Outdoor events with friends and family can quickly come to an end if you don’t have the right permits for large parties. Shaheeda Yasmeen Smith, an advocate from Henry Street Settlement’s Community Advisory Board, teamed up with Henry Street and GOLES, a neighborhood housing and preservation organization, to create the People’s Permit Process, a guide to help community members navigate the city’s rules and regulations.
Smith is also the Executive Director of Infinite Movement, a local program that promotes youth development through fitness classes and dance performances.
Henry Street writes:
The guide explains how to apply for permits—as well as their timing and costs—for groups of over 20 in public parks, for holding picnics and barbecues in NYCHA developments, for hosting block parties, and for acquiring sound permits.
“In this neighborhood, we don’t have a lot of places where we can rent out rooms, Smith says. “So there are a lot of baby showers outside. In NYCHA, people have barbecues in front of their buildings or on the waterfront. We wanted to create a layer of protection for people so they aren’t punished for trying to celebrate.”
…Smith hopes that the permit process will spur more preparation, leading to more communication within apartment buildings…
The guide is available in Spanish here.
Read more from Henry Street here.
