New York’s sprawling inventory of public spaces is currently overseen by a thicket of city and state agencies that often work separately with little coordination. The result has been confusion and strife at times over who exactly is in charge, as well as a lack of overall planning and vision for the public spaces that have become increasingly important to urban life.

Now, New York has joined a short list of municipalities, including Boston and Los Angeles, that have turned to a public realm czar as the demand for these communal spaces has soared.

Even before the pandemic, cities were increasingly moving to create new parks or repurpose streets and infrastructure as a way to improve public health, promote transit use, revitalize struggling downtowns, and combat climate change.

Jacob Wessel became Boston’s public realm director in 2018, with the goal of making streets more pedestrian friendly with rapid, low-cost projects. Since then, he has helped create more than a dozen plazas and “parklets,” which transform parking spots into mini-parks, and expanded car-free open streets to more neighborhoods during the pandemic.

Mr. Wessel, who is based in the city’s transportation department, has coordinated work across agencies and cut through bureaucratic red tape. Still, there have been hiccups: When one parklet was being set up, the Public Works Department came by and issued a ticket for unauthorized dumping in the street. Mr. Wessel got the ticket rescinded.

He has also pushed for amenities in public spaces like movable tables and chairs and art, including murals painted on utility boxes. “I insert myself into those conversations,” he said. “Often, I’m there to be an advocate.”

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