Project Helping Bed-Stuy Pandemic Recovery Honored In NYC Awards

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A project helping Bed-Stuy with its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has been recognized by the Municipal Arts Society, the organization announced this week.

The "Neighborhoods Now" project won special recognition in the MASterworks Awards, which honor projects around New York City that make a contribution to the city's "built environment."

A collaboration between the Van Alen Institute, Urban Design Forum and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the project connected neighborhoods hardest hit during the pandemic with design firms to help with community workshops, gatherings and other initiatives to spur their recovery.

“From community workshops, and design-build days, to tactical interventions that supported safe gatherings and reopening, it is an inspiring project that reframes the design mindset and approach, meeting people where they’re at and exploring new modes of communication and collaboration," MAS President Elizabeth Goldstein said about the project. "The ethos of ‘Your Home, Not Alone’ served as a beacon of community care at a time when many felt isolated and anxious. This is an innovate example for those in the fields of design, planning, development, placemaking, engagement, and beyond to look to.”

The Neighborhoods Now project created working groups in Bed-Stuy, Jackson Heights, Kingsbridge, the Lower East Side, Washington Heights and later expanded to Chinatown, the East Village and the South Bronx, according to the organization.

In Bed-Stuy, the initiative involved installing planters in Restoration Plaza, adopt-a-square murals and designing a sustainable Black Lives Matter mural in the neighborhood, according to Van Alen's page about the project.

“...Partnered with the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, a new form of collaboration emerged between our client, a diverse cross-section of neighborhood stakeholders, and our team of architects, landscape architects, engineers, graphic designers, and legal counsel," the team said. "Our hope is that in the future this collaborative model for community-led initiatives can continue and provide support for delivering tailored solutions for other projects that build a safe and equitable community.”