Broadway, a critical thoroughfare in the iconic SoHo neighborhood in New York City, faces a myriad of complex issues, from vehicular congestion to garbage pile up to lack of open space and a slew of pedestrians, cyclists, vendors, and delivery workers competing for sidewalk space on a daily basis. The Soho-Broadway Initiative (SBI) seeks to address these challenges through developing a vision and executing a plan for a safe, welcoming, and comfortable public realm. SBI hired Street Plans to lead the effort with Karp Strategies leading stakeholder engagement for the project.

Karp Strategies is developing and implementing a stakeholder engagement strategy that engages a wide array of community members, from casual visitors to business owners and residents. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Karp Strategies is designing all activities to follow social distancing protocols while finding creative ways to ensure that engagement remains meaningful and inclusive, including conducting activities outdoors and building interactive virtual brainstorming tools. Karp Strategies is working hand-in-hand with Street Plans and SBI to ensure that stakeholder feedback is incorporated into all aspects of the public realm plan, which will yield public realm interventions that are ambitious yet achievable.