Jay Pitter

Award-Winning Placemaker. Author. Speaker. Urban Planning Adjunct Professor. Subdivided Co-Editor. Two Book Deal w/ Penguin Random House Canada.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Check out my 10 Rules For Better Public Spaces 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list; I didn’t include public space healing, which is a significant part of my practice. But I’ve captured several key ideas. Thoughts? Additional ideas? #cities #public #space

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

@harriettsbooks @pbsbooks Thank you, good to know my book is finding good homes.

[Harriett’s Bookshop @harriettsbooks]

Honor the folks who sing your praises when you’re not even in the room (or the country). So thankful to our poet laureate Raina Leon for including us in this @pbsbooks series. 📖🙏🏾

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Back from another amazing book tour week.

#BlackPublicJoy

[Darwin @ThisIsDarwino]

BREAKING: We now know the municipal/provincial and federal lobbyists behind the Billy Bishop airport expansion in Toronto is Nieuport Aviation, an asset among many, controlled by the IIG which was founded by JP Morgan. Yes, an AMERICAN bank is trying to destroy our waterfront.

[WELCOME TO BLACK TWlTTER  @blacktwiterthrd]

9th grader Demi Johnson wins National Geographic award for her plan to restore Mississippi’s oyster reefs. She already produced 1,100 oysters that will spawn millions of larvae, delivering a major boost to the ecosystem.

[Dan Seljak @anotherglassbox]

Some sort of issue between bylaw and the food market near Yonge and Dundas has resulted in all the shops’ signage being removed. Landlord is dealing with City, but consider supporting the vendors as it gets resolved—foot traffic will suffer.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Belonging begins in the body.

— Black Public Joy
Penguin Random House, 2026

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Let’s go @chloebrown4TO. Where do I send my campaign donation?

[Toronto Star @TorontoStar]

Former Toronto mayoral candidate to run for Etobicoke council seat: ‘I want to bring a close to Ford Nation’ https://t.co/IC7WyTFlym

[Ellen Barkin @EllenBarkin]

‘No fear’

[Top5Media @Top5Fights]

Sahli Negassi, a 17-year-old teen from West Orange, New Jersey scores a perfect 1600 on the SAT.

He plans to attend Harvard University and pursue a career in law 🔥

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Good night to everyone but especially to the large number of women who’ve given me literal and metaphorical flowers. 💕

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

This week, I’ll be engaging students, scholars & practitioners at Harvard University. It’s the first of two book talks I’ve been invited to deliver to their campus community. Both are internal engagements, so I don’t have public links to share. Honoured.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

One week since launching Black Public Joy. So much gratitude for the immense support.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

My editor just brought this to my attention—I’m featured in Indigo’s newsletter this month. I especially appreciate the extra descriptive call-out they included for my book. It feels both accurate and expansive, aligned with the book’s vision.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

I’m independently leading the U.S. strategy so any American journalist and editor leads would be super appreciated.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Media kicked off the moment Black Public Joy hit shelves. I did two radio interviews the day of the launch, the next day I did a pre-interview for an amazing television show, and thanks to my Canadian publicist Curtis Samuel, I have several other upcoming interviews/profiles.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

To purchase you copy of the book:

https://t.co/T6IKvXKjYV

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Black Public Joy is on shelves in large and local bookstores across Canada & the U.S. Through practice stories across many cities & research, I assert that Black public joy, and public joy of all kinds is civic, cultural & spatial infrastructure. DM for book talk info.