Neighborhood Plaza Program

We miss Diversity Plaza! After five years of near constant activity, this little block of 37th Road in Jackson Heights is quiet, closed for a major overhaul. When the plaza reopens in 2018, its physical appearance will have caught up to its international renown. The Mayor calls it the true crossroads of the world. Friends of Diversity Plaza call it the "little plaza with a big message. And in 2016, Time Magazine hailed it as the place where One City Block Holds the World.... Today, we can’t resist a Flash Back Friday splash remembering the amazing array of public events, the everyday respite from an intensely urban setting, and the hard working Plaza stakeholders (including our very own GreenTeam and ACE workers) who have made this tiny piece of New York one of the most compelling place-making stories around. These pics and videos one ours, two YouTube finds take us back to some joyful and moving moments at the Plaza. Check out more about the local heroes who’ve made it all happen -- on Instagram: @thehort https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaQqid1wD3U Bengali Memes Gangnam Style flash mob 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O_z_CrK0no 2016 Renaming Ceremony, coinciding with Buddha’s Birthday! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugOiWuLZiRo 2016 NPP’s How to Plaza like a New Yorker: Valentine to Diversity Plaza

The NPP team is fortunate to have a front-row seat to the amazing way neighborhood Plaza Partners produce, host and support public expression at their plazas. DOT’s 71 pedestrian plazas are our newest civic commons, continuing New York’s long tradition of providing public space for peaceful demonstrations, vigils, protests, and memorials. So we are joining other advocates for safe, livable streets in asking Mayor de Blasio to make strategic improvements to these public spac...es, to help make gatherings of free expression "safer, more effective, and welcoming to all New Yorkers who want to participate in civic action." Full text of the letter to Mayor de Blasio below. https://gehlinstitute.org/news/public-space-free-expression/ Photo credits: Shekar Krishnan (Diversity Plaza); Shahana Hanif (Avenue C Plaza)

You are invited to the street co-naming ceremony for Diversity Plaza, being held tomorrow, May 21 from 12-2pm. In honor of this special occasion, we are resurrecting our favorite plaza video -- New Yorkers from around the world teach us how to say I love you in 7 of the over 138 languages spoken in Jackson Heights. From day one, Diversity Plaza named itself as host day and night to New Yorkers who hail from every nation, and as the venue for every kind of cultural event. Thanks to Council Member Daniel Dromm for his unflagging vision for this site, and to SUKHI New York, the Friends of Diversity Plaza, NYC DOT, The Horticultural Society of New York, ACE New York, and Diversity Plaza’s newest partner Vita Coco Coconut Water, for nurturing one of the city’s most welcoming, popular and exciting public spaces.

Looking for some fun in Brooklyn this weekend? Join The Kensington Stewards & discover the future of the Avenue C Plaza at this Sunday’s One-Day Plaza event with live music, dance-cardio fitness, plant workshops and fun for all ages! Feel free to share the event flyers in English, Bengali & Spanish.

Yesterday, NPP joined plaza managers, Times Square, New York City, and the Naked Cowboy at City Hall to support the City Council's proposed legislation giving pedestrian plazas the regulatory framework long sought by plaza managers. This is a great step forward -- legitimizing plazas and recognizing their role as one of New York's best public amenities. NPP's public testimony -- co-signed by 18 community-based plaza partners is here: http://bit.ly/21UNHC8.... And here's Streetsblog's take on the issue: http://bit.ly/1Y2cYJH