Open Data Week Events (2017–Present)

East Village Walking Tour: Explore NYC’s invisible digital city

Uncover the unseen parts of Manhattan's East Village through a 45-minute walking tour led by Helpful Places in partnership with Sarah Batchu, a nonprofit leader and public servant. Together, we will explore open datasets, smart cities infrastructure, and other urban gems hidden in plain sight. 

After the 45mn walk we’ll settle into a nearby coffeeshop to discuss what we saw (and warm up!). Details on the exact meetup location will be sent to those who RSVP a few days prior to the event.

Helpful Places is a social enterprise responsible for stewarding Digital Trust for Places and Routines (DTPR), an open source design system and data standard bringing transparency to technologies and data-collecting practices in public spaces.

Sarah Batchu is a nonprofit leader and public servant who is dedicated to building a city where every New Yorker can access the data that powers our city.

Sarah Batchu, Nonprofit leader and public servant,

2024

311 Service Requests from 2020 to Present [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/erm2-nwe9]

In-Person

Tour

Navigating the Storm: Harnessing NYC Open Data for Flood Resilience in NYC

Join us for a series of lightning talks followed by an interactive discussion, spotlighting three projects that utilize NYC Open Data to better understand flood resilience in the city.

- Researchers from Hunter College and the College of Staten Island will showcase a flooding model developed using NYC Open Data. Initially focused on the College of Staten Island campus, the team plans to gradually expand this model to encompass the entire city, creating a powerful tool for predicting flood impacts and facilitating urban resilience planning.
- The Data Clinic team will delve into an analysis of how floods disrupt NYC's transit system by leveraging open datasets such as real-time bus locations, road network data, and historical weather patterns. This analysis, in conjunction with another tool developed by the team, aims to provide valuable insights to transit agencies, city planners, and community organizations in prioritizing climate resiliency efforts.
- The BetaNYC team will present FloodGen, an innovative tool that utilizes AI to generate photorealistic images of potential flooding scenarios. Positioned as an advocacy tool that reaches beyond the limits of traditional aerial maps, FloodGen is designed to raise awareness, support community preparedness, and support local government’s resilience strategies.

These talks offer a unique perspective into how open data can be effectively utilized to tackle the challenges of urban flooding.

Kaushik Mohan, Data Scientist, Data Clinic;

Ashley Louie, Chief Technology Officer, BetaNYC;

Ricardo Toledo-Crow, Advanced Science Research Center, City University of New York

2024

GTFS Real-time (https://new.mta.info/developers)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Civic Hall Presents: Open Data, Mapping Global Security & the Department of Defense

How can we get national security data into the open? The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) will demo its geospatial data portals for the Arctic, for combating wildlife trafficking in Africa, and for Hurricane Matthew.

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Civic Hall

2017

Data at the NY Office of the Attorney General

Hear a brief overview of the Research and Analytics Department at the NY Office of the Attorney General, followed by a presentation of the recent report on Racial Disparities in Homeownership. The report uses mostly public data to highlight disparities at every step in the mortgage application and lending process.

While the vast majority of the team's work is enforcement, this session will likely be more focused on this research report so that we can speak in greater detail. There will be time for Q&A. This session will be accessible to people with or without a technical background.

Jasmine McAllister is a data scientist at the New York Office of the Attorney General, where she specializes in civil rights, consumer finance, equitable access to voting, and housing. She previously worked as an analytics consultant in DC, where she served DOL, HUD, CFPB, and the CDFI Fund. In her free time, she enjoys camping, cooking, going to the park, and drawing. 

Link to report: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/reports/oag-report-racial-disparities-in-homeownership.pdf
(Imperfect) link to the work of the Research and Analytics Department: https://ag.ny.gov/search?term=research+and+analytics+department&sort_by=date&sort_order=DESC
Jasmine's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminemca/

Jasmine McAllister, Data Scientist, NY Office of the Attorney General

2024

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data (our report includes additional variables that are not public) (https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/hmda/), American Community Survey (Accessed via API in python) (https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs), FDIC Bank Branch Locations (https://banks.data.fdic.gov/bankfind-suite/bankfind), Mapping Inequality from University of Richmond (https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Where to Park? Using Python to Map Parking Regulation Signs to the Curb in Near Real-Time

The New York City (NYC) Department of Transportation (DOT) is responsible for installing all parking and traffic signage in the five boroughs of NYC. DOT recently created a dataset of all parking regulation signs and released it on NYC Open Data. For public consumption, they also created a public facing map of all the parking regulation signage. However, recently the Parking team at NYC DOT endeavored to map these regulations to the sidewalk curbs, like the maps for San Francisco and Philadelphia which would allow them to see the specific regulations for section of curb.  

Join this session to learn about DOT's work to build an application that would be updated in near-real time using the information NYC DOT releases to Open Data. The goal of this project is to create a python script that uses the parking regulations point data feed and maps it to the NYC curb line. This data will be highlighted as a custom web map application of all parking regulations along NYC curbs.

Maddalena Romano, Director, Data Asset Management, NYC DOT;

Jada Macharie, Graduate Student, Hunter College

2024

Parking Regulation Locations and Signs [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/xswq-wnv9]

Virtual

Presentation

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FOILing for Data: Using Freedom of Information Requests to Liberate Public Data

Reinvent Albany staffer and frequent FOILer Rachael Fauss will provide School of Data attendees with an overview of New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), and tips about how FOIL can be used to get public data that is not currently open or easily made available by government. Efforts to improve the law at the state level through legislation will also be highlighted. The format will be a slideshow presentation with a handout for participants, followed by a Q&A.

Rachael Fauss, Senior Policy Advisor, Reinvent Albany

2024

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Don't Fear The Text: An introduction to text analysis and natural language processing using open data

While a significant proportion of data can be neatly organized into numerical or categorical formats, a substantial amount remains in the form of open-ended text data. Surveys and reviews often feature brief open-ended text responses, which contribute qualitative depth to numerical or categorical datasets.

In this workshop, we will provide an introductory overview of text analysis methods, falling under the broader domain of natural language processing. We will leverage text data from the NYCEM Emergency Notifications dataset and guide participants through the process of cleaning and structuring this text data for analysis. Furthermore, we will showcase the creation of visualizations, including word graphs, to uncover underlying themes within the text data.

Moreover, we will delve into various exploratory analyses, such as sentiment analysis, to discern emotional nuances across different text categories. This workshop will be conducted in the R programming language, utilizing packages such as tidyverse and tidytext to facilitate these analyses.

Devin L Johnson holds a PhD in Psychology from McMaster University and currently works as a data science educator at Posit teaching courses in R and Python. Prior to their graduate training, Devin spent time as a data analyst in the marketing and higher education sectors.

