Jay Pitter

Check out my 10 Rules For Better Public Spaces 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾 This is not intended to be an exhaustive list; I didn’t include public space healing, which is a significant part of my practice. But I’ve captured several key ideas. Thoughts? Additional ideas? #cities #public #space

‘No fear’

Sahli Negassi, a 17-year-old teen from West Orange, New Jersey scores a perfect 1600 on the SAT. He plans to attend Harvard University and pursue a career in law 🔥

Good night to everyone but especially to the large number of women who’ve given me literal and metaphorical flowers. 💕

This week, I’ll be engaging students, scholars & practitioners at Harvard University. It’s the first of two book talks I’ve been invited to deliver to their campus community. Both are internal engagements, so I don’t have public links to share. Honoured.

One week since launching Black Public Joy. So much gratitude for the immense support.

My editor just brought this to my attention—I’m featured in Indigo’s newsletter this month. I especially appreciate the extra descriptive call-out they included for my book. It feels both accurate and expansive, aligned with the book’s vision.

I’m independently leading the U.S. strategy so any American journalist and editor leads would be super appreciated.

Media kicked off the moment Black Public Joy hit shelves. I did two radio interviews the day of the launch, the next day I did a pre-interview for an amazing television show, and thanks to my Canadian publicist Curtis Samuel, I have several other upcoming interviews/profiles.

To purchase you copy of the book: penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/672022/b…

Black Public Joy is on shelves in large and local bookstores across Canada & the U.S. Through practice stories across many cities & research, I assert that Black public joy, and public joy of all kinds is civic, cultural & spatial infrastructure. DM for book talk info.

NEW BOOK ALERT😍! Black Public Joy by renowned award-winning urbanist and thought leader @Jay_Pitter is out this week! Please support if you can! Toronto Life calls it an “instruction manual for joy.” The book frames public joy as civic, cultural and spatial infrastructure🙏🏿

Black Public Joy by @Jay_Pitter is finally out and I’ve got my copy! The book frames public joy as civic, cultural and spatial infrastructure and Toronto Life calls it an “instruction manual for joy.” I can’t wait to dig in & neither should you! penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/672022/b…

Excited to watch how Mayor Mamdani’s beautiful gesture becomes embedded in policy, infrastructure, and ongoing programming. Maybe I’ll give him a shout :)

Public joy should be a collective condition deeply entrenched in municipal structures & systems—not a special occasion, festival season programming, or luxury for a few.

I appreciate @NYCMayor’s simple but powerful gesture of handing out free theater tickets. The idea that New Yorkers, and people in all cities, deserve lives that include joy, art, rest, & expression is aligned with the values of Black Public Joy & my broader public joy framework.

Finished recording the last chapters of my book this week. Speaking the book aloud taught me a lot: emotional presence over perfection, the sacredness of direct quotes, my Jamaican roots living on the tip of my tongue, and the rare gift of trusting others to hold the process.

@CivicsPhil 😂😂😂

@Jay_Pitter So happy I didn’t geek out too much! Will keep an eye out for other talks like that. ✌️

Just came back from seeing @Jay_Pitter! So good, wish she was on a bit longer. Thanks for speaking! ✌️✌️✌️ #urbanplanning

For the first time ever, an Amtrak NextGen Acela train just pulled up to Union Station. It had left Boston at 6 AM this morning, taking roughly 7 hours to make the entire trip.