On March 10, Brandon returned to Open Data Week for a second year to exhibit Block Party, an interface that makes local policy information easy for New Yorkers to find.
Block Party, co-founded by KPFui Urban Data Analyst + Technologist Brandon Pachuca with Sarah Sachs, allows users to find their local community board and sign up for a weekly newsletter that shares recent meeting synopses and transcript data. The founding pair shared how they built their platform in an interactive showcase and taught viewers how to navigate the map and explore their public archive of board meetings.
Trained in architecture and urban planning, Brandon made use of his knowledge of emergent web technologies to build the user-friendly tool. He calls the website an opportunity to ‘leverage open-source technology for the public good’ by keeping citizens aware of and engaged with local policymaking.
Open Data Week ran from March 5 through March 13 and was hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, BetaNYC, and Data Through Design. The festival featured community-held events to celebrate New York City’s Open Data Law and offered opportunities for learning about and engaging with municipal open data. Learn more about Open Data Week 2022 here.
The free event took place on Thursday, March 10 at 9 AM EST. Read more about the event here, and visit Block Party here.