Devin Johnson, Data Science Educator

2024

NYCEM Emergency Notifications [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/8vv7-7wx3]

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Workshop

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Using R to Create Dynamic Documents, Maps, and Charts: A Case Study Using ACS Data

Are you interested in enriching your reports and manuscripts with interactive content? In this presentation, you will gain a basic knowledge of how to create dynamic, reproducible documents in R. Participants will receive an introduction to Markdown basics; using YAML metadata and CSS to control how files are rendered; simple syntax for adding interactive content such as maps; formatting text; and adding quotes, footnotes, and references.

Donnise Hurley, Senior Geographic Analyst, Population Division

2024

American Community Survey (ACS) Data Tables (https://www.nyc.gov/site/planning/planning-level/nyc-population/american-community-survey.page), Population FactFinder (https://popfactfinder.planning.nyc.gov/)

Virtual

Presentation

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Reaktor Open Data Studio

The goal of this evening is to share some ideas about how Open Data could be utilized in new ways, especially in New York. We have a happy hour with benchmarks from Helsinki, where open data catalogues have been advanced for a while, and companies and developers alike are used to creating cool applications for it.

Join us to hear examples of applying open data in a user-friendly way, and let’s come up with new ways to use open data to create new tools.

Reaktor

2017

Mapping for Equity in McCarren Park - Field Mapping in the Park

Help us create open data about communities! North Brooklyn Parks Alliance (NBPA), Assembly Member Emily Gallagher, City Council Member Jen Gutiérrez, City Council Member Lincoln Restler, and BetaNYC invite you to map McCarren Park and learn about our Mapping for Equity project. 
Spend the morning with BetaNYC Fellows mapping public realm data with field papers in McCarren Park! We'll meet at the McCarren Park Fieldhouse. Participants will learn how to what they see in an urban environment into data that anyone can access on OpenStreetMap.

No experience is required to attend. This event will be delivered in English and all ages are welcome, to attend (provided that anyone under 18 years old is present with a parent or guardian). Please dress appropriately for being outside.  

This event is part of a series of Mapping for Equity events led by BetaNYC fellow. You do not need to attend both events to participate. Join us for one or both!
- March 16, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm @ McCarren Park Fieldhouse
- March 20, 3:30pm - 5:30 pm @ Greenpoint Library

About Mapping for Equity: BetaNYC Fellows are making sure there is equal representation in data while quantifying and mapping our public realm. Together, we will represent community assets to better steward our neighborhoods.

BetaNYC

2024

In-Person

Workshop

Piloting emerging technology solutions in New York City through the Smart City Testbed

The NYC Smart City Testbed Program is inspiring innovation within City government by streamlining and accelerating the citywide process for piloting emerging technologies from startups, nonprofits, academics, and commercial industries to address City agency challenges. From NYC’s skyline to waterfronts, public space and City assets can now serve as a test site for technological innovations that could one day be deployed across New York City.   
Paul Rothman, Director of Smart Cities & Internet of Things (IoT) in the Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI), will discuss the Smart City Testbed’s goals, current pilots, and how startups, nonprofits, academics, and commercial organizations can participate in the program. In addition, Jayda Rodriguez, Senior Project Manager of the IDEA program from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), will discuss the Building Energy Efficiency Drones and Rovers pilot with the support of the Building Robotic Diagnostics (BDR) startup team providing in-person viewings of the robotics and sharing some of the collected data.  
Paul will then discuss the Air Quality Improvement pilot that is supported by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Clarity, an air quality monitoring company, and Static Air, the air quality improvement company. Here, Levi Stanton of Clarity will describe how the pilot is measuring air quality and how the sensor will be used to measure the efficacy of the air quality improvement devices. Participants will see an air quality monitor in-person and the data being collected.   
If you’re interested in seeing emerging technology hardware in-person, learning more about real-world pilots and how to work with City government – then the Smart City Testbed session is for you.

Paul Rothman

2024

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Panel Discussion

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Downtown Brooklyn Walking Tour: Explore NYC’s invisible digital city

Join us for a 45mn walk through Downtown Brooklyn to uncover New York City’s open datasets, smart cities infrastructure and other urban gems hidden in plain sight. Our objective is to explore an unseen part of New York City - this walking tour is led by Helpful Places in partnership with inCitu, Data x Design and Numina. After the 45mn walk we’ll settle into a nearby coffeeshop to discuss what we saw (and warm up!).

Helpful Places

2024

311 Service Requests from 2020 to Present [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/erm2-nwe9]

In-Person

Tour

Data Tracks: A Guided Tour Through Your Information’s Lifecycle

Embark on an enlightening exploration of the intricate journey of data, tracing its lifecycle from inception to its myriad destinations. "Data Tracks" offers participants a captivating guided tour through the various stages of data, providing invaluable insights into its creation, dissemination, and utilization.
Through engaging group discussions and interactive activities, participants will delve into the fascinating world of data, sharing personal experiences and perspectives. From the moment data is generated to its ultimate destinations, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the pathways and processes involved in its lifecycle.
One of the workshop's highlights is the in-depth analysis of where data travels after its creation. Participants will explore the intricate data flow network, uncovering the diverse channels through which data is transmitted, stored, and accessed. From online transactions to social media interactions, participants will gain a nuanced understanding of the digital ecosystem and the various actors involved in shaping the destiny of data.
By the end of the workshop, participants will emerge with a heightened awareness of their digital footprint and the tools they need to navigate the digital landscape confidently. Whether you're a novice seeking to understand the basics of data privacy or a seasoned internet user looking to enhance your cybersecurity practices, "Data Tracks" offers something for everyone.
Join us on this transformative journey as we unravel the mysteries of data and empower participants to cultivate a secure and informed online presence. Your journey to digital empowerment begins here.
Resources we will be using include:
NYC Open Data (https://data.cityofnewyork.us/browse): Participants will use this resource to create a visual timeline of a typical day, highlighting where and how data is generated and collected. They can explore datasets related to various aspects of daily life in New York City, such as transportation, weather, social media usage, and public services, to visualize the flow of data throughout their day.
NYS Cybersecurity Tips (https://its.ny.gov/cybersecurity-tips-topics): Participants will learn about best practices for safeguarding personal information online, including tips for creating strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, avoiding phishing scams, and using encryption tools. They'll explore resources provided by NYC's cybersecurity initiatives to enhance their awareness of online privacy and security measures. This includes exploring scenarios of data breaches and their impact and discussing the importance of protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access and misuse. Finally, they will engage in a discussion on responsible data-sharing practices and the tools and resources available for protecting and managing data. They'll leave with privacy, transparency, and accountability in data sharing and management processes.

Queens Public Library

2024

NYC Open Data (https://data.cityofnewyork.us/browse), NYC Cybersecurity (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doitt/initiatives/cybersecurity.page)

Virtual

Presentation

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PLUTO: How the Department of City Planning builds data

The Department of City Planning (DCP) is New York City’s primary land use agency and is instrumental in designing NYC’s physical and socioeconomic frameworks. Our ambition is to make all of NYC a better place to live, maintain what works, and improve what doesn’t. We're committed to making our data freely available to the public, city agencies, and community organizations.

Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output (PLUTO) is a popular dataset available on the NYC Open Data portal. As the Data Engineering team at DCP, we are responsible for building PLUTO and coordinating with other city agencies that contribute to and rely on it. We now release this dataset every month to meet critical use cases and have made significant improvements to the code and database we use to build all of our datasets.

We'll share how we think about data, recent improvements to how we build datasets, and some interesting aspects of PLUTO. We use open source tools, transparent data pipelines, and informative testing. Attendees will learn about the variety of geospatial, demographic, and administrative data that city agencies like DCP produce and distribute for public use.

Damon McCullough

2024

Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output (PLUTO) [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/64uk-42ks], Housing Database [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/6umk-irkx], Facilities Database [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/ji82-xba5], City Owned and Leased Property (COLP) [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/fn4k-qyk2]

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Community Board Conversations: A Block Party Workshop

In this interactive workshop, we will explore local community board meetings using Block Party's extensive archive of meeting transcripts as a data resource. The format will be a brief presentation where we provide an overview of the important role that community boards play in representing local needs and concerns, as well as how they shape the community. We will share the civic tech initiative of Block Party and how the resource seeks to make local community board meeting information more accessible. We will then facilitate a hands-on exploration where participants can dive into the Block Party archive of transcripts and navigate through the discussions that shape our neighborhoods using new features developed to search and explore topics of interest. The majority of the workshop will be interactive learning where we aim to engage in brainstorming on local democracy and addressing the issues that matter most to the community.

McKay Adams, Block Party;

Brandon Pachuca, Block Party

2024

Block Party Transcripts Archive (https://blockparty.studio/archive)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Workshop

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NYC Chief Analytics Officer Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki speaking at Socrata’s Connect 2017 Conference in DC

Tuesday 03/07 10 – 10:25am on the Main Stage. Visit the conference site to sign up for access to the livestream content

Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki

2017

Extreme Heat and Aging Exchange: Data for Climate Adaptation Research and Action

Urban populations are aging, and climate change puts older adults at increasing risk from extreme heat. Yet current approaches to understanding and intervening to reduce risk, harms, and cost are imprecise and fragmented. To meet emerging healthcare needs we must understand the individual and local factors that determine how much heat people experience (exposure), how their bodies respond (sensitivity), and timely actions to intervene (adaptive capacity).
This workshop will
* provide an overview of a new applied research Initiative on Aging and Adaptation to Extreme Heat, linking all three Cornell campuses in New York City (Cornell Tech, Weill-Cornell Medicine) and the main Ithaca, NY campus.
* share a new, curated collection of open city, state, and federal data focused on this topic (the Heat and Aging Exchange)
* discuss our plans to evolve this catalog into a data and model collaborative providing a forum for stakeholders to share knowledge, and ways to get involved.

Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech

2024

Heat and Aging Exchange (https://www.extremeheat.us)

Virtual

Presentation

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Reimagining Environmental Data Sharing for the Bronx River and Beyond

The Bronx River Alliance uses, collects, and analyzes data from countless sources to advocate for and improve the condition of the Bronx River and the communities that surround it. Join us to see how data has brought an urban river corridor back to life, and discuss ways in which environmental data accessibility can be improved to further environmental restoration and protection goals across the city and beyond. 
 
We'll kick off the event with a short presentation about the Bronx River Alliance – including the work we do and the challenges we face in collecting, organizing, and sharing data. Afterwards we will open the floor for a collaborative brainstorming discussion about community data collection especially around water quality and overall environment of New York City, and have some time for attendees to chat with each other.

The last hour of the event will consist of an optional walking tour (handicap accessible) of Starlight Park and the Bronx River House

If you have shareable ecological data - whether you collect water samples, are an avid recorder of bird migrations, or work in a laboratory for soil analysis - please come prepared to discuss or even bring a sample! Email isabella.romano@bronxriver.org with any questions.

Bronx River Alliance

2024

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Data [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/j57c-rqtq], Watershed Water Quality - Wastewater [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/icbf-663g]

In-Person

Hackathon / Data Jam

MTA Open Data: A Presentation and Conversation with MTA's Open Data Manager

Join MTA's first Open Data Manager, Lisa Mae Fiedler, for a presentation about MTA's open data program. She'll cover some of the challenges her team has had to overcome to build high-quality datasets for public consumption, celebrate some data wins from the past year, and share what it is like to be the first person in an official open data title at an organization. There will be plenty of time for questions, comments, and sharing data woes, so please come ready to chat!

Lisa Mae Fiedler, Open Data Manager, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)

2024

MTA Open Data Catalog and Publication Schedule (https://data.ny.gov/d/f462-ka72/)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

Landscape of Rodent Sightings in New York City: A Data Science Showcase

Rats in NYC are widespread, as they are in many densely populated areas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rats_in_New_York_City). As of October 2023, NYC dropped from the 2nd to the 3rd places in the annual "rattiest city" list released by a pest control company. This workshop delves into the pervasive presence of rats in the city through a detailed analysis of city-wide rat sighting and rodent inspection data, as reported to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. We will present descriptive statistics and visualizations of rat sightings across the city. The maps will be further analyzed to uncover correlations between rat sightings and various factors, including sociodemographic profiles, housing characteristics, and the physical landscape of the city. Additionally, the workshop will investigate the broader impact of rat sightings on other civic functions within NYC, such as restaurant inspections, by integrating various NYC open data sources.

This engaging and informative workshop will be conducted by a selected group of students from the University of Connecticut, enrolled in the Introduction to Data Science course. These students will undertake this project as part of their midterm assignment. They will show the results from their analyses as well as the Python code that generated the analyses. The workshop is open to all who are interested in urban challenges and data science, including NYC civic workers, residents, and enthusiasts in the field of data analytics.

Jun Yan, Professor, University of Connecticut

2024

Rodent Inspection [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/p937-wjvj]

Virtual

Presentation

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Improving Access to Public Interest Technology: Behind BetaNYC RADARs

Our team at BetaNYC believes that data and technology can enhance the lives of New Yorkers and improve our urban environment. The Civic Innovation Lab at BetaNYC aims to reimagine civic engagement in the 21st Century by improving access to public interest technology and communicating information through data. In response to this growing need, the Lab provides assistance through Research and Data Assistance Requests (RADARs). The Lab collaborates with partners and focuses on data and technology based solutions, including research, data scraping, data analysis, spatial analysis, mapping, data visualization, information and communication design, and web development.

In this session, the BetaNYC Lab team will present recent RADAR work and reveal insights to our process, including: web scraping, data analysis, data visualization, design, web development, generative AI, positioning tools for advocacy, and more! The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session with an open discussion about our approach to the innovation and advancement of public interest technology in NYC. If you are interested in furthering your data skills or curious about BetaNYC’s research and data assistance services, this is the event for you! All are welcome to attend!

