Congratulations to Shaneek Meachum, New Director of SAPO

It is a great honor to announce that Shaneek Meachum is the new Director of the Street Activity Permit Office. Since joining the SAPO team 10 years ago, Shaneek has consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence. She was instrumental in facilitating and managing the Plaza Events permitting program at its inception and has been spearheading leadership of the SAPO team since last year, in her role as Deputy Director of SAPO.
As Director of SAPO, Shaneek will be responsible for overseeing the SAPO permitting team and the issuance of permits for street festivals, street events, production events, religious events and other SAPO Permits. Shaneek has been with the City of New York for over 17 years, and we are confident that her leadership will continue to enhance the team’s success and contribute to an orderly permitting process for all New Yorkers.
Shaneek can be reached at smeachum@cityhall.nyc.gov
Car Free Earth Day: April 26, 2025

This year, Car Free Earth Day will be celebrated on Saturday April 26, 2025, from 10am-4pm. Car-Free Earth Day is an annual car-free event hosted by NYC DOT.
Programming will be presented at signature and partner produced locations citywide, promoting activism and education surrounding climate change, sustainability, and other relevant topics. The event also marks the official start to NYC’s Open Streets and Public Space Programming season.
For more information Visit DOT’s Car Free Earth Day page.
Did you know: Cancellation Fees
Cancellation fees may be assessed if an event permit is withdrawn less than 10 days before the scheduled activation. These fees do not apply if an event is moved to a different date or location. Please see the excerpt from the SAPO rules below:
In accordance with 50 RCNY § 1-04 (k), «applicants who submit an application for an Extra-Large event, Street or Plaza or a Street event, Large or Street Event, Medium who withdraw their application or decline a permit fewer than ten (10) calendar days prior to the event date will be assessed a cancellation fee of ninety percent (90%) of the City’s cost to process the application.»
Take a look at Open Data

Launched over a decade ago, NYC Open Data is home to datasets from agencies across the city. At CECM we are proud to have been one of the inaugural contributors to this massive archive, and continually update our Event Permitting data to reflect all approved event permits (from multiple agencies). Open Data delivers full transparency into all NYC-permitted events.
Additionally, NYC Open Data houses historical data archives, which the public can use to create apps, write reports, and use in their event-planning process. Search results can be filtered, exported, and analyzed; Open Data can help you see event trends and allows you to make better decisions for your permitting needs.
To view the CECM Open Data set on all approved event applications that will occur within the next month, click here.
To view the historical CECM Open Data set on all approved event applications that occurred since 2008, click here.
Upcoming Events: April

Here’s what’s coming up in April
New York International Auto Show
April 18-27
Easter Sunday
April 20
Car Free Earth Day
April 26
NYCRUNS Brooklyn Experience Half Marathon
April 27
Get Ready for Your Next Event!

Check out important event permitting resources below:
Supporting Permit Agency Information
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