Creating Usable Green Space For Residents Of East Village Public Housing

EAST VILLAGE, NY — Like many public housing developments, Lillian Wald Houses on Avenue D are set back from the sidewalk and surrounded by a fenced, grassy area that may be nice to look at but is inaccessible, both to residents of the buildings and the surrounding community.

The Design Trust for Public Space, in partnership with NYCHA, wants to change that. In 2014 they put out a request for proposals for how to redesign the underutilized green space and selected one by public artist Jane Greengold.

On its website, the Design Trust for Public Space says it hopes the final project — titled "Opening the Edge"— offers "an engaging place for residents and strengthen connections with the broader community."

In September 2016 it announced a team of fellows with expertise in community organizing, landscape architecture, active design, lighting and art, to be led by Jane Greengold, in creating the new space.

Destiny Mata, the community organizing fellow, is also a photographer who lives in Lillian Wald Houses. She is currently working on a project creating portraits of her neighbors in the community. On Instagram Wednesday she invited residents of Lillian Wald Houses and the neighboring Lower East Side to attend a community meeting Wednesday night (Jan. 11), where they can share ideas about "Opening the Edge" with the team who will be creating it.

The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club, 888 E. 6th St.

"The new space could take many forms, depending on residents' interest," reads a flyer from Design Trust for Public Space. "It could become a small park[...], it could include seating, small adult exercise equipment, a water fountain, a charging station, or whatever people suggest. It could also[...]include environmentally beneficial plantings, or be a series of temporary public art works, juried by residents and others. The possibilities are endless."

If you are a resident and would like to learn more about the project or share your ideas, you can attend this and future meetings, or contact the design team at openingtheedge@designtrust.org or 212-695-2432 x 7.

"No matter what ends up being designed," the flyer reads, "the process will begin with conversations, both formal and informal, about what people would like to see in a re-designed, exciting space."

Image via Google Maps