The BetaNYC Lab team will highlight the following projects:
- Uncovering Asylum Seeker Data: web scraping data for asylum seeker advocacy and policy in NYC
- NYC School Budgets: dashboard for NYC Galaxy Budget and Allocations Data
- MTA Ridership: exploring the ridership patterns of MTA stations
- Housing Courts Must Change! Map of Statewide Support: visualization tool for NYS legislation campaign support
- floodgen: flood advocacy tool using AI generated imagery

Ashley Louie, Chief Technology Officer, BetaNYC;

Erik Brown, Lab Manager, BetaNYC;

Hao Lun Hung, Front-end Developer Lab Associate, BetaNYC;

Audrey Leung, Data Analyst Lab Associate, BetaNYC;

Hailee Luong, UX Designer Lab Associate, BetaNYC

2024

“TRAC Immigration Tools.” Oct 2000 - September 2023. Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Accessed October 1st 2023. ( https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/tools/), Department of Education. 2018-2023. Galaxy Budget Summaries. Accessed July 14, 2023. (https://www.nycenet.edu/offices/d_chanc_oper/budget/DBOR/galaxy/galaxybudgetsummaryto/default.aspx), Metropolitan Transportation Authority. MTA Subway Hourly Ridership. Accessed Jan 01 - October 31, 2023 (https://data.ny.gov/Transportation/MTA-Subway-Hourly-Ridership-Beginning-February-202/wujg-7c2s/about_data), FEMA. Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (PFIRMs) 2015. Accessed February 9, 2024. (https://dcp.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=1e56cf3d576849d1a6936f9cdcd3511d)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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City of Yes: Using Data to Unlock Economic Opportunity

Local Businesses act as the lifeblood of New York City Neighborhoods, but the city’s rules and zoning codes are often not clear and sensible to allow for flexibility and change to allow economic growth. The Department of City Planning has been in the process of a historic process of rezoning through the City of Yes for Economic Opportunity. This groundbreaking urban planning endeavor would remove outdated limitations on businesses and ensure local retail streets and commercial centers across the city can remain lively places that sustain city neighborhoods. At the core of developing this policy is the need for developing a data driven approach towards understanding local business landscapes, analyzing neighborhood economies, and decoding complex zoning and land use systems. 

This session will be led by a panel of planners and experts from the New York City Department of City Planning, who have been conducting the research and analysis underpinning this study. They will navigate participants through the complex dimensions of the City of Yes initiative and its potential to spur economic growth. Designed to offer an in-depth exploration of data-driven methods to comprehend the city's economic fabric, the session will highlight the discrepancies and obstacles inherent in the current zoning code and elucidate how data and strategic planning converge to foster a more inclusive economy, opening new opportunities for New Yorkers. Additionally, the session will delve into the how these technical approaches can be deployed in various other city planning projects. Participants will engage in a thoughtful dialogue on the insights gained and the broader applicability of these methodologies in urban planning efforts.

This session is brought to you through the collaboration of the American Planning Association New York Metro Chapter's Technology Committee, Zoning and Legislation Committee, and the New York City Department of Planning. Participants can earn ACIP CM credit from this course.

Andrew Buck, AICP, Cochair, APA NYM Technology Committee;

Maryam Yaghoubi, AICP, Cochair, APA NYM Zoning & Legislation Committee;

Nicholas Moore, Associate City Planner, Department of City Planning;

Christopher Lee, AICP, Senior Planner, Department of City Planning;

Louisa Chang, Zoning Planner, Department of City Planning

2024

Primary Land Use Tax Lot Output - Map (MapPLUTO) [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/f888-ni5f], Zoning GIS Data: Shapefile [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/kdig-pewd]

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Building Safer Communities - Evaluating Cure Violence Program's Impact in NYC

Join us for an insightful exploration & discussion of the Cure Violence program! During this session, attendees will gain insights into the CURE Violence program and listen to discussions on program evaluation, data utilization, and recommendations. This event is for policymakers, community leaders, researchers, and anyone passionate about fostering safer, healthier communities.

Cure Violence uses a public health approach to reduce gun violence. It aims to prevent conflicts from escalating, support individuals at high risk of violence, and shift social norms. You will briefly hear more about Cure and its history, and the results of our analysis of its effectiveness. This will set the stage for a panel discussion featuring stakeholders invested in building safer communities in NYC.

Panelists include Jeffrey A. Butts, Director of the Research and Evaluation Center at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Council members Althea Stevens and Yusef Salaam, Chairs of the Committee on Children and Youth and Public Safety respectively, Dr. Monique Williams, Executive Director of Cure Violence Global, and Hector Cuevas, Vice President of Education & Youth Development programs at CAMBA and moderated by Rose Martinez, Assistant Deputy Director of the NYC Council's Data Team.

Rose Martinez, Assistant Deputy Director, NYC Council Data Team; Althea Stevens & Yusef Salaam, District 16 (BX) & District 09 (MN) Councilmembers, New York City Council; Dr. Monique Williams, Executive Director, Cure Violence Global; Jeffrey A. Butts, Research Professor & Director of the Research and Evaluation Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice; Hector Cuevas, Vice President of Education & Youth Development, CAMBA

2024

NYPD Arrests Data (Historic) [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/8h9b-rp9u], ARCHIVED_NYPD Shooting Incident Data (Historic) [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/833y-fsy8]

Virtual

Panel Discussion

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Narrating the Built Environment for Design Research

This workshop aims to provide practical tools and examples for integrating Open Data, including NYC Open Data into undergraduate and graduate classes, especially those of architecture and design education. 

In this workshop, attendees will receive an overview of three studio activities designed by educators at the New York Institute of Technology to help develop workshops or lesson plans that introduce students to accessing and interpreting data-driven narratives. The presentations cover relevant data visualization history; the definition of open data, and examining the environmental, climatic, and city agency data sources to generate maps, graphs, and diagrams as the basis for community-responsive narratives and analysis, often used in architecture and city planning. Attendees will also learn the workflow for harnessing openly available climate data where students can map sun and weather patterns. The ideal attendee is an instructor who will leave with tools they can adapt for their classroom.

Vanessa Viola, Art & Architecture Librarian, New York Institute of Technology;

Elijah Williams, Digital Technology Specialist, New York Institute of Technology

2024

NYC Planning Community District Profiles (https://communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov/bronx/11#resources), NYC Planning Population Factfinder (https://popfactfinder.planning.nyc.gov/#11.67/40.7198/-73.9515), NYC Maps Gallery (https://www.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/nyc-maps.page)

Virtual

Workshop

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Tis the Season: Seasonally Adjusting the NYC Employment Data

One of the most watched data releases is the monthly employment report published by the NY State Department of Labor. However, even though the number of jobs in NYC eclipses most states, DOL does not seasonally adjust the NYC sectoral employment numbers. To satisfy the need for high frequency jobs data, the NYC Office of Management and Budget (OMB) performs an in-house seasonal adjustment each month and posts the results to Open Data for public use. This presentation discusses this process, including changes to the methodology to handle the historic Pandemic volatility.

