Every few days or so I sit on the corner of Fulton and South Portland with a man who sells coconut water and juices, a Nigerian clothing designer who always dresses in his best wares, a slick personal shopper, an elder mystic who smokes cloves, and a few other quality gentlemen who have their eye on livable streets. We discuss politics, religion, and the weather, anything that strikes our fancy. One must come prepared, your arguments will be sliced and diced, no malice, but one must come prepared – this is what we love to do on our street.

Every member of our group has a chair. The chairs are locked against the Lafayette Ave. C train stop and kept there by the gentleman biker who struts around with an English accent, spectacles, and the tight curls of a Caribbean born, English bred, and American made black man.  The assortment is a who’s who of what it means to be a NY’er – international, well-read, interesting, they may be millionaires or homeless, - no one knows, on the street level it only matters that they are unafraid of redefining space and making a little oasis out of a small strip of concrete.

This is what Park(ing) Day is about to me: looking at what you do on your streets; playing, dancing, talking, unching, people watching, and taking that idea into the physical – making those activities accessible for everyone. Redefining streets.

Some of the things we talk about will fade into history, others, recall our early days as youth struggling to stay cool in the muggy heat of the street and doing our best.

My good buddy Tyler Askew, the multi-talented designer and art director living in NYC said when asked about what makes a public space healthy and safe, “trees, vegetation, ample sidewalk space, and lighting at night.”

Ranjit Bhagwat at the Clinical Psychology Program at Rutgers University where he is pursuing a PhD, says he loves it when he has “a corner store and a decent bar and a small park.”

We are listening. The city is listening. Designers, artists, architects, small vendors, bikers, pedestrians alike are crowing over their small spaces of concrete, are all listening. If you are stuck for ideas, I encourage you to make your way to your favorite corner, after work, and sit, talk, and mingle with a few like minded and challenging friends. For ideas for your Park on Park(ing) Day do a local audit, a scan, and review, see what the vision is for your community – and determine what ways you can personally help to manifest a slice of that vision for all of us to share.

We do it everyday on Fulton and South Portland.

Ibrahim Abdul-Matin