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A Place for Community at 125th & Park

This summer, we hope to start warm-weather activities EARLIER and keep them going LONGER THAN EVER BEFORE! In 2017, backed by popular demand, we plan to be in the plaza with full programming from MAY TO OCTOBER.

Leader

Carey King

Location

101 East 125th Street New York, NY 10035

About the project

Two years ago, the New York City Department of Transportation designated the space underneath the Metro-North tracks at 125th Street & Park Avenue in East Harlem as a Public Plaza. Uptown Grand Central / NHEMA  adopted the space and we now program it with activities including a Fresh Food Box farmers market, free exercise classes, live music, a mobile library and a local small business pop-up snack shop. This spring and summer, we hope to deepen and expand that programming for our nearby community -- and we need the community's help! Your support also helps to fund daily cleaning of the plaza space, as well as supplemental street cleaning along the length of the East 125th Street corridor.

The Steps

We are reaching out to the community to help support this initiative. Please consider supporting in whatever way you are able: Just $25 helps buy trash bags and gloves for one week, while a gift of $50 can sponsor one of our healthy recipe demos. $100 provides an exercise class that is free for the neighborhood, $300 covers one visit of the UNI Project mobile library, and $500 allows us to host area musicians to perform an entire concert!

Donations of any amount are welcome!

PLEASE NOTE: The New York State Health Foundation will provide a DOLLAR-FOR-DOLLAR MATCH for gifts up to $1,000. So $25 becomes $50, $100 becomes $200, $500 becomes $1,000, and $1,000 becomes $2,000. Gifts above $1,000 will be matched at the $2,000 level.

Why we‘re doing it

Lined with vacant lots and empty buildings, divided by highways and industrial zones, and plagued by high rates of homelessness and drug use, our section of East Harlem has for far too long fallen off the radar screen. With a fragmented constituency and a high influx of people that require a high rate of social services, there have been few voices standing to advocate for our community and make it a better place. The Uptown Grand Central plaza underneath the Metro-North tracks at 125th Street & Park Avenue was created for this reason: To gather members of the community who want to advocate for our neighborhood, and provide programming that makes our neighborhood a better place to live, work and play.

$27,642.50 / $20,635.00