NYC Office of Management and Budget

2024

New York City Seasonally Adjusted Employment [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/5hjv-bjbv]

Virtual

Presentation

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The Many Lives of NYC's CityMap: Past, Present and Possible Future

Eighteen years ago, New York City released CityMap to the public. Brimming with dozens of spatial data layers and locational search capabilities, CityMap connected the public to data in an unprecedented way. Recently, the agency hosting the application decided it was time to retire the legacy version and release something new. In August 2023, a survey of users was conducted that garnered 1500 responses that provided insight into the CityMap users and how they used the app. In this presentation, Tim Calabrese from Esri’s Professional Services team based in New York will outline CityMap’s history, explore the user feedback in detail and identify gaps between the feedback and the current version.

Tim Calabrese, Project Manager, Esri

2024

NYCityMap (https://gis.nyc.gov/citymap)

Virtual

Presentation

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Spatial Analysis of NYC Open Data using ArcGIS

Using GIS tools is the most accurate way to find spatial patterns in NYC Open Data that you may not have been able to find any other way. Then, visualizing the results of that analysis on a map is an effective way for others to experience and intuitively understand these patterns. In this session, we will demonstrate step-by-step how the power of GIS technology can be combined with other industry standard statistical tools to find and examine the correlations, causes, and effects of spatial phenomena within communities and across the city. We will do this using Esri's free ArcGIS online mapping and analysis tools, along with Jupyter Notebooks and open source Python packages.

Jim Barry, Solution Engineer, Esri;

Tim Calabrese, Professional Services Consultant, Esri

2024

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Sunrise Lightning Talks: Placekey pushing for a more open data friendly world

Placekey is working toward the normalization of referential open geodata. With that in mind, we hope to leverage our involvement with local NYC entities to give an overview on how Placekey's API can couple with open data to improve GIS information available to data scientists everywhere. Our lightning talk will cover an overview of the whys and hows of the Placekey system while showing how Placekey has been used as part of our recovery data partnership. This quick glimpse will bring new insights for people working with open data currently, and those looking to get involved in the future.

Individuals: Jack Lindsay, PJ Hagerty, Ross Epstein | Organizations: Placekey, Devrelate.io, Placekey

2021

Barking Up the Right Tree

Open Data is a powerful tool that can help you learn more about your city and inform both business and personal decisions. But it can be challenging to ask questions that have clear corresponding data sources and will give you actionable takeaways. In this session, we'll discuss how to better scope your questions in order to answer them with data and how to find the most relevant dataset. You'll also get a chance to practice coming up with some questions that could be answered with NYC's Dog Licensing dataset.

Meghan is a Staff Analytics Engineer at Datadog with a decade of experience working in data, primarily focusing on querying/visualization in BI tools and data modeling/transformation using dbt. In her free time, she loves exploring open data from different cities and is working on completing a certificate in Applied Urban Science and Informatics through NYU CUSP.

[Cover image was created with the assistance of DALL·E 2]

Meghan Maloy, Staff Analytics Engineer, Datadog

2024

NYC Dog Licensing Dataset [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/nu7n-tubp]

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Navigating MTA's Open Data with SoQL: A Comprehensive Workshop

Join MTA open data scientists Niki Keramat and Rahnuma Tarannum who will show you how to navigate MTA's Open Data platform and larger datasets with SoQL. Participants will follow a demonstration through the data.ny.gov portal and learn how to query large datasets for their own analysis. A more advanced method, querying datasets while connecting through the API, will also be covered.

Lisa Mae Fiedler, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA);

Niki Keramat, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA);

Rahnuma Tarannum, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)

2024

MTA Subway Hourly Ridership (https://data.ny.gov/d/wujg-7c2s/)

Virtual

Workshop

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Mapping Open Data with QGIS

Ryan Yeung, Director of Performance Evaluation and Analytics at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services will demonstrate how to create attractive and informative maps using NYC Open Datasets and QGIS, an open-source geographic information system (GIS) program. Participants with little to no training in GIS are encouraged to attend! You will also have the opportunity to create a map of your own using a dataset from NYC Open Data.

Ryan Yeung, Director of Performance Evaluation and Analytics, Department of Citywide Administrative Services

2024

Suitability of City-Owned and Leased Property for Urban Agriculture (LL 48 of 2011) [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/4e2n-s75z]

Virtual

Class / Training

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Exploring Over 100 Open Data Portals With Scout: An Open Data Discovery Workshop

How often do you have a new idea and wonder if there's an open dataset out there for you already? How often do you work with government data and struggle to find what you need? Ever tried doing some independent research but just didn't know where to start looking for data?
Scout is a data discovery tool to browse over 100,000 open datasets from over 120 open data portals. You can search for datasets thematically, visualize the data you find, surface joinable datasets, and create curated collections that you can share with others.
Join us for a workshop on how to use Scout's many data discovery features to inform your next open data project. Whether you're a transit enthusiast or a parks lover, Scout will find a dataset for you. Bring your personal computer (optional) if you want to follow along the Scout workshop and start exploring the world's data with us. Part of this workshop will also include a feedback session where you can tell us the features you want to see us build for next year. Come be a part of defining Scout's roadmap!

Juan Pablo Sarmiento, Full Stack Engineer, Data Clinic, Two Sigma

2024

Scout (https://scout.tsdataclinic.com)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Workshop

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Open Data for Learning Analytics

Open data provides a wealth of insight that can be used to advance teaching and learning practices, but a major obstacle to this is that most open data is on an administrative or macro level, and lacks individual-level insights. This workshop will discuss different approaches for opening micro-level individual behavioral and attitudinal data to inform learning analytics research.

We will first outline the research questions and decision points that would benefit from more individual, school, and state-level data. Then, we will outline possible data-mining techniques that could be used. Finally, we will present data analysis aimed at answering questions related to the demographic trends of computer science course enrollment, the difference in computer science course offerings by borough, and the relationship between these course offerings and schools' Internet bandwidth. After this presentation, we will engage participants in a Learning Analytics brainstorming session to discuss ideas and solutions. All individuals with an interest in the effect of open data for transforming teaching-learning processes are invited to participate in the workshop.

Yasemin Gulbahar is a Professor at the Teachers College at Columbia University. Maeghan Sill and Katherine Rojas are graduate students at the Teachers College.

Yasemin Gulbahar, Professor, Teachers College;

Maeghan Sill , Graduate Student, Teachers College;

Katherine Rojas , Graduate Student, Teachers College

2024

2015 - 2016 Computer Science Report [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/63u4-2zc2]

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Workshop

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Network Analysis of NYC Campaign Finance Data using R

In this workshop, participants will be introduced to the basics of network analysis using the <a href="https://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/2021-Campaign-Contributions/rjkp-yttghttps://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/2021-Campaign-Contributions/rjkp-yttg">2021 Campaign Contributions dataset</a> on the NYC Open Data Portal. We will walk through how to load data into R directly from the portal using the RSocrata package, how to restructure these data for use in network graphs using data wrangling techniques from the tidyverse, and, finally, how to create network graphs and use network analysis to generate insights into campaign finance connections between different candidates running for office in New York City. Participants should leave this workshop feeling inspired and equipped to apply network analysis to all sorts of datasets available on NYC Open Data.

