Downtown Revitalization Initiative Award

NYC Chinatown is known for its unique historical and cultural identity, great food, and small business economy.  In the wake of COVID and a peak in Anti- Asian hate crime, Governor Hochul's office recognized Manhattan's Chinatown as badly in need of investment.  

We partnered with Field Operations to present a proposal for renovating the most troubled section of the park, from Delancey to Grand.  Our proposal was selected for $3.285 million for funding for  NYC Parks. Read our press release here.
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Our intention was to respect and enhance current use, support local artists and musicians, and draw new tourism into the neighborhood.  We prioritized the following:

Redesign of the Pit area (between Grand and Delancey). Currently, the Pit is empty during the day, and a haven for drug dealers at night.   We wanted a flexible all-day use as a recreational space and performance venue with more lighting and access.

Expansion of the Hua Mei Bird Garden.  The Hua Mei Garden is a gathering space for local residents to display their birds.  Currently, the garden is small and inaccessible to the public because of chain-link fencing.  We proposed to expand the garden by 4-6x by demolishing the circular asphalt pavement north of the garden and existing gating, and adding a combination of perennial trees, flowering trees (e.g. cherry trees, dogwood, redbud), understory landscaping, and wooden benches.

Improvement of perimeter conditions. The pedestrian walkway along the perimeter of the park between Grand and Delancey Streets are in disrepair, with broken cobblestones patched with asphalt, creating an uneven and unsightly surface.   Trash is a major challenge, so we are requesting twice as many trash cans to be placed around the perimeter.  We proposed to add an understory landscape beneath the mature London Plane Trees along the entire perimeter of SDR, with removal of existing gating and replacement with a stone or cobblestone wall at 1.5” height, to provide additional “seating”. Finally, we requested sufficient lighting along the perimeter for safety.

Renovation of the Hester Street Playground Area. The playground is heavily used by families and schools during the daytime. However, the playground equipment needs cleaning and repainting. The existing pavers are old and peeling at the edges and need to be entirely replaced.  The sandpit is poorly designed, with sand spilling widely over the playground area. We proposed an update to the playground infrastructure.

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