CrissCrossing the Park — advocating for healthy air quality at a micro-scale in New York City
The development of the “CrissCrossing the Park” project explores urban sensing specifically focused on air quality and environmental sensing at a micro-scale in New York. This project stemmed from our prompted research site, Starlight Park in the Bronx, and our client, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The premise of this project approaches a topical discussion on how we, as urbanists, approach the inevitable integration of sensors in a public realm. We were encouraged to “play” in our sandbox (the course), and were provided with foundational tools to explore sensing at a “Do It Yourself” (DIY) level.
“CrissCrossing the Park” is a response to the environmental injustices currently taking place in the Bronx borough. It is a proposal for an educational engagement and activist tool that allows community members to become more aware of the conversation of air quality in individuals’ parks, which tend to seem out of reach.
The name “CrissCrossing the Park” was inspired as a play on word to other, more whimsical, uses of the term. “CrissCross jumping rope” reminded me of “play” as a child. “CrissCross apple sauce” was a phrase commonly used by teachers during elementary school to refocus and pay attention.
“CrissCross the Park” is a reference to play, as well as to the dynamic that this project is meant to be deployed across a park and to be utilized by those passing by.
Introduction (context and motivation)
The question of deciding which park to go play at is typically a distance question. Is it close? or is it far? Or perhaps, asking what structures it may hold. Does it have a swing? an open space for Frisbee? a basketball court? Rarely, do we ask ourselves, “Is the park I’m heading to healthy?”
The premise of this study approaches “play” in a different aspect. While visiting our research site of Starlight Park in the Bronx, I noticed some unique aspects that differentiated this park from other parks in New York City.
A few observations:
Starlight Park is adjacent to the Bronx River. Tangent to the recently cleaned riverbed, I thought of all the benefits that the city could invest money into, not including its already established water activities, such as canoeing, that were in place.
Starlight Park was inclusive to a variety of “play”. Fun! Basketball courts, soccer field, swings, play structures, an abundance of seating for parents and grandparents, and BBQ grills to utilize. If not the ultimate place for “play”, I’m not sure what other parks could compare.
Starlight Park neighbors an overhead highway, six-lane arterial, and many exhausting automobiles passing by were particularly noticeable in our visit.
I began to think broadly about these impacts, and wondered.. how (environmentally) safe is it to play here?
As the borough of the Bronx has been studied over the years for maintaining both the highest rate of asthma and the highest percentage of people below the federal poverty line, it is imperative to note that the communities in the Bronx are affected by both poor environmental quality and a lack of fiscal resources to resolve those (Maantay 2007). With this noted, the lack of aggression towards providing environmental justice for communities in the Bronx by the government of NYC should be considered pernicious.
The Concept
In short, “CrissCrossing the Park” is a pilot project to bring awareness to air quality injustices in New York City and beyond. Simply, it is the deployment of multiple digital billboards that are integrated with an air quality sensor, as well as a digital screen that simplifies and summaries the complex issues of environmental quality in parks. The audience for this project targets frequent park users that may notice these digital boards during their daily strolls or runs. Hopefully to bridge the disconnection between understanding air quality and providing an easy platform to engage with the concept of sensors and why air quality in parks matter.
In this diagram of Morningside Park, I drew out my typical walk across the park and how I might implement this design of almost a bulletin board, or easter egg, type scenario where people could pass by it on their daily or weekly walks, but the sensors would stay in the same spot, and perhaps this is how those daily users would learn more about air quality and its effect on them.
Moving Forward
Looking toward the future, scaling the “CrissCrossing the Park” project is a natural step forward. In the initial scenario stated, the project only works in multiples, and if it acts as if it were a “guided tour” of sorts. For instance, it would be deployed through various popular spots within Morningside Park where the most popular travel flow would be, and then to be made into connecting nodes.
While the city of New York is in progress of recording more micro-scaled data in South Bronx, engaging the community on these issues and providing a open conversation for where parks are placed and ideas on where communities could set up atypical parks site is imperative in improving the quality of life for many park users.
As people have their annual “check-ups” and buildings have “LEED” certification, it’s time to implement a “health” check up for the atmosphere of our parks, and we’ll call this the “CrissCrossing the Park” test.