Natalie O'Shea, Millie Olivia Symns

2022

{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xfknof8nzc","description":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xfknof8nzc"}

Diving Into CoreData.nyc: How to Find Subsidized Housing and Neighborhood Data

New York City is facing its worst housing crunch in over 50 years, according to city data, exacerbating the city’s housing emergency. In this workshop, you will have the opportunity to learn how to explore affordable housing and neighborhood-level indicators for New York City using the NYU Furman Center's CoreData.nyc platform. 

During the first half of the workshop, led by the Furman Center’s Data Team, you will be walked through our data collection, cleaning, and visualization process. This session will be useful information for users at all levels of expertise, but it will be especially applicable for participants interested in creating a similar site in the future. In the second half of the workshop, participants will have a choice of pursuing several Data Journeys modeled after Beta NYC’s Open Data Journeys. Each Data Journey covers a different housing-related topic tailored to a different level of data ability. Participants will have the opportunity to explore a Data Journey individually, with the support of the Furman Center, and present their findings to the group.

Ryan Brenner, NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy

2024

CoreData (https://coredata.nyc/), New York Neighborhood Data Profiles (https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Workshop

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Humanizing heat experiences through an open-source data approach

Learn how Heat Story—an interactive tool that maps the inequitable impacts of extreme heat—was built using open source tools and brought to life via community science and stories.
When New Yorkers’ own stories about how heat has affected their neighborhoods, commutes, and homes are overlaid onto a map rich with open datasets exploring racist housing policies, income inequality, heat-related illness, and more, the impact of the compounding inequities that influence the effects of heat is made both personal and global for cities everywhere.
The process of translating this tool into a government data feature involved monthly meetings between the NYC Health Department (Emily Torem, Matthew Montesano, and Chris Gettings); PI Dr. Liv Yoon; and software engineer Thomas Zinckgraf, to discuss the visual direction and user interaction; and then an iterative process of pushing changes through a Github repository, testing them out, and making further changes as a team. Through sharing this process with you, we hope to illuminate some of the mechanics of open data projects between different stakeholders to help advance equity in the environment, health, and climate spaces.
Hear from the team behind Heat Story as they:
- Talk through building an interactive climate data feature using open source tools and a hands-on approach
- Share techniques for community engagement around climate topics like heat-related illness and inequities
- Explain how you or someone you know can share your story with this living project and help humanize the impacts of heat in NYC
- Discuss why and how mapping climate and health indicators like air quality, neighborhood poverty, heat stress hospitalizations, heat vulnerability, AC access, and more is such a powerful tool for climate justice communication and advocacy
- Answer any questions you may have about starting related projects

Emily Torem, Health Content Manager, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene;

Matthew Montesano, Director of Data Communication, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene;

Chris Gettings, Senior Data Scientist, NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH);

Liv Yoon, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia;

Thomas Zinckgraf, Software Engineer

2024

Heat vulnerability index (https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/data-explorer/climate/?id=2191#display=summary), Neighborhood poverty (https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/data-explorer/economic-conditions/?id=103#display=summary), Air quality (PM2.5) (https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/data-explorer/air-quality/?id=2023#display=summary), Heat Stress Hospitalizations (https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/data-explorer/weather-related-illness/?id=2410#display=summary)

Virtual

Presentation

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AI and the City: New Frontiers in Algorithmic Transparency

In 2020, New York City published a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive directory of algorithmic tools used by the City with a public impact, reporting on 16 tools used by 9 agencies. As artificial intelligence has developed and matured, City adoption of AI tools has increased and our reporting expanded. The 2023 directory contains a record number of tools supporting across a wide range of applications, including public health, education, safety, and more. Additionally, launching this year, this information will be made available to the public through the Open Data portal, allowing us to explore trends in AI adoption across the City and over time.
 
In this talk, we will explore the history of the City's algorithmic tools directory, compare it with similar registries from other municipalities, examine where and how algorithmic tools are being used by the City, and consider how the directory may expand to meet the future of AI.

Renata Gerecke, Algorithms Reporting Manager, NYC Office of Technology & Innovation

2024

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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FloodNet - Realtime urban flood monitoring - introduction to our data product

FloodNet’s mission is to develop tools for real-time urban flood monitoring, implement these tools to measure flooding in New York City, and make flood data and monitoring tools available in a manner that is accessible and useful to stakeholders including residents, community-based organizations, government agencies, and researchers. 

The FloodNet team is composed of researchers and practitioners at New York University, the City University of New York, and New York City government agencies working in collaboration with stakeholders to collect and share data that contribute toward flood risk mitigation and building community flood resilience. 

FloodNet is deploying 500 realtime flood depth sensors at flood prone locations across NYC’s five boroughs. The flood sensors are typically mounted to street sign posts, measuring water levels directly beneath. As of December 2023, we have installed 81 sensors and collected flood data for a number of flood events, such as those experienced during Hurricane Ida in 2021 and Tropical Storm Ophelia in 2023.

In this demonstration we will walk through three of our publicly available data products:

Public facing data dashboard - found at dataviz.floodnet.nyc, the FloodNet data dashboard provides a realtime and historic view of flood sensor data using map and time series based plot visualizations

Data download tool & API - allows for the retrieval of realtime and historic flood data via a download tool, which also aids in query design for programmatic data access via the API

Community reports - printable reports that combine sensor data and photographs of flooding to present historical information about flooding at the neighborhood scale, produced in collaboration with New York Sea Grant.

If you are affected by flooding in NYC, work in a flood related field, or just have an interest in our data tools, we're looking forward to having you join the session.

Charlie Mydlarz

2024

FloodNet Data (dataviz.floodnet.nyc)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Queens Name Explorer Morning Edit-a-Thon

Join Wikimedia NYC, OpenStreetMap US, Urban Archive and the Queens Memory Project for this edit-a-thon focused on raising awareness of Queens' diverse and dynamic local heroes. This is an opportunity for the tech savvy to learn about Queens history and for the history savvy to hone their open data skills - plus, there will be refreshments and prizes for everyone! This edit-a-thon will be centered on the Queens Name Explorer (queenslib.org/explore) dataset of over 1200 people whose names grace the parks, streets, schools and other public spaces of Queens, in New York City. Many of these honorees are beloved civic leaders, organizers, small business owners, educators, artists, and musicians from Queens who do not have Wikidata entity records, Wikipedia articles, or OpenStreetMap entries. Edit-a-thon participants will learn how to create and edit entries in Wikidata, Wikipedia, and OpenStreetMap to bring the Queens Name Explorer dataset to international audiences. The Queens Name Explorer is hosted by Urban Archive and this edit-a-thon will put you to work improving biographical articles and finding ways to shine a brighter light on these local leaders who have helped to shape the culture and civic life in their communities. Fun projects built in wikishootme, Mix’n’Match, as well as a list of editing assignments in OpenStreetMap and Wikidata will go live on the event page Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/Queens Name Explorer - Wikipedia by the day of the event and be open throughout Open Data Week for participants across the city. This program is made possible by the generous support of NYC Councilmember Julie Won.

