The Evolving Legacy of New York City Park Design

An interview with Thomas Balsley, landscape architect and designer of hundreds of parks and plazas in New York, reveals inside baseball about the evolution of park design, planning, and approvals in the Big Apple.

2 minute read

January 14, 2014, 2:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Esplanade at Battery Park

Alistair McMillan / Wikimedia Commons

In an interview with Jared Green, Thomas Balsley, FASLA, who has designed open spaces like Hunter’s Point South, Gantry Plaza State Park, and Heritage Field at Yankee Stadium in his role as the founder and principal of Thomas Balsley Associates reveals some of the critical junctures for the always fraught process of designing public space in New York City:

Balsley’s take on NYC’s evolution away from a period of stagnation and conservative design ethos: “It’s hard for people to imagine now, but 30 years ago, NYC was probably one of the most conservative places to practice the art of landscape architecture in the country. During that same period you couldn’t have found a notable building being built in New York City either. The city had horrible fiscal and safety troubles, which made it very conservative and fearful. There just wasn’t the courage or the will on the private or the public side to go out and take chances.”

“Well, something happened 30 years ago, not with public money, but over at Battery Park City. It was a new model of urban planning. The developers were ingenious in securing public approvals. Battery Park introduced the notion that you can build parks first and then develop the parcels. To get this approach approved, the designers strategically harked back to New York at the turn of the century. The character of a park promised New Yorkers wouldn’t be controversial. Everyone said, ‘Oh, that’s great. We like that period.’… When it was built, Battery Park was pointed to as the great urban waterfront success and the ‘latest and the greatest’ of waterfront park design.

Balsley’s firm has also designed numerous privately owned public spaces (POPS), which gained national attention during the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2012. Here’s Balsley’s insight on how POPS have been designed in New York: “POPS used to be called bonus plazas. Plazas have been stigmatized as the receptors of all of society’s misfits and ills, so it’s no surprise that our profession hasn’t embraced them. NYC POPS were considered “dirty,” because you were doing work for developers, not the public sector. Until recently, NYC landscape architects treated them like they are lepers. They didn't want anything to do with them. As a result, some 95 percent of POPS in New York City are designed by architects. Taken together, there are 84 acres of POPS in Manhattan alone.”

Monday, January 13, 2014 in Metropolis

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view of red brick multi-story power plant building in Pittsburgh, PA.

Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower

A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.

3 hours ago - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cyclist on protected bike lane in middle of street in Washington D.C. with Washington Monument obelisk visible in background.

Trump Prompts Restructuring of Transportation Research Board in “Unprecedented Overreach”

The TRB has eliminated more than half of its committees including those focused on climate, equity, and cities.

4 hours ago - Streetsblog USA

Blue and silver Amtrak train at small station.

Amtrak Rolls Out New Orleans to Alabama “Mardi Gras” Train

The new service will operate morning and evening departures between Mobile and New Orleans.

July 3 - New Orleans City Business