An update from Street Lab with a look ahead to fall and beyond

Sep 24, 2024

Dear friends and followers,

We’ve got some photos below showing exciting work underway this year, and here’s a quick take on how we got here and where we’re headed.

Our first year on the ground we did 12 pop-ups, many of them with the help of volunteers who are still supporting us today. Fast forward to 2024, and we’re on pace to do over 500 pop-ups across the city, and growing. But something important has remained unchanged: every pop-up over 10+ years has been at the request of a community partner. And each of these partners has been trying to launch or improve a public space in their own neighborhood. To Sam and me, the relationships with these local organizations (285+ and growing) are the most valuable thing Street Lab has nurtured, and our partners are at the heart of our plan for the next decade. We’re committed to expanding the ways we help these groups do placemaking across the boroughs, for years to come.

Through the end of 2024, we’ll be rolling out stories of Street Lab partnerships with communities. We’ll show you how Street Lab meets each partner where they are at—providing access to our design and operational capacity, sharing exactly what each group needs to bring a vision for the street to life. Over time, we’ve been building up a team, outfitting a warehouse, and tackling the ins and outs of activating public space, so that Street Lab can provide groups with everything they need to create safer and inspiring neighborhood public spaces. Some groups need a little help, some need a lot, and we’re committed to finding the right mix each time and sticking with each partner across the years. We believe that the impact of this work together will be an urban landscape transformed and a city recognized for pioneering a grassroots approach to improving neighborhoods and building community.

Read on for recent highlights since our last newsletter, and stay tuned for more stories about our partners in the weeks ahead.

See you on the street,

Leslie
Co-founder & Executive Director, Street Lab

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People spending time on the street; a wooden reading cart in the foreground.

We’re on pace to complete 513 pop-ups in 89 locations in 2024—our most ever—88% in low-to moderate income New York City neighborhoods. And the phone keeps ringing. So far we’ve fielded 991 requests for help in 200 locations in 2024.

A younger man and an older man fist-bumping on the street.

We’ve also helped groups launch 20 brand new Open Streets by providing assistance with everything from planning, permitting, and programming. One community organizer told us, “You all made so much possible for us this summer…the level of support and trust you put into us has been nothing short of amazing.”

A bird's eye view of the street with colorful activities.

This summer we rolled out OASIS, a pop-up cooling station, in more than 15 locations, focusing on neighborhoods with the highest Heat Vulnerability Index in New York City. Designs that cool us down, together.

Kids playing on the street with an obstacle course.

Our longstanding work at Play Streets keeps growing, with weekly programming this summer on Decatur Ave, Grand Ave, and Rae St in the Bronx, and two streets in Washington Heights.

4 different photos showing kids playing on the streets.

And School Streets are strong out of the gate this fall—we’re launching new Open Streets right now with schools on Bathgate Ave, Palisade Ave, Strauss St. And multiple schools are returning to work with us again, activating Mt Hope Place, E150th, and more neighborhood streets. Catch a NYT article about the work here.

A promotional material that reads "One Big Table: Dine Together NYC" with three different dates & locations written on the bottom right. Background photo shows people gathered at one big table on a street.

Looking for a fun way to help Street Lab launch a new program? Join us this Friday in Fort Greene Brooklyn, grab some takeout from a local restaurant, and have dinner with fellow New Yorkers at One Big Table. Dine together to support small business—learn more and sign up here.

A photograph of people hanging out on an open street.

Everything we design for the streets of New York, we also fabricate and ship to other cities. Last month, Street Lab’s PLAY hit the streets in Seoul, Korea. Get in touch if we can make something for you.

A group of teenagers setting furniture up in a warehouse setting.

Each year we also dedicate time to supporting the next generation of designers and placemakers in NYC. This fall we’re working with several youth-led groups, co-designing new public spaces and programs, including a plan for pop-ups at NYCHA developments led by teens in the the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety Youth Leadership Council.

A view of a radio reporter interviewing someone on the street.

Our partnership with WNYC is going strong, and stories recorded at Street Lab pop-ups across the city were on the radio all summer. Listen here.

Typewriter and other writing materials set up on a table on a street.

Street Lab now has fourteen different pop-ups on the streets, including WRITE, Meet a Small Business, Street Marker, and IMAGINE, which are rotating across Open Streets and other public spaces in all five boroughs.

A view of a wooden cart filled with books.

Catch a interview in Urban Omnibus with Leslie and Street Lab’s Design Lead Hannah Berkin-Harper that dives into Street Lab’s approach to design and activation of the streets of New York.

A child getting happily splashed with water on a vivid blue foam structure on the street.

And thank you for supporting Street Lab!

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An adult leading a community engagement session with kids on the street.

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