It's no secret that building owners often fail to maintain privately owned public spaces with any priority on the public part of that equation. A new report reveals just how widespread the problem is in New York.
Eli Rosenberg reports the findings of a new audit completed by the office of the New York City comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, which investigated the regulation and enforcement of privately owned public spaces, or POPS as they are commonly known.
"Privately owned public spaces, commonly known as POPS, are areas that developers have agreed to provide the public in exchange for leniency on certain zoning requirements," explains Rosenberg.
The article notes one particularly famous example of a building failing to maintain the public space it promised: Trump Tower. "The building was one of more than 180 properties where public spaces did not comply with the city’s rules — more than half of all locations with privately owned public spaces in New York, according to the audit," reports Rosenberg.
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