“Release early and often” is a phrase often heard in software development, and is more like a mantra for most web development projects. The idea being that it’s better to get something “out there” in a simple or reduced form, rather than wait and wait and wait for your grand plan to come together. (In Getting Real, 37signals calls this “half, not half-assed“)

Well, this applies equally well to projects outside the software realm, and there’s a great example right here in Brooklyn. Anyone who walked over the Brooklyn Bridge this summer (possibly to see the waterfalls) probably noticed a new patch of park on an otherwise ignorable patch of land jutting out into the river.

This is, of course, the first public taste of Brooklyn Bridge Park project, called Pier 1. It’s a temporary park, on the nearest edge of what will become the first major section of the park. It’s highly visible, and perfectly timed to capitalize on the buzz around the waterfalls.

A few quotes from Going Coastal demonstrate the power of this approach:

“Since popping up with little fanfare June 26 in Brooklyn Heights on a sliver of the future waterfront park’s construction site, a temporary playground at the edge of Pier 1 is giving the public its first real sense of what the long-delayed development will bring to the Big Apple.”

I love the “with little fanfare” bit — no need to make a grand launch; just put it out there and let people find it. And of course…

“… critics of the long-delayed park project are still questioning why it took the city and state so long to offer a first glimpse of the breathtaking waterfront access the planned 85-acre park will bring.”

It sounds like a change of administration was what was needed to get things moving in the “getting real” direction;

“Even the development’s biggest critics agree that the project only gathered steam in November after Regina Meyer, a longtime Brooklyn planning director, was appointed president of the state-city Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp.

She replaced Wendy Leventer, a Pataki administration holdover who was fired in March 2007 after the Post reported the agency at that time had spent $16.5 million over the previous five years with little to show expect mounting legal fees and continuously changing project renderings.

But this past March, construction kicked off despite there only being enough government funding to build about two-thirds of the park. Including $6.1 million recently donated by the City Council and Borough President Marty Markowitz’s office, the project’s current budget now totals $231.1 million.

Meyer said she felt it was important to finally get the project going and then lobby to fill the remaining budget shortfall at a later date.” [emphasise mine]
This is really the important part, and where the power of the “early-and-often” approach is really evident. Instead of tweaking the plans forever, Meyer decided to just go and build something (anything!), to show progress and give people a glimpse of how awesome things will be.

And man, it is awesome. The photo above really doesn’t do it justice, but the view from the new (temporary, mind you!) Pier 1 is incredible, and it really opens up the waterfront in an entirely new way.

In doing some photo hunting for a side project, I came across this gem of a photo on Flickr.

Riding the subway all over the city, I often think about the fact that most great subway moments (and many great city moments, for that matter) go unrecorded. Perhaps this is part of the beauty of it — there are only participants; no watchers — but I often wish I had a camera built into my eyes to catch the great little moments that happen almost every day.

Musicians on the train are a real special treat; I love the fact that for just a few minutes, perhaps just the distance between two stops, a little concert takes place. For that short period of time, riders goes from being disconnected strangers to inadvertent partners, with feet tapping and heads nodding.

This photo has an almost Rockwell-esque quality to it, and you’ve gotta love the angry glare from the woman in the corner.

I came across this enigmatic construction sign yesterday on the side of the West Side Highway in Manhattan. I did a double-take, trying to determine if, perhaps, I was the only one who could see this message.

What do you see? I honestly can’t think of a reasonable explanation…

In the spirit of blogging all the cool stuff we’re doing at TOPP, I’d like to announce the launch of a new website: Park(ing) Day NYC. Park(ing) Day is a global event, originally conceived by awesome SF-based arts collective REBAR, where for a single day, regular parking spaces are “leased” for use as temporary public parks. This year’s Park(ing) Day will be held, worldwide, on September 19th.

Here’s the description from the national Park(ing) day website:

On November 16th, 2005, REBAR opened eyes worldwide by transforming a metered parking spot into a park. Locating a site that was underserved by public outdoor space, we installed a small, temporary park that provided nature, seating, and shade. By our calculations, we provided 24,000 square-foot-minutes of public open space that afternoon. See the original PARK(ing) video!
Since the initial PARK(ing) project was created we’ve been contacted by people worldwide. What began as a simple, playful idea has become a lively and visible symbol of the desire to reprogram the street and increase public open space in cities all over the planet.

TOPP produced the website that supports Park(ing) Day NYC, working with Transportation Alternatives, who is organizing and promoting the event here in NYC. TA is giving out mini-grants of $200 each for Park(ing) spot makers, so apply now. This year’s event is also co-sponsored by the EyeBeam Art & Technology Center, who will hopefully encourage some creative submissions.

(For you web geeks out there, the Park(ing) Day NYC site was made using Pylons and jQuery, and was built using the codebase we originally created for Block Party NYC)

Be sure to check out these videos, which are the best way to get the feel for the event.

The original Park(ing) experiment in 2005:

The first Park(ing) Day in SF in 2006:

and Park(ing) Day 2007 here in NYC:

Bastille Day on Smith Street is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s great fun: the streets are closed, sand is trucked in, and a giant Petanque tournament is held. But the tournament is just an excuse to be there: the real fun is the great food & drink put out by Bar Tabac and other neighborhood restaurants, live music all day long, and hoards of neighborhood folks who come out to spend the day lounging in the streets.

This year, Nick Whitaker from Streetfilms and I spent the afternoon filming the event, and the result is the Streetfilm you see above. Can’t wait until next year!

More on this year’s event from Pardon Me for Asking and McBrooklyn. Also, I heard a rumor that there’s a time-lapse video of the setup, event, and tear-down from a few years ago that I’ll try to get my hands on.