For the first time in its history, New York City will have an annual city-wide public design event, NYCxDESIGN (NYC by Design), which will be held May 10-21. The event was conceived by the City Council as a way to leverage the design industry’s enormous potential for economic growth, and is being produced in conjunction with a prestigious steering committee* including Jim Druckman (NYDC), Paola Antonelli (MoMA), Bradford Shellhammer (FAB.com), David Stark, among others.

New York City is home to 33% more design firms than Los Angeles, the next closest city, according to the Center for an Urban Future. NYCxDESIGN seeks to drive economic development through the attraction of even more designers and manufacturers to the city, generate new sales and export opportunities for local designers and increase design-based tourism by industry professionals and design-conscious consumers.

"NYCxDESIGN will help demonstrate that New York City is the design capital of the world,” said City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. “All five boroughs are home to a staggering amount of design talent in a wide range of disciplines, and this inaugural, city-wide event will help harness this potential and turn it into a tool for economic growth. I’m thrilled to provide the necessary platform to showcase both emerging and established designers as well as design schools and institutions and look forward to celebrating local design this May.”

NYCxDESIGN will showcase the City’s most renowned design institutions, retailers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, curators, educators, editors, and of course designers. The event will create a platform for cultural and commercial opportunities to elevate established and emerging design practices, and to increase awareness of and appreciation for design by all audiences through events such as exhibitions, trade shows, installations, talks, launches, and open studios. The event capitalizes on the City’s strong and diverse design industry and aims to strengthen and grow this sector of the local economy.

*NYCxDESIGN Steering Committee Members include:

Paola Antonelli, Museum of Modern Art, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture & Design

Caroline Baumann, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Acting Director     

Rick Bell, American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter Executive Director         

Scott Belsky, Behance LLC, Chief Executive Officer        

David Burney, NYC Department of Design and Construction, Commissioner

Keri Butler, Public Design Commission of the City of New York 

Susan Chin, Design Trust for Public Space, Executive Director    

Allan Chochinov, Core77, Inc. Editor-in-Chief, Core77    

Miquela Craytor, NYC Economic Development Corporation, Vice President, Industrial Initiatives       

Chad Dickerson, Etsy, Inc., CEO   

James Druckman, New York Design Center, President & CEO   

Wendy Feuer, NYC Department of Transportation, Assistant Commissioner for Urban Design & Art   

Rosalie Genevro, Architectural League of New York, Executive Director

Abe Gurko, Abe NYC, Inc., Principal        

Chris Hacker, Johnson & Johnson, Chief Design Officer

Rachel Haot, NYC Digital, Chief Digital Officer   

Holly Hotchner, Museum of Arts and Design, Director     

Karen Koslowitz, New York City Council City, Council Member

Kate D. Levin, Department of Cultural Affairs, Commissioner     

Fern Mallis, Fern Mallis, LLC, President    

Kiel Mead, American Design Club, Principal          

Michelle Mullineaux, DesigNYC, Co-Founder      

Elizabeth O'Donnell, The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union, Associate Dean          

Eddie Opara, Pentagram, Design Partner   

Leighton Pierce, Pratt Institute, School of Art & Design, Acting Dean    

Christine C. Quinn, New York City Council, Speaker                  

Ed Schlossberg, ESI Design, President & CEO     

Bradford Shellhammer, Fab.com, Founder & Chief Design Officer

David Stark, David Stark Design and Production, President and Creative Director

Robert Steel, NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic Development     

Kara Tobin, Tobin and Tucker, Principal    

Joel Towers, Parsons The New School For Design, Dean  

Willy Wong, NYC & Company, Chief Creative Officer and AIGA/NY President

Members of the design community interested in participating should register their event at www.nycxdesign.com.