NYC OASIS:
The Open Accessible Space Information System

The OASIS website provides the richest source of community maps for New York City - free and all in one place online. OASIS is guided by a collaborative partnership of almost 60 greening groups, educators, individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and public agencies who use online mapping technology to help sustain the city's open spaces and visualize the nexus between community greening and broader urban planning issues. It is managed by the Center for Urban Research at the CUNY Graduate Center.

OASIS's maps are accessible at www.oasisnyc.net

Here are some highlights:

OASIS's visitors use the website to make 1.5 million customized maps each year.
Of the more than 400,000 visits OASIS receives each year, 300,000 of those (more than 75%) are from returning visitors - indicating a high level of loyalty from OASIS's users.
Most people visit OASIS to obtain information about individual properties - such as land use, zoning, ownership, and where a parcel is located in the neighborhood context.
Though many users are from professional planning organizations, other frequent visitors include educational organizations, neighborhood groups, and city agency staff.

When you visit OASIS online, here's what you'll find:

The geographic scope of OASIS's maps focuses on New York City's five boroughs, but also includes northern New Jersey and parts of western Nassau County, southern Westchester County, and portions of Fairfield County, CT.
OASIS integrates data from many sources, adding value to each data set by enabling visitors to view and map it in relation to parks, community gardens, subways and ferries, tax parcels, aerial photos, and several dozen other "layers" of information about the city.
Maps of any or all of the following features can be created from a regional view down to individual properties (image below shows all the map layers that can be displayed at OASIS, as of Fall 2007):
- land use patterns (residential, commercial, industrial, vacant land, etc) on a parcel basis - you can view historical land use patterns from 2003 through 2010;
- NYC park properties (including parks, playgrounds, beaches, and Greenstreets);
- state and federal open space;
- wetlands (tidal, freshwater, and National Wetlands Inventory areas);
- recreational sites such as golf courses, baseball and soccer fields, and tennis/basketball courts & tracks;
- community gardens and greenmarket sites;
- street tree locations as surveyed by OASIS partner groups;
- natural resource areas such as habitat sites, natural areas, and "Forever Wild" sites;
- waterfront access locations (including boating areas, piers, and fishing spots);
- Living Memorials projects;
- community resources such as schools, public housing, and historic houses;
- transit resources (subways, ferries, and the street grid);
- aerial photos from 1996 through 2010;
- infrared photography from 2001 displaying vegetation vs. impervious surfaces; and
- cemeteries.

Detailed information about many of these features can be accessed, such as:

zoning, ownership, and detailed building information for each of NYC's 900,000 tax parcels;
acreage and habitat protection status for more than 160 habitat sites;
open space profiles for the 59 NYC Community Districts including: % of Community District that is Open Space and % Tree Canopy;
hours of operation, types of food grown, and photos of more than 700 community gardens; and
lists of "Friends of..." and other groups that care for the city's parks and playgrounds, along with contact information and links to the city's interactive parks maps.

For more information about OASIS, go to this handout.

TO ENTER OASIS, Click Here.

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