Opening the Edge: NYCHA Resident-Designed Community Space Now Open!

Join the Design Trust, Lillian Wald residents, and LES neighbors to for a first-look at our Opening the Edge project, a new community space deisgned by NYCHA residents.

Opening the Edge, proposed by Jane Greengold and developed in partnership with NYCHA, is a resident-led participatory design effort to create a new open space in a formerly inaccessible, grassy area of Lillian Wald Houses on the Lower East Side.

Come for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating this hard-fought victory for the community, and enjoy food, music, and more Fall fun.

ABOUT OPENING THE EDGE

Since 2014, a group of residents, neighbors and Design Trust fellows have been advocating for reimagining this space. Over the course of the project, they have held more than 25 meetings and participated in dozens of events to discuss how they would like to use the site, provide guidance on local issues and maintenance concerns, and develop design concepts with Davies Toews Architecture, The PARC Foundation, and NYCHA’s Asset & Capital Management Division. The new space will have benches to relax and catch up with neighbors, a raised platform for performances, tables, paths and new lighting. The best difference: no fence! Learn more about the history of the project and our supporters here.

This effort is part of NYCHA’s program, which is focused on transforming and modernizing open spaces by implementing public-private partnerships. The program’s efforts are based on participatory planning and design, and strive to enhance vibrant, safer and more resilient open spaces in NYCHA communities. This project was awarded capital funding by Council Member Carlina Rivera and then-Borough President Gale Brewer. Additional funding generously provided by NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, PARC Foundation, Trinity Church Wall Street Foundation. Public Housing Community Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, NYC Building Congress Foundation, Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

Image descriptions: Before in the space-“” art installation engages residents about the potential of the fenced off space, created by Design Trust Comunity Engagement Fellow Mollie Serena.

Design rendering by Davies Toews Architecture.

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