Queens Public Library

2024

Queens Name Explorer (queenslib.org/explore)

In-Person

Hackathon / Data Jam

Data and Real Estate are Not Oil and Water, hosted by REDIST

<div>The real estate industry is the largest employer, is the largest contributor to the GDP and touches every other industry in NYC. Our city's economic recovery then begins and ends with our industry but historically building design, construction and operations have been slow to incorporate technology. With the advent of city-wide data collection, this dynamic is changing and there are incredible opportunities to reimagine real estate and also transform how our city lives, works and plays. Learn from venture capital industry veterans about how they evaluate startup ideas, what they have invested in recently and where they encourage you to look to build your own transformative technology business related to the built environment.</div>
<div></div>
<div>The panelists:</div>
<ul>
<li>Michael Spies is a Venture Partner at Navitas Capital. In his 30 years at Tishman Speyer, Michael led its businesses in Europe and India, created and headed Global Innovation, and was chair of the investment committee. He serves on the boards of or as an advisor to numerous startups within and outside the Navitas portfolio as an active investor and advisor through Fuse Strategies. He is a trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), serves on the board of TechnoServe, a non-profit organization reducing poverty in the developing world, and is also on the advisory board of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. Michael has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and a master’s in city &amp; regional planning from the Harvard Kennedy School.</li>
<li>Jennifer Tegan is the Managing Director of New York Ventures (a division of Empire State Development), a $100 million investment fund allocated towards direct equity investments into promising Seed and Series A start-ups and their diverse founding teams across New York State. Prior to joining Empire State Development, she spent 18 years with Cayuga Venture Fund, where she invested in and supported entrepreneurs in technology-based start-ups. She has served on the boards of GiveGab, Pom, True Gault and Venuebook. She is also a member of the board of Tompkins Financial Corporation, its affiliate bank Tompkins Trust Company, the National Venture Capital Association and the Upstate Capital Association of New York. Previously, she served on the board of Allworx, Inc. Jennifer has a bachelor's degree from Smith College, a master's in geology from the University of Cincinnati, and an MBA from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management.</li>
<li>Atif Qadir, AIA is the Founder &amp; CEO of REDIST, a venture-backed technology company working to transform public financing for commercial real estate. He also produces &amp; hosts “American Building”, the podcast REDIST sponsors with Michael Graves Architecture &amp; Design. He has deep financial, operational and regulatory experience built on his previous work at Extell Development, where he was an associate on the development team, and at Turner Construction and at Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman &amp; Associates Architects, beginning his career as a licensed architect and a LEED accredited professional. He is on the advisory board of Provident Bank and on the boards of the nonprofits The Hudson School and the Haven Adolescent Community Respite Center. He also serves as a City Planning Commissioner in the City of Hoboken. Atif has bachelor's degrees in architecture and in urban planning from MIT, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.</li>
</ul>

Atif Qadir, REDIST

2022

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Redesigning DATA2GO.NYC: An Interactive Session

Measure of America, a program of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is in the process of revamping DATA2GO.NYC, a free, easy-to-use online mapping and data tool that brings together federal, state, and city data on a broad range of issues critical to the well-being of all New Yorkers. The revamp will include updated data in addition to a redesign to ensure DATA2GO's continued usefulness to people and organizations requiring easily accessible and understandable data on well-being, equity, needs, and resources to address those needs in NYC.

We are interested in the civic community's input into this redesign and would love to hear your thoughts to help us help you measure what matters for community well-being. The event will begin with a description of the project roadmap and proceed to breakout rooms, polls, and other sharing opportunities to ensure that all attendees have a voice in contributing their thoughts and ideas to the DATA2GO redesign. All attendees will receive a site credit for their time. We hope to see you there!

This redesign effort is informed by a diverse advisory panel and is supported by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, the original funders of DATA2GO.NYC.

Cara Wohnsigl, Research Associate, Measure of America, SSRC;

Alex Powers, Associate Director, Measure of America, SSRC;

Kristen Lewis, Director, Measure of America, SSRC;

Tara Shawa, Program Assistant, Measure of America, SSRC

2024

311 Service Requests from 2020 to Present [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/erm2-nwe9]

Virtual

Other

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Queens Name Explorer Afternoon Edit-a-Thon

Join Wikimedia NYC, OpenStreetMap US, Urban Archive and the Queens Memory Project for this edit-a-thon focused on raising awareness of Queens' diverse and dynamic local heroes. This is an opportunity for the tech savvy to learn about Queens history and for the history savvy to hone their open data skills - plus, there will be refreshments and prizes for everyone! This edit-a-thon will be centered on the Queens Name Explorer (queenslib.org/explore) dataset of over 1200 people whose names grace the parks, streets, schools and other public spaces of Queens, in New York City. Many of these honorees are beloved civic leaders, organizers, small business owners, educators, artists, and musicians from Queens who do not have Wikidata entity records, Wikipedia articles, or OpenStreetMap entries. Edit-a-thon participants will learn how to create and edit entries in Wikidata, Wikipedia, and OpenStreetMap to bring the Queens Name Explorer dataset to international audiences. The Queens Name Explorer is hosted by Urban Archive and this edit-a-thon will put you to work improving biographical articles and finding ways to shine a brighter light on these local leaders who have helped to shape the culture and civic life in their communities. Fun projects built in wikishootme, Mix’n’Match, as well as a list of editing assignments in OpenStreetMap and Wikidata will go live on the event page Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/Queens Name Explorer - Wikipedia by the day of the event and be open throughout Open Data Week for participants across the city. This program is made possible by the generous support of NYC Councilmember Julie Won.

Queens Public Library

2024

Queens Name Explorer (queenslib.org/explore)

In-Person

Hackathon / Data Jam

The Power of Transparency: Towards An Open Data Agenda For Culture & Arts

Join us to imagine innovative ways open data practices can serve the Cultural & Arts sector and take the first step towards creating an Open Data Agenda for NYC Culture and Arts. 
Organized by the Culture & Arts Policy Institute in connection with New York City’s Open Data Week, we will explore how open data can bolster systemic change within NYC’s arts and culture sectors. After a short presentation on the principles of Open Data and Open Government, a panel of culture workers, data analysts, and artists will discuss the potential of open data to strengthen New York’s cultural ecosystem and the challenges and opportunities they present for artists, cultural workers, and culture organizations.
The event marks the beginning of a broader research and collaborative process to create an Open Data Agenda for NYC Culture and Arts tailored to the needs of cultural workers, arts organizations, and the communities they serve and work with, encouraging dialogue and collaboration within and across sectors.
Arrive early to visit Data Through Design, the annual data art exhibition featuring works that creatively analyze, interpret, and interrogate data made available in NYC’s Open Data Portal. 
Co-presented with BRIC, this program is part of NYC Open Data Week, an annual festival of community-driven events that brings New Yorkers together to share and learn about publicly available data.

