been left unaware. To them, the nearest access point is still at Carroll St or 4 Av-9 St, or a bus ride on the B57 or B61. We can only wonder how many people have skipped out on a meal on lower Smith St or a venture into Red Hook for want of better information.

Of course, we can't blame Google for our own failures to search elsewhere. But the service's ubiquity also reveals out own vulnerabilities: without accurate information, we're flying blind.

Privatizing The Public Good

I'll start with a confession: I paid the outrageous asking price for Friday night tickets at GoogaMooga. I go to Smorgasburg in East River State Park more times than my wallet can probably handle. I like these things. I have fun at them. I'm not here to bitch and moan about their existence or play the New York Times' Lifestyles section and bemoan the influx of "hipsters" (does that word even have meaning at this point?) in Brooklyn.

That said, the rain yesterday and today does have me a little concerned. GoogaMooga is but one of many examples of our city parks being taken over by private events. GoogaMooga isn't your local charity holding a benefit concert on the park grounds; it's a privately-run, for-profit event that is closed to the general public (paid tickets Friday and free-but-ticketed general admission on Saturday/Sunday). According to the New York Times, the Prospect Park Alliance, which is charged with maintaining the park, is receiving a paltry $75,000 from the event's organizers to cover the cost of using the space for three days. That's $75,000 to repair any damage, like the massive amounts of grass that will be destroyed this weekend by foot traffic, or the large metal fences erected across the Nethermead.

Now I love a good festival, and I love the opportunity to sample, Smorg-style, the great offerings that were at GoogaMooga this year. But $75,000 doesn't seem like an appropriate amount, not only for the material damage a rain-soaked festival causes, but also to compensate the public for their lost time. Prospect Park is a public asset; not only did the non-ticketed public lose 3 days of access during the festival, they also lost several before and after (setup/takedown), and they will likely lose access to large swaths of the Nethermead over the summer as the area is roped off and re-seeded...all so we can do this again next May. As much as I love a good food/beer/music event, I'm not sure the public is being adequately compensated for its subsidy to for-profit organizers who are raking in over $100 per person in combined ticket/food/alcohol sales.

This, of course, speaks to a wider issues of privatizing our public spaces. The Atlantic Cities had a great article recently on several of New York's privately owned public spaces (POPS), and the significant restrictions placed on public access to benefit private owners and donors. This should be a source of concern to the public, especially as some of the city's newest parks - the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Park - have utilized creative public/private partnerships to finance their construction and maintenance. While it seems great in the near-term to save taxpayers the money, it often means sacrificing access for all in favor of ticketed events or private parties. And in Queens, the city has found an even worse idea, selling prime parkland to a private developer, all for a yet-to-be-defined construction of new parkland elsewhere.

Public parks are some of the most egalitarian assets left in a city that is marked by a yawning - and growing - wealth divide. In the shadow of $100 million penthouses, they remain a place we can all enjoy, regardless of age, race or income. They present no barriers to entry, and we can stay in them as little or as long as possible. Whether it's a pocket park at a busy intersection or an Olmstead-designed refuge from urban life, a park is a public investment that is supposed to pay dividends to everyone, regardless of social status. Events such as GoogaMooga are great ways to attract people to our parks, and to hopefully win new fans in the process. But our elected officials should never forget who are parks are meant to benefit: us. We shouldn't lose a summer of access to valuable public spaces just to benefit a private promoter for three days. Just a private venue would, we need to ensure that New York City taxpayers are getting an adequate return when we allow an event onto our public spaces.