Culture and Arts Policy Institute

2024

DCLA Programs Funding [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/y6fv-k6p7]

In-Person

Panel Discussion

Introduction to Open Source APIs

Ever think there has to be an easier way than downloading data from Open Data or the US Census website? Do you want to get coordinates of addresses for mapping?

Join Martha Norrick, NYC’s Chief Analytics Officer, to learn how to use the Open Data, US Census, and Geoclient APIs to access data directly without all the clicking. In this session, you will use Python to read data from NYC Open Data and the US Census American Community Survey, and enrich address information with geocoding.

What to know or have before attending this session:
- Everyone is welcome, but you'll get the most out of this if you have experience with Python and Pandas!
- A laptop or tablet with a keyboard
- A Google account, as we’ll be using Google Colab to run our code
- Register for a Census API key: https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html
- Register on NYC’s API portal to access the Geoclient API https://api-portal.nyc.gov/

NYC Chief Analytics Officer Martha Norrick, NYC Office of Data Analytics

2024

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Class / Training

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What Gets Measured, Gets Done: Working with Mayor's Management Report Data

The Mayor's Management Report (MMR), mandated by the City Charter and produced by the Mayor's Office of Operations (Operations), serves as a public account of the performance of City agencies, measuring whether they are delivering services efficiently, effectively and expeditiously. Published twice a year since 1977, the MMR is one of the only forums where agencies can tell their story. In 2022, Operations launched the Dynamic MMR (DMMR), an interactive version of the report which allows users to explore this robust dataset in a new way. Join Tessa Leverone and Renata Gerecke to learn about the history and lasting impact of the MMR, and walk-through the DMMR and corresponding Open Data dataset. The session will also include a case study demonstrating how Operations used this data to evaluate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on agency performance.

Tessa Leverone & Renata Gerecke, NYC Mayor's Office of Operations

2023

Mayor's Management Report - Agency Performance Indicators [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/rbed-zzin]

Virtual

Office Hours

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Data in Action: Insights, Industries, & Career Paths

In this comprehensive workshop, participants will embark on an enlightening journey into the world of data and its transformative influence across diverse industries. Attendees will delve into the dynamic intersection of data and decision-making, gaining invaluable insights into its practical applications.

Throughout the workshop, participants can utilize cutting-edge data visualization tools in hands-on exercises, witnessing firsthand the power of data visualization in conveying complex information clearly and compellingly.

One of the workshop's key highlights is exploring how data permeates and revolutionizes various sectors, including education, healthcare, and business. Participants will better understand how data-driven approaches reshape these industries, leading to more informed decision-making processes and improved outcomes.

Moreover, the workshop will provide a comprehensive overview of the myriad career paths in data analytics and data science. From data analysts to data scientists, participants will discover exciting opportunities to leverage their skills and passion for data to shape the future of their careers.

Resources we will be using:
NYC Open Data Portal: (https://data.cityofnewyork.us/browse) This portal provides access to a diverse range of datasets from various sectors within New York City. It offers a valuable resource for exploring real-world examples of data-driven decision-making across industries. Class participants can utilize this portal to access datasets relevant to their interests and explore practical applications of data analysis and visualization within an urban context.

Cognitive AI: (https://cognitiveclass.ai/learn/data-science): This offers a comprehensive training provides a valuable resource for class participants who are seeking to learn more about data-driven career paths and opportunities. Utilizing information on data science principles, methodologies, and tools helps prepare them to uncover insights, understand industry needs, and explore potential career paths in the dynamic field of data science.

Queens Public Library

2024

Virtual

Presentation

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OCA (Data) You Can See: An Introduction to the Housing Data Coalition and Office of Court Administration Data

Join us for a revealing session on leveraging open data for housing justice! This presentation shines a spotlight on the amazing work done by individuals and organizations in the Housing Data Coalition, alongside the Office of Court Administration Data Collective. Dive into the world of housing data as we unveil an innovative data filtering tool designed to navigate the complexities of NYC's eviction data landscape.
Who Should Attend?
This session is tailor-made for community organizers, legal professionals, tenant advocates, technologists, and anyone with a keen interest in housing justice and data accessibility. Whether you're looking to enhance your advocacy efforts, conduct in-depth housing research, or simply curious about the power of open data, this presentation offers valuable insights and tools to empower your cause. No technology experience is needed!
What Will You Discover?
Participants will embark on a guided tour through the intricacies of NYC's housing data ecosystem, highlighted by an introduction to the Housing Data Coalition and the essential NYCDB. Discover the challenges and triumphs in making vast datasets more accessible and actionable for housing justice. Experience firsthand a new data filtering tool, designed to democratize data analysis by allowing users to effortlessly filter through eviction data and download tailored CSV files accessible through Excel, that once required a more in-depth knowledge of databases and SQL.
Presenters and Interactive Elements:
The session will feature insights from key members of BetaNYC, the Housing Data Coalition, and contributors to the OCA Data Collective. Engage with our speakers through Q&A segments and an interactive demo of the filtering tool. Don't miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and contribute to a future where data serves as a foundation for community empowerment and housing justice.
Join us to navigate the digital landscape of housing data, unlock new potentials for advocacy, and take part in shaping a more equitable New York City.

Lucy Block, Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development;

Kevin Finn, Housing Data Coalition;

Erik Brown, BetaNYC

2024

nycdb (https://github.com/nycdb/nycdb), NYC Housing Court Filings (https://github.com/housing-data-coalition/oca)

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Presentation

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Bringing Data into Space: communication standards from physical signage to spatial computing

Digital technology is increasingly present in the places and spaces in which we live. How might people learn about and give feedback on its use? What design standards, patterns, and practices can help open data reach people on the street, whether through physical signage or digital channels and augmented layers?

Join panelists Te Du from inCitu and Adrienne Schmoeker from Helpful Places for a short presentation of their work, followed by questions and open discussion.

Helpful Places is steward of the Digital Trust for Places & Routines (DTPR), an open-source communication standard to increase the transparency, legibility and accountability of digital technology in the built environment.

inCitu is a startup transforming real-estate and planning data into Augmented Reality experiences, easily accessible through your smartphone, to foster collaboration around the process of urban change.

Adrienne Schmoeker, Strategic Partnerships, Helpful Places; Te Du, Senior Data Engineer, inCitu

2024

DOB Permit Issuance [https://data.cityofnewyork.us/d/ipu4-2q9a]

NYC School of Data Conference Session

Panel Discussion

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Aftermath — Data Through Design Artist Panel

2024

In-Person

Panel Discussion

Aftermath — Data Through Design Opening Reception

2024

In-Person

Exhibition